ken

From sona pona, the Toki Pona wiki
ken in sitelen pona
ken in sitelen sitelen
Pronunciation /ken/
Usage 2024: Core (100% → )2023: Core (100% ↗︎ )2022: Core (99%)
Book and era nimi pu
Part of speech Preverb, content word
Codepoint 󱤘 U+F1918

ken is a core content word and preverb relating to abilities and possibilities.

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The word ken is derived from Tok Pisin ken and its ancestor, English can.[1]

Semantic space[edit | edit source]

Under construction This section needs work:

Other uses

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The semantic space of ken includes abilities and possibilities, whether innate or through outside permission.[2]

sina ken ala ken toki-pona

sina ken ala ken toki pona?

Can you speak Toki Pona?

o ken e musi mi

o ken e musi mi!

Let me play!
(Make my entertainment possible!)

ken can roughly describe probabilities, particularly when words that indicate size, such as lili and suli, modify it.

ken suli la mi kama lon tenpo ike

ken suli la mi kama lon tenpo ike.

There's a big chance that we've arrived at a bad time.

pu[edit | edit source]

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

PRE-VERB  to be able to, be allowed to, can, may
ADJECTIVE  possible

ku[edit | edit source]

For Toki Pona Dictionary, respondents in ma pona pi toki pona translated these English words as ken:[3]

able5, potential5, ability5, capability5, capable5, may5, possible5, could5, eligible4, can4, possibility4, permission4, likelihood3, chance3, probability3, available3, opportunity3, maybe3, possibly3, odds3, patentially2, perhaps2, liberty2, might2, option2, viable2, enable2, privilege2, allow2, likely2, prospect2, freedom2

sitelen pona[edit | edit source]

The sitelen pona glyph for ken (󱤘) is derived from the uppercase Latin letter K, as in the first letter of the word. It may be reinterpreted as two possibilities diverging from a vertical line similar to that of taso (taso). This would also make it similar to the glyph for anu (anu), which branches in another direction and at a more decisive angle.

Per jan Sonja's handwriting in pu, the glyph is often drawn with the spurs curved from a horizontal connection at the stem, to vertical at the tips. However, it can also be written in other styles, like as three straight lines. A few fonts apply other typographical features from Latin K, such as the leg branching off of the base of the arm instead of both spurs splitting from a shared point on the stem.

As likely influenced by this glyph, ken is sometimes abbreviated or typed in Unicode as Latin uppercase K, lowercase k, small capital , Greek κ (kappa), and the like.

sitelen sitelen[edit | edit source]

The sitelen sitelen glyph for ken (ken) depicts a face with two vertical eyes, with an uta radical that is also used in the glyph for the word a (a). It is unknown what relation this has to the semantic space of ken.

Like with any monosyllabic word, the word ken may also optionally be written as a syllable glyph (KEN).

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Word Origins". tokipona.org. Archived from the original on 8 August 2002.
  2. lipamanka. "toki pona dictionary". lipamanka.gay.
  3. Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. pp. 243–244.

Further reading[edit | edit source]