moku

moku is a core content word relating to consumption and fuel.

moku
Pronunciation	/ˈmo.ku/
Usage	2023: Core (100% → )2022: Core (100%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Content word
Codepoint	󱤶 U+F1936

Etymology

The word moku is derived from Japanese モグモグ (mogumogu), an onomatopoeic word meaning "chewing".

Semantic space

The semantic space of moku includes consumption. It most often refers to eating or drinking, but can also include breathing and other routes of administration such as injections.

mi moku e kili

mi moku e kili.

I eat a fruit.

The word moku implies the presence of a type of fuel or similar resource by analogy. For example, learning may be expressed metaphorically as "to consume knowledge". Often, moku also implies the depletion of said fuel, similarly to how English frames corrosion and erosion as "eating away at" or "eating through" something.

seli li moku e kasi

seli li moku e kasi.

Fire "eats up" wood.

Its semantic space also includes food itself and the state of being edible. As in the "fuel" examples, this sense can be extended to any substance fit for consumption in a given context, even if it would not literally be considered eating.

moku ni li tawa tenpo kulupu

moku ni li tawa tenpo kulupu.

This food is for the gathering.

When used as an intransitive verb, moku may mean both "to consume" and "to be food". One strategy to combat ambiguity in this case is adding a direct object. However, according to the monsutatesu, this may be ambiguous in a different manner, as it could either refer to consuming or feeding something.

pu

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

VERB  to eat, drink, consume, swallow, ingest

ku

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

food⁵81–100% of respondents, eat⁵81–100% of respondents, eating⁵81–100% of respondents, consume⁵81–100% of respondents, dining⁵81–100% of respondents, meal⁵81–100% of respondents, consumption⁵81–100% of respondents, swallow⁴61–80% of respondents, dinner³41–60% of respondents, nutrition³41–60% of respondents, drinking³41–60% of respondents, chew³41–60% of respondents, groceries³41–60% of respondents, absorb²21–40% of respondents, drink²21–40% of respondents, lunch²21–40% of respondents

sitelen pona

Visual aid for the word moku in the phrase soweli li moku e waso

The sitelen pona glyph for moku (󱤶) is derived from a mouth radical above a hand radical, depicting a hand bringing food to the mouth. These may be drawn either separated (as in Toki Pona: The Language of Good) or connected.

sitelen sitelen

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See also

• uta

Further reading

• "moku" on lipu Linku
• "moku" on lipu Wikipesija
• "moku" on English Wiktionary