meli

From sona pona, the Toki Pona wiki
meli in sitelen pona
meli in sitelen sitelen
Pronunciation /ˈme.li/
Usage 2024: Common (82% → )2023: Common4, Widespread6 (82% ↘︎ )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[edit | edit source]

The word meli is derived from Tok Pisin meri ("woman, wife"), itself from English Mary, a feminine name.[1]

Semantic space[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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

female5, lady4, woman4, girl3, wife2, cisgender woman2, transgender woman2, ma’am2

sitelen pona[edit | edit source]

Alternate version of the sitelen pona glyph

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 (♀).

sitelen sitelen[edit | edit source]

The sitelen sitelen word glyph for meli (meli) is derived from an 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[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. p. 284.
  3. Gabel, Jonathan (2012). "sitelen sitelen acknowledgements and etymology". Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  4. 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[edit | edit source]