ijo

ijo
Pronunciation	/ˈi.jo//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+F190C

ijo is a core content word relating to things and beings.

Etymology

The word ijo was derived from Esperanto io, meaning "something".

Semantic space

The semantic space of ijo includes anything that exists, such as physical things, phenomenona, ideas, actions, places, sentient beings, or otherwise. For many speakers, it applies to the animate as well as the inanimate, so it may be closer to the English words "being" or "entity" than "thing".

As a verb, ijo can describe a generic action, as in "to do something".

pu

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

NOUN  thing, phenomenon, object, matter

ku

For Toki Pona Dictionary, respondents in ma pona pi toki pona translated these English words as ijo:

thing⁵81–100% of respondents, stuff⁵81–100% of respondents, item⁵81–100% of respondents, something⁵81–100% of respondents, object⁵81–100% of respondents, entity⁵81–100% of respondents, phenomenon⁴61–80% of respondents, material⁴61–80% of respondents, matter (n)⁴61–80% of respondents, substance³41–60% of respondents, anything³41–60% of respondents, element²21–40% of respondents, asset²21–40% of respondents, being²21–40% of respondents, chemical²21–40% of respondents, subject²21–40% of respondents, product²21–40% of respondents, stock²21–40% of respondents, example²21–40% of respondents

sitelen pona

The sitelen pona glyph for ijo (󱤌) is a circle, presumably representing a generic thing or placeholder. It appears as a radical in other glyphs, including kulupu, pali, sike, toki (and from it, kokosila), and wawa.

Further reading

• "ijo" on lipu Linku
• "ijo" on lipu Wikipesija
• "ijo" on English Wiktionary