nasin nanpa pona
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nanpa (ordinal number marker)
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| Toki Pona: The Language of Good (2014) pu · nimi pu · meli Sonko · sitelen sitelen · toki pona luka · sitelen pona · Place names · Language names · Phrase book · Dictionary
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| Toki Pona Dictionary (2021) |
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nasin nanpa pona is an extension to the pu counting system for large and exact numbers. It was created by jan Kapilu and jan Tepo in 2021 and sets out to express big numbers compactly.[1] It is part of the su style for writing the year in dates.[2]
Overview[edit | edit source]
In Toki Pona, numbers lack any central role. In fact, exact numbers beyond 2 are mostly avoided, only using mute in the right context to say what the quantity is in the given situation. However, not only are exact numbers seemingly more needed sometimes (or at least they seem useful to a degree), some speakers insist on continuing to speak in ways that force the topic of not only exact, but also big numbers. Hence, people have been making and keep making new counting systems with varying degrees of being in line with minimalism and usefulness. Many of these end up replacing the way overly precise counting is already done as documented, for example, in the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good.
Introduction in pu[edit | edit source]
The book Toki Pona: The Language of Good documents the following counting system. Given that nasin nanpa pona is backwards compatible, all of these examples hold true for it as well.[3]
| Numeral | Toki Pona | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | wan | |
| 2 | tu | |
| 3 | tu wan | |
| 4 | tu tu | |
| 5 | luka | tu tu wan |
| 6 | luka wan | |
| 20 | mute | luka luka luka luka |
| 36 | mute luka luka luka wan | |
| 100 | ale | mute mute mute mute mute |
| 300 | ale ale ale | |
Extension to the counting system[edit | edit source]
nasin nanpa pona allows for one extra step to simplify numbers beyond a couple of hundreds: if numbers smaller than 100 precede ale, then ale gets multiplied by this number. As a result, nasin nanpa pona is centesimal (base 100). The word wan also precedes ale to avoid confusion with the pu system.[1]
| Number | nasin nanpa pona | pu |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | wan ale | ale |
| 300 | tu wan ale | ale ale ale |
| 1000 | luka luka ale | ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale |
| 10 000 | wan ale ale | ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale |
Writing[edit | edit source]
In the Latin script, some speakers write the numbers more compactly by the using the first letter of the word, written in all uppercase. That is, ale becomes A, mute becomes M, luka becomes L, tu becomes T, wan becomes W. Therefore, 12 345 becomes wan ale mute tu wan ale mute mute luka, condensed into WAMTWAMML.
There is no official way to denote the number zero as documented by the creators. However, some users use the letter X, borrowing the shape from the sitelen pona glyph for ala (ala).
Decimal numbers[edit | edit source]
Less established is this extension to nasin nanpa pona: A way to express decimal numbers. jan Kapilu came up with a way that mirrors base 100 for whole numbers on the other side of the decimal point.
| Number | nasin nanpa pona |
|---|---|
| 0.1000 | ala luka luka |
| 0.0100 | ala wan |
| 0.0010 | ala ale luka luka |
| 0.0001 | ala ale wan |
| 1.9100 | wan ala mute mute mute mute luka luka wan |
Notable usage[edit | edit source]
In the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Toki Pona edition), jan Sonja used nasin nanpa pona as the date format for the copyright year in sitelen pona, also using the then-little-known numeric variant of mute (mute2).
tenpo sike nanpa mute2 ale mute2 tu tutenpo sike nanpa mute ale mute tu tu
Year 2024
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 jan Kapilu, jan Tepo. "nasin nanpa pona" (in Toki Pona). Wyubsite. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
- ↑ Baum, L. Frank. (3 February 2024). The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Toki Pona edition). Translated by Sonja Lang. Illustrated by Evan Dahm. Tawhid Press. ISBN 978-0978292379. (Original work 1900.)
- ↑ Lang, Sonja. (25 May 2014). Toki Pona: The Language of Good. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292300. OCLC 921253340.
External links[edit | edit source]
- Original documentation (archive)