en
Pronunciation | /en/ |
---|---|
Usage | 2023: Core (99% ↗︎ )2022: Core (98%) |
Book and era | nimi pu |
Part of speech | Particle |
Codepoint | U+F190A |
en is a particle used to introduce multiple subjects to a single sentence. Despite common misconception from learners, the word en does not mean "and", which is instead implied with the repetition of any particle or preposition.
Function
en en introduces a new subject, similarly to how the particles li and e introduce a predicate and direct object, respectively. In standard usage, it chiefly appears in between subjects.
mi en sina li pali e panmi en sina li pali e pan
I and you bake bread.
jan en soweli li tawa lon ma kasijan en soweli li tawa lon ma kasi
Someone is walking their dog in the woods.
Definitions
pu
In the "Official Toki Pona Dictionary" section, the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good defines en as:
PARTICLE (between multiple subjects)
ku
For Toki Pona Dictionary, respondents in ma pona pi toki pona translated these English words as en:[1]
and3
, plus3
sitelen pona
The sitelen pona glyph for en () is a symmetrical cardinal cross representing the plus sign (+) and addition, as in adding another subject.
History
Originally, en separated multiple modifiers that all applied to a single noun.[2]
sona pona li sona sewi ala iki li sona mute en alesona pona li sona sewi ala. iki li sona mute en ale.
True intelligence is not to know elite things, but rather to know many things about everything.[3]
ma ale li jo e toki wan en samama ale li jo e toki wan en sama.
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.[4]
It also served to separate the subjects of a sentence, but was originally restricted to a separating subjects that were only one word.[2]
supa en ilo li nasa en sinsupa en ilo li nasa en sin.
The table and the machine are strange and new.[2]
wile en tawa jo li nasa e lawa janwile en tawa jo li nasa e lawa jan.
Racing and hunting madden our minds.[4]
There was no clear way to divide between subjects,[5] so to accommodate subjects with multiple words Sonja proposed extending en to mark subjects by going before them.[6]
en utala en utala ala li wile lonen utala en utala ala li wile lon.
Both war and peace need to exist.[7]
In early works, before late 2002, it was used more freely to separate multiple objects and prepositional phrases.
jan sewi [jan awen wawa epiku] li tu e suno en pimeja.jan sewi Jawe li tu e suno en pimeja.
God divided the light from the darkness.[4]
jan o pali e wile sina en lon sewi kon en lon majan o pali e wile sina en lon sewi kon en lon ma.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.[4]
However, a reform proposed in October 2002 restricted en to dividing between the subjects of a sentence and no longer dividing modifiers.[5] This reform was accepted unanimously by the online community by 1 November 2002 and became standard usage thereafter.[8]
References
- ↑ Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. p. 205.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sonja Lang. (1 July 2024). "Original lesson 5". jan Pije's site.
- ↑ Sonja Lang. (1 September 2002). "Toki Pona Proverbs". tokipona.org.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Sonja Lang. (3 September 2002). "Religious Texts". tokipona.org.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 jan Sonja. (27 October 2002). "the words "en", "kin" and "kan"". Toki Pona Forums. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
- ↑ Justin B. Rye and Sonja Lang. (1 July 2002). "Correspondence". forums.tokipona.org.
- ↑ Sonja Lang. (1 July 2002). "Chat logs". tokipona.nykta.org.
- ↑ tokipona@yahoogroups.com. (1 November 2002). "Poll results for tokipona". Toki Pona Forums. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
Further reading
Resources
- Toki Pona: The Language of Good: Lesson 16
- jan Lentan: Lesson 5
- soweli Tesa: Lesson 19
Resources for historical usage
- jan Sonja (2002): Lesson 5
Dictionaries
- "en" on lipu Linku
- "en" on lipu Wikipesija
- "en" on English Wiktionary