ma

From sona pona, the Toki Pona wiki
ma in sitelen pona
ma in sitelen sitelen
Pronunciation /ma/
Usage 2024: Core (100% → )2023: Core (100% → )2022: Core (100%)
Book and era nimi pu
Part of speech Content word
Codepoint 󱤰 U+F1930

ma is a core content word relating to land.

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The word ma is derived from Finnish maa ("ground, soil, country, land").[1]

Semantic space[edit | edit source]

The semantic space of ma includes the ground and soil. It also includes places and environments as defined by the land they occupy. ma is a headnoun for continents, countries, regions, cities, towns, and villages. It is often extended to metaphorical and notional spaces, such as those online.

pu[edit | edit source]

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

NOUN  earth, land; outdoors, world; country, territory; soil

ku[edit | edit source]

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

territory5, country5, land5, realm5, area5, field4, region4, place4, soil4, earth4, province4, zone4, ground4, nation4, environmental3, environment3, site3, location3, domain3, world3, national3, nature3, setting2, landscape2, continent2, outdoors2, habitat2, dirt2, sector2, yard2, kingdom2, venue2, outside2, acre2

sitelen pona[edit | edit source]

The sitelen pona glyph for ma (󱤰) is derived from the astrological symbol for Earth (🜨︎).

sitelen sitelen[edit | edit source]

The sitelen sitelen glyph for ma (ma) represents a sandy landscape with a plant on top, possibly a desert with a cactus.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Word Origins". tokipona.org. Archived from the original on 8 August 2002.