anu: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
(Refactor discussion of disjunction.) |
||
| Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
}} |
}} |
||
=== |
===Disjunction=== |
||
The word {{tp|anu}}'s use is rather underspecified in [[pu]]. Nevertheless, it is used there for disjunction, to indicate an alternative among multiple things. The community at large is hesitant to use it this way, but there are examples of it in practice. |
|||
It is debatable and controversial whether {{tp|anu}} is able to form questions on its own, without {{tp|seme}} or the X-{{tp|ala}}-X format. |
|||
{{Example |
|||
===Statements=== |
|||
|ona li kama e pilin ike anu pilin pona la ni li suli ala.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tokipona.org/sitata/|title=jan Sitata|author=Herman Hesse tr. jan Kala|date=2022}}</ref> |
|||
{{Needs work|empty section|section}} |
|||
|Whether it brings pain or pleasure, this is unimportant.<br>It doesn't matter whether it brings pain or pleasure.}} |
|||
Sometimes {{tp|anu seme}} is added on to the end of a series of alternatives to leave the question open: |
|||
{{Example |
|||
|ona li ilo anu moku anu seme?<ref>{{cite web|author=jan Pensa|url=http://utala.pona.la/toki-en-lipu/lipu-suli/mi-en-waso-Kaka.html|title=mi en waso Kaka en monsuta pi ma kasi|date=2023-07-15|access-date=2023-11-10}}</ref> |
|||
|Is it a tool or food or what? |
|||
}} |
|||
Alternatives can also be embedded within a larger admission of ignorance. |
|||
{{Example |
|||
|mi sona ala e ni: tenpo li suno anu pimeja.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://utala.pona.la/toki-en-lipu/lipu-suli/nasi.html|author=jan Kepe|title=Nasi|date=2023-07-15|access-date=2023-11-10}}</ref> |
|||
|I don't know this: the time is bright or dark.<br>I don't know whether it's day time or night time. |
|||
}} |
|||
=={{tp|pu}} usage== |
=={{tp|pu}} usage== |
||
Revision as of 02:12, 11 November 2023
  | |
 | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈa |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Core (99% ↗︎ )2022: Core (98%) |
| Book and era | nimi pu |
| Part of speech | Particle |
| Codepoint | U+F1907 |
anu is a particle used to indicate alternatives, corresponding with the English conjunctions "or" (exclusive disjunction) and "and/or" (inclusive disjunction).
Function
Tag questions
anu is most commonly used in the phrase anu seme to form tag questions. This literally means "or what?" and it is one of two ways to form yes-or-no questions in Toki Pona.
ona li jan-pona anu semeona li jan pona anu seme?
They are a good person, aren't they?
Are they a good person?
Disjunction
The word anu's use is rather underspecified in pu. Nevertheless, it is used there for disjunction, to indicate an alternative among multiple things. The community at large is hesitant to use it this way, but there are examples of it in practice.
ona li kama e pilin ike anu pilin pona la ni li suli alaona li kama e pilin ike anu pilin pona la ni li suli ala.[1]
Whether it brings pain or pleasure, this is unimportant.
It doesn't matter whether it brings pain or pleasure.
Sometimes anu seme is added on to the end of a series of alternatives to leave the question open:
ona li ilo anu moku anu seme?ona li ilo anu moku anu seme?[2]
Is it a tool or food or what?
Alternatives can also be embedded within a larger admission of ignorance.
mi sona ala e ni: tenpo li suno anu pimejami sona ala e ni: tenpo li suno anu pimeja.[3]
I don't know this: the time is bright or dark.
I don't know whether it's day time or night time.
pu usage
In the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good, the word anu is defined, but not explained outside of its role in anu seme tag questions. The book only provides 2 sentences containing anu without anu seme:
mi kute e mije anu melimi kute e mije anu meli.
I hear a man or a woman. (answer to Lesson 7)
wile sona nanpa wan li ni: ale li pona anu ike?wile sona nanpa wan li ni: ale li pona anu ike?
The most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether or not the universe we live in is friendly or hostile. (Quote misattributed to Albert Einstein)
Possible analyses
- In the first sentence, anu is presented as a statement. It might still act as a kind of chioce and could in some way work as a question.
- While in the second sentence, anu is presented as a question. It is not clear whether anu is responsible for forming this question, or if the phrase wile sona is. That sentence is also not question in the English translation. Although this arises out of the reformulation of format. A literal translation may include a question: "the foremost question is this: is the universe good or bad?"
Pre-pu usage
The usage of anu to form questions without seme was widespread before the publication of pu.
The course o kama sona e toki pona! by jan Pije, the most influential resource for learning Toki Pona in the pre-pu era, taught anu explicitly and exclusively as a word for marking questions. This included questions without seme, as well as tag questions ending in anu seme.[4]
This word can be used to make questions when there's a choice between two different options. For example, if you came home to find that someone had eaten all of the cookies, and you know that the person who ate them has to be either Susan or Lisa, you might ask:
- jan Susan anu jan Lisa li moku e suwi?
Semi-literally, this sentence reads, Susan or Lisa ate the cookies? In colloquial English, it reads, "Did Susan eat the cookies, or was it Lisa?" As you see, you can't necessarily translate directly from English, especially with anu. […]
anu was also used to make statements. In the Spanish-language course Toki pona en 76 lecciones ilustradas (Toki Pona in 76 Illustrated Lessons) created by Eliazar Parra Cárdena, which was translated into many languages, the usage of anu was taught in statements and questions side by side, distinguished only by the presence of a question mark or a period.[5]
Experimental usages
Content word
Some speakers use anu as a content word meaning "to choose, to decide".[6] This meaning is controversial due to the lack of content word meanings given to other particles in the language.
Pseudo-particle
In smaller communities, an experimental usage of anu was proposed to have the word resemble the placement of pseudo-particles, such as taso and kin, as modifiers of a phrase. This usage notably reduces the level of ambiguity created by anu in situations where it would otherwise be unclear to replace particles or prepositions.
sina ken tawa tomo sitelen tawa tomo moku anusina ken tawa tomo sitelen tawa tomo moku anu.
References
- ↑ Herman Hesse tr. jan Kala. (19 May 2022). "jan Sitata". {{{website}}}.
- ↑ jan Pensa. (15 July 2023). "mi en waso Kaka en monsuta pi ma kasi". {{{website}}}. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ↑ jan Kepe. (15 July 2023). "Nasi". {{{website}}}. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ↑ jan Pije. Lesson 12: Conjunctions, kin, Temperature. Archived from the original on 27 April 2020. lipu pi jan Pije.
- ↑ Cárdenas, Eliazar Parra (2009). toki pona in 76 illustrated lessons. Internet Archive.
- ↑ Aronora (jan Alonola) (6 October 2021). "anu suli pi ma Tosi". In lipu tenpo nanpa toki.
External links
Resources
- Toki Pona: The Language of Good: Lesson 7
- jan Lentan: Lesson 7
- soweli Tesa: Lesson 12
- nasin toki pona the particle anu
Resources for historical usage
- jan Pije: Lesson 12 (maintained from 2003 to mid 2010s)
- 76 Illustrated Lessons: Lesson 63 (original published in 2004, English translation in 2009)