monsuta

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monsuta
Pronunciation	/ˈmon.su.ta/
Usage	2023: Common44-category system, Widespread66-category system (83% ↘︎ )2022: Widespread (85%)
Book and era	nimi ku suli (pre-pu)
Part of speech	Content word
Codepoint	󱥽 U+F197D

monsuta is a Toki Pona content word related to monsters, scariness and fear.

It was proposed by jan Sonja in 2009, but she abandoned the word shortly after. The word always saw some use among a minority of speakers. However, for a long time the word monsuta was not used a lot, and the way to use it wasn't defined very well. This changed in the late 2010s and early 2020s, when the word became popular and certain trends emerged among its users. However, some use cases of monsuta remain undefined, ambiguous, or controversial.

Common ways to use monsuta

Definitions

In 2010 the official Toki Pona wiki defined monsuta as:

1. creature that preys on humans; predator
2. a real or imagined threat; danger
3. a source of fear or dread

Nowadays, the word monsuta is often used as a noun or head to mean "monster," but its meaning is also generalized to "something scary, something that causes fear, something dangerous." It usually leans most towards the third of the 2010 definitions.

The word is also very commonly used as an adjective or modifier to mean "scary, frightening, creepy, spooky" or "monstrous, monster-like."

Fear

In Toki Pona dictionaries, the noun "fear" is often included in monsuta's definition. However, nowadays the word is rarely used as a noun by itself to mean "fear." Instead, the term pilin monsuta (scary feeling) is commonly used to describe the noun "fear."

Examples

There's a monster under the bed.

monsuta li lon anpa supa.

monsuta li lon anpa pi supa lape.

He isn't a person but a monster.

ona li jan ala li monsuta.

Do you hear a scary noise?

sina kute ala kute e kalama monsuta?

I am scared.

mi pilin monsuta.

I fear bugs.

or: Bugs scare me.

pipi li monsuta tawa mi. (lit. "Bugs are scary to me.")

mi pilin monsuta tawa pipi. (lit. "I am scared towards bugs.")

mi pilin monsuta tan pipi. (lit. "I am scared because of bugs.")

pipi li pana e pilin monsuta tawa mi. (lit. "Bugs give me fear.")

pipi li kama e pilin monsuta lon mi. (lit. "Bugs make fear emerge in me.")

Nothing scares them.

ijo ala li monsuta tawa ona. (lit. "Nothing is scary to them.")

ona li ken ala pilin monsuta. (lit. "They can't fear.")

Transitive use of monsuta

Transitive use of monsuta remains poorly defined. Depending on who you ask, mi monsuta e sina can mean "I scare you," "I fear you," "I turn you into a monster"/"I make you scary," etc. Many people support multiple of these interpretations, where the specific meaning depends on context.

Note that the meanings of "to scare" and "to fear" can also be expressed without using transitive monsuta. (See the example sentences above.)

The fact that transitive monsuta can be analyzed to have two opposite meanings has inspired the monsutatesu analysis of Toki Pona.

Analyses supporting monsuta meaning "to scare"

• Transitive monsuta can be interpreted as meaning "to use scary things on someone/something." mi monsuta e sina could then imply "I use scary things on you in order to make you scared."
• If you include "fear" as one of monsuta's base meanings, transitive monsuta can be interpreted as meaning "to use fear on someone/something".

Analyses supporting monsuta meaning "to fear"

• Transitive monsuta can be analyzed as meaning "to turn someone/something into a monster, into an object of fear". In this case mi monsuta e sina could be used to imply "my mind/subconscious turns you into an object of fear". This analysis could suggest the connotation that the thing someone fears is not actually scary or dangerous, but their own mind makes it so.