meli
Pronunciation | /ˈme |
---|---|
Usage | 2023: Common4 (82% , Widespread6↘︎ )2022: Widespread (89%) |
Book and era | nimi pu |
Part of speech | Content word |
Codepoint | U+F1933 |
meli is a common content word relating to femininity. It is coordinate with mije for masculinity and tonsi for non-binary genders.
Etymology
The word meli is derived from Tok Pisin meri, meaning "woman, wife", itself from the feminine English name Mary.[1]
Semantic space
The semantic space of meli includes femininity and feminine people, such as woman and girls, be them cisgender or transgender. It may refer to one's wife, as in meli mi.
Speakers adherent to gendern't philosophy reject using the word meli by virtue of avoiding gender word altogether.
pu
In the "Official Toki Pona Dictionary" section, the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good defines meli as:
NOUN woman, female, feminine person; wife
ku
For Toki Pona Dictionary, respondents in ma pona pi toki pona translated these English words as meli:[2]
female5, wife2 , cisgender woman2 , transgender woman2 , ma’am2, lady4 , woman4 , girl3
sitelen pona
The sitelen pona glyph for meli () represents a person with long hair or wearing a hijab. An alternate glyph variant (meli) is derived from the planetary gender symbol also used for Venus (♀). Another rarer variant overlaps a circle with the letter L (meli3).
sitelen sitelen
The sitelen sitelen glyph for meli is derived from the Early Pagan and Christian symbol for woman, in the shape of a triangle with a line on top.[3][4] The symbol is placed inside a circle and on top of a "pedestal", similarly to other gender glyphs.
See also
References
- ↑ "Word Origins". tokipona.org. Archived from the original on 8 August 2002.
- ↑ Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. p. 284.
- ↑ Gabel, Jonathan (2012). "sitelen sitelen acknowledgements and etymology". Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ↑ Koch, Rudolph (1955). The book of signs, which contains all manner of symbols used from the earliest times to the Middle Ages by primitive peoples and early Christians. Dover Books. ISBN 978-7-240-01716-6. p. 9.
Further reading
- "meli" on lipu Linku
- "meli" on lipu Wikipesija
- "meli" on English Wiktionary