jaki

jaki
Pronunciation	/ˈja.ki//j/ sounds like English Y, as in "fjord" or "hallelujah".
Usage	2023: Core (99% → )2022: Core (99%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Content word
Codepoint	󱤐 U+F1910

jaki is a core content word relating to dirty and disgusting things.

Etymology

The word jaki is derived from English yucky.

Semantic space

The semantic space of jaki includes things considered dirty, disgusting, garbage or otherwise obscene. It includes illness and disease, as well as bacteria and viruses, especially those harmful to other creatures. Things deemed jaki are often additionally but not inherently considered ike.

pu

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

ADJECTIVE  disgusting, obscene, sickly, toxic, unclean, unsanitary

ku

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

dirty⁵81–100% of respondents, trash⁵81–100% of respondents, gross⁵81–100% of respondents, garbage⁵81–100% of respondents, mess⁵81–100% of respondents, disgusting⁴61–80% of respondents, junk⁴61–80% of respondents, bacteria⁴61–80% of respondents, nasty⁴61–80% of respondents, crap³41–60% of respondents, toxic³41–60% of respondents, waste³41–60% of respondents, infection³41–60% of respondents, disease²21–40% of respondents, shit²21–40% of respondents, virus²21–40% of respondents, pollution²21–40% of respondents, bullshit²21–40% of respondents, illness¹11–20% of respondents

sitelen pona

Alternative versions of jaki shown in the Esperanto translation of pu

The sitelen pona glyph for jaki (󱤐) is a scribble, and it may be drawn in any way as long as it is recognizable. It tends to be drawn as a single stroke dense with overlaps, (mostly) curvy lines, and loops, tight corners, or zigzags. Several fonts have support for multiple alternative versions of the glyph, as well as a randomized selection. The following is an example from linja lipamanka:

jaki1 jaki2 jaki3 jaki4 jaki5 jaki6 jaki7 jaki8 jaki9 jaki10 jaki11

However, most fonts, especially those created in the early times, lack the randomization feature, and thus, because of how influential they were, a few common versions have emerged, such as pu-style (), linja pona-style (; also colloquially known as the "dick-butt jaki"), and JK-style (similar to the letters J and K joined together). The latter one was designed by jan Lentan.

sitelen sitelen

The sitelen sitelen glyph for jaki is a corrupted fusion of the sitelen sitelen syllable glyphs for "jaki". The "body" is a k container with one too many bumps, containing a and i infixes with each one too many lines. The part containing a is vaguely similar to a j container.

Further reading

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