Synonyms
Synonyms are words with the same meaning. They are the opposite of antonyms.
"Synonyms" in pu[edit | edit source]
The book Toki Pona: The Language of Good lists three words—kin, oko, and namako—as "synonyms" of the a, lukin, and sin, respectively. These "synonyms" are generally not counted among the 120 nimi pu.
| Word | Definition in practice | "Synonym" | Merged definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| kin | also | a | emotion particle, emphasis marker |
| namako | spice, extra | sin | new, extra |
| oko | eye | lukin | see, eye, (pre-verb) try |
Those words have been in use before and since the publication of pu, but with different meanings from their supposed relatives. Calling them "synonyms" was a deliberate attempt to merge them.[1] ku acknowledges that the words have retained their separate meanings among those who use them.
The merger of these words was mostly successful with lukin/oko, and mostly unsuccessful with sin/namako and a/kin. However, kin's original role as an emphasis marker moved completely to a, which was previously only a sentence-final particle to indicate emotion.[2] Below is an overview of how meanings changed over time:
| Word | Pre-pu usage | Usage in pu | Post-pu usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | emotion particle | emotion particle, emphasis marker | emotion particle, emphasis marker |
| kin | also, (uncommon: emphasis marker) | also | |
| sin | new, another, more | new, another, more, extra, additional | new, another, more |
| namako | spice, embellishment, extra, additional | spice, embellishment, extra, additional | |
| lukin | see, look, visual | see, look, visual, eye, try | see, look, visual, eye, try |
| oko | eye | eye, (uncommon: see, look) |
ali[edit | edit source]
ali is generally considered a pronunciation variant of ale, rather than a separate word.
nimi sin[edit | edit source]
There are some nimi sin coined at different times, which happen to coincide in meaning:
Reforms[edit | edit source]
Some speakers propose (or merely personally use) new spellings for existing words, e.g. for closer resemblance to their etymology.
Pre-pu reforms[edit | edit source]
A few words included in pu underwent changes between their inception and the book being published, namely:
ali was an attempted reform too, but it only succeeded as a variant and not a community-wide replacement.
teken[edit | edit source]
| Pronunciation | /ˈte |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Not notable (0%) Most speakers don't understand this word.
|
| Book and era | No book |
| Part of speech | Content word |
teken is a marginal alternate form for sitelen,[3] derived from Dutch teken ("sign, symbol, character") instead of schilderen ("to paint").[4] It was first mentioned on ma pona pi toki pona by jan Kasape,[5] with jan Asiku being another vocal supporter. The proposed sitelen pona glyph for it (teken) is similar to that of sitelen, but with the three dots replaced by a horizontal line.[6]
linuwi[edit | edit source]
| Pronunciation | /ˈli |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: N/A This word has not been surveyed for. Most speakers likely don't understand it.
|
| Book and era | No book |
| Part of speech | Content word |
linuwi is an alternate spelling for linluwi, proposed by jan Kekan San. His sitelen pona glyph for it (linuwi4) is based on kulupu, with lines connecting the 3 circles.[7]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ The words aka and eki are considered deprecated and synonymous of the main word natu.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Messages from jan Sonja in ma pona pi toki pona: kin, namako, oko.
- ↑ The 2007 definitions in Classic Word List define a as an "emotion word" and kin as a word that "emphasizes the word(s) before it".
- ↑ Asiku [@asiku]. (3 February 2023). [Message posted in the
#jakichannel in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server]. Discord. Retrieved 17 January 2024... teken
"teken" is the same as "sitelen"
Full writeup coming soon - ↑ jan Asiku [@asiku]. (3 February 2023). [Message posted in the
#linja lipamankathread in the#toki-sulichannel in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server]. Discord. Retrieved 17 January 2024. "this nimisin exists because the word "schilderen" in dutch does not actually mean what sitelen means, but the word "teken" does". - ↑ jan Kasape [@casperdewith]. (18 July 2022). [Message posted in the
#musi-akochannel in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server]. Discord. Retrieved 17 January 2024. "lon. mi la, ‘tekenen’ / ‘teken’ li pona mute.". - ↑ jan Asiku [@asiku]. (3 February 2023). [Message posted in the
#linja lipamankathread in the#toki-sulichannel in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server]. Discord. Retrieved 17 January 2024. "nimi sin request: "teken" [Image]". - ↑ jan Kekan San [@gregdan3]. (1 January 2023). [Message posted in the
#sona-musichannel in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server]. Discord. Retrieved 17 January 2024.linluwi redeption arc:
it's linuwi
it's drawn by starting with kulupu and connecting them with 3 lines (see reply)
its definition is the same as people already use it and if you say it's just internet i accuse you of calque