lon

lon
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 relating to presence, location, and truth.

Etymology

The word lon is derived from Tok Pisin long, meaning "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, often with a spatial noun, often glossed as "in, on, at".

milontomo mi

mi lon tomo mi.

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

akesi li wile lon nena

akesi li wile lon nena.

The lizard wants to be on the hill.

jan-ala li lon poka ona

jan ala li lon poka ona.

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

lon can also qualify that something exists or is true on some condition, not necessarily in reality. 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.

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

As a content word, lon refers to presence or being at a location. The structure X li lon can be used to state that something exists or is present in the moment, the general vicinity, or other context of the conversation.

mi lon　

mi lon.

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.

More broadly, lon refers to concepts of reality, existence, and truth. This is because things that are true or real must "be 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.

lonpi (kiwen ni) li wawa a

lon pi kiwen ni li wawa a!

This mineral's existence is amazing!

jan-ale o kama sona e lonona

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. were speaking truly)

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

lon a

lon a!

So true!

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

sitelen pona

The sitelen pona glyph for lon (󱤬) is a dot above a horizontal line, representing being on something or at someplace.

sitelen sitelen

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Further reading

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