Animals
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| Core words |
| Widespread words |
| Nonstandard animal words |
This is a description of animal words in Toki Pona.
Core and widespread words[edit | edit source]
akesi[edit | edit source]
  | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈa |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Core (99% ↗︎ )2022: Core (98%) |
| Book and era | nimi pu |
| Part of speech | Content word |
| Codepoint | U+F1901 |
akesi is a core word relating to herptiles, that is, reptiles and amphibians. Originally, it meant "non-cute animal", however, this sense was deprecated in Toki Pona Dictionary.[1]
kala[edit | edit source]
  | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈka |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Core (99% → )2022: Core (99%) |
| Book and era | nimi pu |
| Part of speech | Content word |
| Codepoint | U+F1914 |
kala is a core word relating to fish and other marine creatures.
kijetesantakalu[edit | edit source]
  | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈki |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Common4, Widespread6 (75% ↗︎ )2022: Widespread (73%) |
| Book and era | nimi ku suli (pre-pu) |
| Part of speech | Content word |
| Codepoint | U+F1980 |
kijetesantakalu is a common word and nimi ku suli relating to family Procyonidae.
jan[edit | edit source]
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| Pronunciation | /jan/ 🔊 🔊/j/ sounds like English Y, as in "fjord" or "hallelujah". |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Core (100% ↗︎ )2022: Core (99%) |
| Book and era | nimi pu |
| Part of speech | Content word |
| Codepoint | U+F1911 |
jan is a core word relating to humans.
pipi[edit | edit source]
  | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpi |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Core (99% ↗︎ )2022: Core (98%) |
| Book and era | nimi pu |
| Part of speech | Content word |
| Codepoint | U+F1951 |
pipi is a core word relating to bugs.
soweli[edit | edit source]
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| Pronunciation | /ˈso |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Core (100% → )2022: Core (100%) |
| Book and era | nimi pu |
| Part of speech | Content word |
| Codepoint | U+F1962 |
soweli is a core word relating to animals, specifically land animals and beasts.
waso[edit | edit source]
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| Pronunciation | /ˈwa |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Core (99% → )2022: Core (99%) |
| Book and era | nimi pu |
| Part of speech | Content word |
| Codepoint | U+F1974 |
waso is a core word relating to flying and winged animals, including but not limited to birds. It also includes other animals, such as bats and pterodactyls.
Edge cases[edit | edit source]
Since the semantic spaces of words often overlap and depend on the speaker, there are some edge cases for some animals.
- Armadillos are perceived as scaly over fuzzy, leading to some people describing them as akesi over soweli, especially when using its armor as defense against predators.
- Elephants and rhinoceroses are not particularly hairy and have thickened, scaley skin but tend to be described as soweli over akesi, a similar thing happens to hippopotamuses.
- Ostriches and emus are unable to use their wings as a primary means of movement and have adapted to living on the ground while moving around very fast, leading speakers to describing them as soweli over waso.
- Penguins are also unable to use their wings as a primary means of movement in air and they have instead adapted to swimming. They may be described as kala.
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. p. 13.