lon

lon
Pushpin in a map
Pronunciation	/lon/
Usage	2023: Core (100% → )2022: Core (100%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Preposition, content word
Codepoint	󱤬 U+F192C

lon is a core preposition and content word that encompasses location, existence, and truth, all treated as aspects of the same broad concept.

Etymology

The word lon is derived from Tok Pisin long ("in, on, at"), itself from English along.

Semantic space

The semantic space of lon includes truth, existence, and reality.

Preposition

As a preposition, lon indicates location, and is often glossed as "in, on, at".

mi lon tomo mi

mi lon tomo mi.

I'm at home.
I'm in my house.

akesi li wile lon nena

akesi li wile lon nena.

The lizard wants to be on the hill.

kasi li lon ma mute

kasi li lon ma mute.

There are plants in plenty of places.

lon is frequently followed with a spatial noun:

jan-ala li lon poka ona

jan ala li lon poka ona.

There is nobody next to him (at his side).

Conditions

lon can also qualify that something exists or is true on some condition, not necessarily in reality or at the present time. It has a similar meaning to la, but not the same grammar.

mi ken tawa sina lon ni2　pali mi li pini

mi ken tawa sina lon ni: pali mi li pini.

I can meet up with you on this [condition]: my work is finished.

soweli suli li awen lape lon tenpo lete sike

soweli suli li awen lape lon tenpo lete sike.

The big mammal stays asleep at the cold time of year.

jan li pana e seli tan luka lon musi

jan li pana e seli tan luka lon musi.

People shoot fire from their hands in the game.

Content word

jan mute li lon　

jan mute li lon.

There are a lot of people present.

As a content word, lon refers to presence, the state of being at a specified or unspecified location. The structure X li lon can state that something exists, or that it is present in the moment, the general vicinity, or anywhere else implied by the context of the conversation.

mi lon　

mi lon.

We exist.
We're here.

It may be analogous to the dummy "it" from English, as in weather expressions:

lete li lon

lete li lon.

It's cold.

Reality, existence, truth

jan ni3 li toki e lon ona

jan ni li toki e lon ona.

This person discussed his existence.

More broadly, lon refers to concepts of reality, existence, and truth. This is because things that are true or real must "be somewhere" (or "have been somewhere"). So, if no qualification follows lon, it can also be assumed that the "somewhere" is reality in general.

mi toki e lon

mi toki e lon.

I say the truth.

lon pi (kiwen ni) li pona a

lon pi kiwen ni li pona a!

This mineral's existence is amazing!

jan-ale o kama sona e lon ona

jan ale o kama sona e lon ona.

Everyone should learn their own truth.

jan-pona mi li toki lon

jan pona mi li toki lon!

My friends were telling the truth! (lit.literal translation 'were speaking truly')

Interjection

The truthy sense of lon is also often used as an interjection for agreement:

lon a

lon a!

So true!

Transitive verb

As a transitive verb, followed by e, lon means to make the direct object present, real, or true. This can be used to describe summoning and creation, like other transitive verbs such as kama, mama, and pali.

nimi soweli li ken lon e soweli

nimi soweli li ken lon e soweli.

The beast's name might summon the beast.

Be careful not to confuse this usage with the preposition sense:

mi lon ma

mi lon ma.

I'm on the ground.
I'm at a place.

mi lon e ma

mi lon e ma.

I make a place be present.
I created the lands.

Dictionary entries

pu

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

PREPOSITION  located at, present at, real, true, existing

ku

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

at⁵81–100% of respondents, existing⁵81–100% of respondents, real⁵81–100% of respondents, exist⁵81–100% of respondents, located⁵81–100% of respondents, presence⁵81–100% of respondents, yep⁵81–100% of respondents, existence⁵81–100% of respondents, actual⁵81–100% of respondents, on⁵81–100% of respondents, true⁵81–100% of respondents, living⁴61–80% of respondents, yes⁴61–80% of respondents, truth⁴61–80% of respondents, reality⁴61–80% of respondents, physical⁴61–80% of respondents, yeah⁴61–80% of respondents, genuine³41–60% of respondents, upon³41–60% of respondents, truly³41–60% of respondents, in³41–60% of respondents, alive³41–60% of respondents, position³41–60% of respondents, accurate³41–60% of respondents, exactly³41–60% of respondents, occupy³41–60% of respondents, live³41–60% of respondents, attendance³41–60% of respondents, certainly³41–60% of respondents, attend³41–60% of respondents, indeed³41–60% of respondents, right (not wrong)³41–60% of respondents, life²21–40% of respondents, definitely²21–40% of respondents, legitimate²21–40% of respondents, honestly²21–40% of respondents, onto²21–40% of respondents, location²21–40% of respondents, correct²21–40% of respondents, validity²21–40% of respondents, correctly²21–40% of respondents, occur²21–40% of respondents, precisely²21–40% of respondents, certain²21–40% of respondents, status²21–40% of respondents, physically²21–40% of respondents, placement²21–40% of respondents, sure²21–40% of respondents, mm-hmm²21–40% of respondents, fact²21–40% of respondents, amid²21–40% of respondents, availability²21–40% of respondents, frankly²21–40% of respondents, of course²21–40% of respondents, regarding²21–40% of respondents

lipamanka's semantic spaces dictionary

In lipamanka's semantic spaces dictionary, the entry for lon reads:

For many people, lon is core to the philosophy of toki pona. It's a key example that ties together the physical and metaphysical. lon is existence, lon is truth, lon is reality. lon is not only existing at a place, but also existing during a time, or in a context. lon's usage outside of a preposition mostly derives from this meaning of existing.

sitelen pona

The sitelen pona glyph for lon (󱤬) is a dot above a horizontal line, representing being on some surface or at someplace. It is a homoglyph of the monus operator or dot minus (∸).

It is not to be confused with the box-shaped secular variant of sewi (sewi2sewi2).

Some speakers use lon as an extended glyph to mark prepositional phrases, sometimes omitting the dot in this usage; see Extended glyphs § Long lon.

sitelen sitelen

The sitelen sitelen glyph for lon (lonlon), like all preposition glyphs, is composed of 2 parts: the "head" and the empty "body". When lon is not used as a preposition, it behaves as one cohesive glyph. However, as a preposition, the "body" is used as a container for its complement.

The origin of the "head" is unknown. It is similar to the later sitelen pona glyph for lon.

Like with any monosyllabic word, the word lon may also optionally be written as a syllable glyph (LONLON). However, this is uncommon for lon, especially when used as a preposition, as the syllable glyph cannot act as a container for its complement.

Further reading

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