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 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 either accidentally or purposely:
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]
Two words included in pu underwent changes between their inception and the book being published, namely ona (originally iki) and nena (originally kapa). jalan was posited as a replacement for noka, but was rejected by the community. ali (from ale was also an attempted reform, 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 for ease of pronunciation. His sitelen pona glyph for it (linuwi4) is based on kulupu, with lines connecting the 3 circles.[7][8]
Shortenings[edit | edit source]
Several shortenings of pu words have been proposed. These include ten (from tenpo), kepen (from kepeken), kije (from kijetesantakalu), and kulu (from kulupu), among others.
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 in
#jaki. ma pona pi toki pona. Discord. Retrieved 17 January 2024... teken
"teken" is the same as "sitelen"
Full writeup coming soon - ↑ jan Asiku [@asiku]. (3 February 2023). Message in the
#linja lipamankathread in#toki-suli. ma pona pi toki pona. 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 in
#musi-ako. ma pona pi toki pona. Discord. Retrieved 17 January 2024. "lon. mi la, ‘tekenen’ / ‘teken’ li pona mute.". - ↑ jan Asiku [@asiku]. (3 February 2023). Message in the
#linja lipamankathread in#toki-suli. ma pona pi toki pona. Discord. Retrieved 17 January 2024. "nimi sin request: "teken" [Image]". - ↑ jan Kekan San [@gregdan3]. (1 January 2023). Message in
#sona-musi. ma pona pi toki pona. 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 - ↑ mun Kekan San [@gregdan3]. (11 September 2024). Message in
#toki. sona.pona.la. Discord. Retrieved 12 September 2024.@viviampersand: @gregdan3 how come you propose the respelling linluwi -> linuwi? […]
@gregdan3: i am better able to pronounce it!