Synonyms

    From sona pona

    Synonyms are words with the same meaning. They are the opposite of antonyms.

    pu "synonyms"[edit | edit source]

    pu lists the following 3 words as "synonyms", 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] Here 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, synonymous word.

    References[edit | edit source]

    1. Messages from jan Sonja in ma pona pi toki pona: kin, namako, oko.
    2. 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".

    nimi sin[edit | edit source]

    Some nimi sin happen to be coined with the same meaning:

    • cross: aka, eki, natu
    • dream: jume, oni
    • 3: san, tuli