kepeken e: Difference between revisions

The meaning of a transitive construction in toki pona is generally clear when the ordinary sense of the [[content word]] is verbal:

 

 

In this sentence, we can discern an actor (soweli), an acted-upon (waso), and some action or process that connects them (alasa). The particles [[li]] and [[e]] indicate which words play which roles in the sentence, along with toki pona's [[word order]].

In a sentence the [[head of whose predicate]] is ordinarily a [[noun]], the sentence is typically glossed "apply to":

 

 

In a sentence where the ordinary sense of the [[main word]] is a [[modifier]], the sentence is typically glossed "cause something to be...":

 

 

Now, typically the ''last'' case (that with a [[Glossary#modifier|modifier]] as the [[Glossary#head|head]] of a preposition) can be expanded thus:

 

 

Intuitively, this makes sense of the general meaning of transitive predicates in toki pona: they are an action as a result of which the [[Glossary#object|object]] acquires the properties of the predicate.

 

 

Unfortunately, the theoretical purity of this transformation breaks down in practice. In certain cases, it is not clear whether the The [[Glossary#ordinary values|ordinary values]] of toki pona words do not allow for this degree of freedom, so the meaning of the last sentence is completely ambiguous:

 

 

== Lexemes ==

In the beginning, ''kepeken'' was a transitive verb. It was also a preposition. It is not the only word that straddled both categories — at certain times "poka" could act as a preposition, though today it is definitively not able to do so — but it remains as of today the most contested.

As a reminder, a [[preposition]] can introduce an [[indirect object]] to the [[predicate]] of a [[sentence]]:

 

 

 

Like the particle [[e]], [[prepositions]] are followed by a [[noun phrase]]. A prepositional phrase can also be the [[head of a predicate]]:

 

 

 

The word [[kepeken]], when at the head of a predicate, is variously treated as a [[transitive verb]] or as a [[preposition]]. In terms of [[surface features]], the particle [[e]] is used by some and omitted by others:

 

 

jan Lentan and jan Pije teach the latter style, and soweli Tesa and [[pu]] teach the former. [[ku]] gives official sanctions to both variants.

====Conclusion====

The meaning for kepeken as a transitive verb breaks down into:

 

===Prepositional phrases as transitive predicates===

Since a transitive ''predicate'' is interpreted as making the predicate apply to the direct object of the sentence, and a prepositional phrase can head a predicate, it is possible to transitively apply a prepositional phrase to a direct object, like so:

 

 

This can be interpreted:

 

 

which holds together. Ordinarily "tawa tomo telo" is interpreted as a prepositional phrase, and within this framework, it is perfectly reasonably applied to a direct object here and conforms to the observations on transitivity described above.

Generally, all prepositions can also act as content words. In the sentence,

 

 

it is practically impossible to interpret the last word of the sentence as a preposition, rather than a [[modifier]] of the word ''sitelen''. The phrase ''mi lon e ma'' has a completely distinct flavor from ''mi lon ma''.<ref>jan Kekan San, "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU9PEZ9TARs mi lon e ma]."</ref> In the first, ''lon'' is a content word meaning "real, existing," and so the sentence means "I make the earth exist." The second sentence has ''lon'' as a preposition introducing ''ma'', so the sentence means, "I am in place." The presence of the particle [[e]] serves to distinguish them.

 

In the original toki pona lessons, ''tawa'' "acts as a preposition and never uses e."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090821024454/http://bknight0.myweb.uga.edu/toki/about/lesson/tp4.html] toki pona original Lesson 4</ref> Similarly, the meaning of ''lon'' as a transitive word is not discussed, though its use as a [[Glossary#modifier|modifier]] is defined.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090819071609/http://bknight0.myweb.uga.edu/toki/about/lesson/tp7.html]toki pona Original Lesson 7</ref> However, by 2002, the word ''tawa'' is used transitively:

 

A word list from this period also confirms that prepositions could be used as content words by this period: ''tawa'' and ''kepeken'', in particular, are used as transitive verbs.<ref>[https://archive.ph/K7fME]toki pona word list with parts of speech</ref>

However, using prepositions as content words makes certain sentences ambiguous. A classic example, coined on 2002-05-28 by [[Nikita Ayzikovsy]] on the [[toki pona forums]] will suffice:

 

 

This sort of sentence is necessarily ambiguous. Since ''tawa'' could be either a modifier or a preposition, and no feature of the language enables the speaker to distinguish the possibilities, both glosses above are equally plausible interpretations. The difference between them is usually described by saying that ''tawa'' is acting as a preposition in the former interpretation, and as a content word in the latter.

Generally, when a preposition heads a predicate it does not take the particle [[e]] with its object. However, since it is also possible to use the prepositions as content words, some interpretations of toki pona use follow ''kepeken'' by [[e]] when it heads a predicate, as though it were a transitive verb:

<blockquote>

</blockquote>

This style is not universally accepted as of 2023: [[pu]] does not use the particle [[e]] in this context, and some even argue that it is erroneous.<ref>[https://mun.la/sona/kepeken.html jan Kekan San kepeken vs kepeken e]</ref> Others continue to teach and use it.<ref>[https://lipu-sona.pona.la/personal_style.html jan Lentan toki pona personal style]</ref>

==== Transitive prepositional phrases ====

kepeken is a word that does not exist in English. Its indirect object is the thing that's being used (to achieve something), not its direct object.<ref>[https://github.com/kilipan/nasin-toki#how-to-use-prepositions]nasin toki how to use prepositions</ref>

</blockquote>

However, this interpretation makes it possible to use an entire prepositional phrase transitively:

This can be interpreted:

Ordinarily "tawa tomo telo" is interpreted as a prepositional phrase, and it is applied to a direct object here and conforms to the observations on transitivity described above.

 

 

These two interpretations interrogate our intuitions about the word "kepeken": ultimately, is it a content word that acts transitively to produce a [[middle]] meaning, or is it a preposition acting transitively on the object? On the one hand,

 

 

Seems to set a precedent for a prepositional interpretation, unless the latter is also interpreted as a transitive and intransitive verb. Since not all verbs are easily made one or the other, it is often more comfortable to analyze both cases as prepositional.

Unfortunately, there is no correct answer: the ambiguity in latent in toki pona itself. However, a few lines of flight appear. First: must we cling to the notion of "prepositions"? These words do generally act strangely, in that they can introduce sub-sections of a sentence; this seems to be a property restricted to the five "prepositions". On the other hand, it is not clear that this would change their meaning when made transitive: though the possibility of transitive prepositional ''phrases'' remains, the interpretation of the words ''alone'' as heads of a predicate is unclear. Perhaps in circumstances like these, the "prepositions" are all content words:

 

 

 

 

== References ==