n

n
Pronunciation	/n/ 🔊 🔊
Usage	2023: Common44-category system, Widespread66-category system (70% ↗︎ )2022: Common (68%)
Book and era	nimi ku suli (post-pu)
Part of speech	Particle
Codepoint	󱦆 U+F1986

n is an interjection and nimi ku suli used to represent any filler word or humming sound, such as "um", "mmm", or "hmm".

It is often used to indicate being absorbed in thoughts, recognition, or agreement. n is frequently written with multiple letters (e.g. "nnn...") to indicate a drawn out sound.

Etymology

The word n was coined by kala kala.^{[when?][citation needed…]}This claim needs references to reliable sources:
Primary source needed

Pronunciation

The word n violates Toki Pona's strict phonotactics. Speakers still accept this because they may consider it easy to pronounce or technically not a word in the first place but an onomatopoeia. n does not have to be pronounced /n/ but can stand in for any hum or nasal sound, regardless of phonotactics. Some compare the word n to the coda nasal.

Definitions

ku

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

um³41–60% of respondents, mmm²21–40% of respondents, hmm²21–40% of respondents

sitelen pona

The sitelen pona glyph for n (󱦆) is composed of the punctuation stem and the lowercase Latin letter N. You can sometimes find the glyph drawn without the letter N's left stem (󱦆), making the lower part look just like the glyph for nena. The punctuation stem can be drawn upright (nn) or at a diagonal (nn). Compare the glyphs for a, kin, and o.

sitelen sitelen

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Further reading

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