mani

From sona pona, the Toki Pona wiki
mani in sitelen pona
mani in sitelen sitelen
Pronunciation /ˈma.ni/
Usage 2023: Core (99% ↗︎ )2022: Core (97%)
Book and era nimi pu
Part of speech Content word
Codepoint 󱤲 U+F1932

mani is a content word relating to money and currency.

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The word mani is derived from English money.[1]

Semantic space[edit | edit source]

The semantic space of mani includes wealth and money, that is, any item accepted as payment or which is otherwise valuable.

Some examples include coins, paper bills, gold (used as a currency system until the 20th century), cryptocurrency, or large domestic animals (such as cattle). In other cultures, other objects may be considered currency.

pu[edit | edit source]

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

NOUN  money, cash, savings, wealth; large domesticated animal

The phrasing of this definition has exacerbated the usage of mani as "large domestic animal", despite many modern cultures not considering cattle as currency anymore.

ku[edit | edit source]

For Toki Pona Dictionary, respondents in ma pona pi toki pona translated these English words as mani:[2]

money5, cash5, monetary5, currency5, treasure4, wealth4, worth4, cattle4, dollar4, financial4, funding3, fiscal3, wage3, fee3, cost3, valuable3, pension2, expense2, economic2, fund2, revenue2, budget2, salary2, credit2, compensation2, earnings2, price2, value2, income2, subsidy2, profit2, cow2, toll2, payment2, large domesticated animal2, wealthy2

sitelen pona[edit | edit source]

Coin with the sitelen pona glyph for mani

The sitelen pona glyph for mani (󱤲), according to jan Sonja, represents the head of a cattle animal, such as a cow.[3]

sitelen sitelen[edit | edit source]

The sitelen sitelen glyph for mani (mani) possibly represents a gem stone.

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Word Origins". tokipona.org. Archived from the original on 8 August 2002.
  2. Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. pp. 282–283.
  3. jan Sonja [@sonjalang]. (1 September 2021). [Message posted in the #pana-sona channel in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server]. Discord. "it comes from the secondary meaning of mani, i.e. large domesticated animal".

Further reading[edit | edit source]