kule

From sona pona, the Toki Pona wiki
kule in sitelen pona
kule in sitelen sitelen
Pronunciation /ˈku.le/ 🔊 🔊
Usage 2023: Core (99% → )2022: Core (99%)
Book and era nimi pu
Part of speech Content word
Codepoint 󱤞 U+F191E

kule is a core content word relating to color and hues.

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The word kule is derived from Acadian French couleur.[1]

Semantic space[edit | edit source]

The semantic space of kule includes colors and hues, as well as, more concretely, pigments and paint. As a modifier, it refers to colorful things.

kasi ni likuleseme

kasi ni li kule seme?

What color is this plant?

Extensions[edit | edit source]

By analogy, kule is sometimes extended to refer to any intrinsic or sensory attribute, such as composition, sensory information (hue, smell, flavor, timbre, texture), or gender identity. The word poki ("container") is used as an antonym for this sense, meaning any extrinsic attribute. Compare the English phrase "to put someone in a box".

kule sometimes refers to the space of the English word queer, particularly to distinguish sexualities from gender identities. Compare tonsi.

toki-pona li pona tawa kulupu kule

toki pona li pona tawa kulupu kule.[2]

Toki Pona is good to the queer community.

pu[edit | edit source]

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

ADJECTIVE  colourful, pigmented, painted

ku[edit | edit source]

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

colour5, diverse2, LGBTQ+2, paint2, lesbian2, gay2, spectrum2

sitelen pona[edit | edit source]

Dispersion as shown in a prism

The sitelen pona glyph for kule (󱤞) is composed of the triangle radical with a line through the middle. This possibly represents dispersion of light through a prism.

sitelen sitelen[edit | edit source]

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References[edit | edit source]

  1. Word Origins. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Toki Pona.
  2. jan Salin, jan Olipija. (8 March 2021). "nimi 'tonsi' li pona a!" (in Toki Pona). lipu kule. Retrieved 1 February 2024. "mi mije ala li meli ala, mi toki ala e nimi ‘tonsi’. [taso] nasin mute li pona tawa mi. mi wile e ni: toki pona li pona tawa kulupu kule. mi wile pana e pilin pona tawa jan ante.".
  3. Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. p. 256.

Further reading[edit | edit source]

Wikipesija has a Toki Pona article on
kule.