e

	e
Pronunciation	/e/;
Usage	2023: Core (100% → )2022: Core (100%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Particle
Codepoint	󱤉 U+F1909

e is a particle that introduces the target of an action. It is part of the predicate and introduces a direct object.

Function Edit

e marks the verb's direct object, the thing to which the subject of the sentence does the action. A verb with a direct object is called a transitive verb.^[1] When the action has more than one target, the particle e introduces each new direct object.

jan li wile alasa e mi

jan li wile alasa e mi[.]^[2]

Someone wants to hunt me.

ale li ken lukin e ona e pona ona e wawa ona

ale li ken lukin e ona, e pona ona, e wawa ona!^[3]

Everyone could see them, their goodness, [and] their might!

Confusion with preposition marker Edit

e does not introduce the object of a preposition.

mi lon ma kasi　

mi lon ma kasi.

I am in a land of plants.

If e is used in that position, it invokes a non-prepositional sense of the word.

mi lon e ma kasi

mi lon e ma kasi.

I created the land of plants.

This distinction extends to transitive prepositional phrases, a nonstandard grammatical construction. Speakers who use this style use e to introduce the direct object of the prepositional phrase.

mi lon ma e kasi.

mi lon ma e kasi.

I put-in-the-soil the plants.

Definitions Edit

pu Edit

In the "Official Toki Pona Dictionary" section, the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good defines e as:

PARTICLE (before the direct object)

sitelen pona Edit

The sitelen pona glyph for e (󱤉) represents the heads of a double arrow symbol, facing rightwards along the standard writing direction. It is a reduplication of the glyph for li (li).

sitelen sitelen Edit

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References Edit

↑ See Hopper, Paul J., and Sandra A. Thompson. “Transitivity in Grammar and Discourse.” Language, vol. 56, no. 2, 1980, pp. 251–99. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/413757. Accessed 16 Jan. 2024.
↑ jan Lakuse, "luka waso pi nena taso" (2023) utala pona http://utala.pona.la/toki-en-lipu/toki-lili.html#luka-waso-pi-nena-taso
↑ mun Kekan San, "jan mun" (2023) utala pona http://utala.pona.la/toki-en-lipu/lipu-suli/jan-mun.html#sitelen-Lasina

e

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