jelo

jelo
Pronunciation	/ˈje.lo//j/ sounds like English Y, as in "fjord" or "hallelujah".
Usage	2023: Core (100% ↗︎ )2022: Core (98%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Content word
Codepoint	󱤒 U+F1912

jelo is a core content word used for yellow and yellow–adjacent colors.

Etymology

The word jelo is derived from English yellow.

Semantic space

The semantic space of jelo usually ranges from yellowish shades of orange and brown to very yellowish shades of green. Other colors that can be described as jelo include amber, gold, and lime.

mi jeloe nimi lipu

mi jelo e nimi lipu.

I highlight the words of the book [in yellow].

pu

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

ADJECTIVE  yellow, yellowish

ku

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

yellow⁵81–100% of respondents, golden²21–40% of respondents, highlight^½1–10% of respondents

sitelen pona

jelo in Sonja Lang's handwriting

The sitelen pona glyph for jelo (󱤒) is derived from the glyph for suno (sunosuno, representing the yellow color of the sun, and a triangle, possibly representing a prism. Compare the glyphs for other color words.

The bottom sunray of suno is sometimes omitted when writing the glyph for jelo, instead placing the sun directly atop the triangle.

sitelen sitelen

The sitelen sitelen glyph for jelo (jelojelo) is likely derived from the border part of the Maya glyph for k'an (T281), meaning "yellow" or "precious". A modified version of this k'an glyph is placed over sitelen sitelen's color radical, which is taken from the lower half of the pimeja glyph.

Further reading

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