mi ken ala toki pona e ijo la mi sona ala e ijo: Difference between revisions

'''{{tp|mi ken ala toki pona e ijo la mi sona ala e ijo}}'''<ref group="lower-alpha">{{tp|[[sitelen pona]]}}: {{sp|mi ken ala toki-pona e ijo la mi sona ala e ijo}}</ref> is a principle about [[circumlocution]] in the [[philosophy]] of [[Toki Pona]]. The phrase means, "'''If I can't express a thing in Toki Pona, I don't understand the thing'''". The design of Toki Pona encourages the speaker to express what they mean. It reveals when one lacks a deep understanding of a word or idea and offers them a chance to learn more and understand the world a bit better.

If you have trouble expressing a concept in Toki Pona, try researching it and figuring out how to describe it in [[Multiple sentences|multiple simple sentences]]. Searching for a [[Lexicalization|set-in-stone "translation"]] won't help. Other people probably won't recognize it, and will need you to build more [[context]] or explain the idea in depth. You get to emphasize which of the idea's details are important in the conversation, and important to you.

{{cite web|url=//joelthomastr.github.io/tokipona/pana-sona-ale_si|title=jan li ken pana e sona ale kepeken toki pona|trans-title=A person can give all knowledge with Toki Pona|language=tok|author={{tok|jan Telakoman}}, {{tok|jan Kapu}} (Gabriel Mizrahi)|username=|date=2020-11-30|website={{tp|lipu pi jan Telakoman}}|publisher=|access-date=2024-03-15|quote=}}