nimi sin

The subject of this article is nonstandard and will not be understood by most speakers.

If you are a learner, this information will not help you speak the language. It is recommended to familiarize yourself with the standard style, and to be informed and selective about which nonstandard styles you adopt.

nimi sin (lit.literal translation 'new word(s)') are extra words in Toki Pona, especially those created or promoted by the speaking community.

Many speakers warn against learners using or creating nimi sin too early, as one should be able to fall back on the core vocabulary before trying to fill in perceived gaps. Excessive usage of nimi sin can make communication more difficult, as many nimi sin are obscure and will not be understood by most speakers.

Terminology

nimisin
Pronunciation	/ˈni.mi.sin/ 🔊
Usage	2023: Uncommon (35% ↗︎ ) Most speakers don't use this word.2022: Rare (13%)
Book and era	No book (post-pu)
Part of speech	Content word

There are various different related terms used to refer to these extra words, with different shades of meaning.

• nimi sin is the term most commonly used in the Toki Pona community. As it means "new words", it is most literally used for words that were coined after the publication of the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good (lipu pu). However, it is also applied to revived words from before pu; while this is considered a misnomer, the term has stuck. Some people use the compound word nimisin instead, especially when talking about the topic in English.
• nimi namako (lit.literal translation 'additional words') is also fairly commonly used, especially if people want to include revived pre-pu words, such as majuna and pake.^{[citation needed]}This claim needs references to reliable sources. (For other uses, see nimi namako.)
• Neologism (from the Ancient Greek for "new word") is a linguistic term for a (relatively) recently coined word or term, especially one that is becoming accepted into mainstream language.

The terms non-pu words and nimi pi pu ala refer specifically to words that are not pu words (the words included in Toki Pona: The Language of Good). Likewise, non-ku words or nimi pi ku ala refers to words that are not among the "ku words" mentioned in Toki Pona Dictionary.

Purposes

On ma pona pi toki pona, joke nimi sin are often introduced with an edit of the rotating light emoji (🚨) with sitelen pona nimi-sinnimi-sin.

Experimentation with nimi sin is a common form of tinkering with Toki Pona. It can be done with many goals in mind, such as:

• Historic and traditional usage: Many nimi sin are traditional words that have continued to be used, or have had revivals, despite their removal (or framing) as of pu. Many nimi ku suli fall under this, such as kin, kipisi, leko, monsuta, namako, and oko.
• Personal preference: There is something fun about nimi sin that encourages many speakers to try using and making them. Specific nimi sin may also be coined to describe concepts that are important to the creator, without expecting or wanting others to adopt their nimi sin.
• High-frequency concepts: Some nimi sin are coined for common concepts not covered in the base vocabulary. For example, linluwi reflects the amount of Toki Pona usage that takes place online.
• Philosophical elaboration: Some nimi sin are created with the expressed purpose of deepening the language's philosophical messages, often by creating words tackling a broadly applicable but precise concept to reveal its presence in everyday life. Additionally, some nimi sin create novel conflations or distinctions between two concepts in order to comment on the concepts themselves or their importance to the language as a whole.
• Grammar extensions: Experimental particles can show what Toki Pona might be like with extra grammatical features.
  These seem less likely to catch on than nimi sin with their own semantic value. They would make the grammar more complex, and would challenge accepted techniques for building sentences.
• Jokes: There are many joke nimi sin. The joke is often that the meaning or word itself is unsuited for Toki Pona.
  Despite this, some joke words are introduced to enough people to pick up momentum and get used in earnest. This and the subjective nature of humor have generated some resistance to such words.

Notable nimi sin

While relatively few nimi sin have caught on longterm, the Toki Pona Dictionary argues that those that do should be considered "essential words" to the language. As of 2024, no other nimi sin have met the 41% usage threshold of the nimi ku suli, according to the yearly Linku survey.

Reception

It seems that nimi sin became more popular between the publication of pu and ku, as speakers wanted to experiment with diverting from pu-rism. After ku, the speaking community was left to grapple with whether the nimi ku should become permanent fixtures of the language, drawing more criticism of specific nimi ku suli and of nimi sin in general.

nimi sin, whether only specific words or in general, may be thought of negatively for various reasons, including a perceived mismatch with Toki Pona's philosophy, grammar, or usage. Owing to this reputation, inventing intentionally bad nonce words is a common source of humor.

The word alente was jokingly coined as "a proposal for a final nimisin" that could be used to shoot down future nimi sin proposals.

Related words

samu

The subject of this section is just for fun. It might not be meant or appropriate for serious use.

samu
Pronunciation	/ˈsa.mu/ 🔊 🔊
Usage	2023: Not notable (1% ↘︎ ) Most speakers don't understand this word.2022: Obscure (3%)
Book and era	nimi ku lili (post-pu)
Part of speech	Content word

samu is a joke word and nimi ku lili relating to the desire to create new words. It was coined in 2018 as part of a joke by jan Sonja when a user called Madia Samu asked how to contribute words in the main Toki Pona Facebook group .

The sitelen pona glyph for samu (samusamu) is derived from the glyph for nimi (niminimi) with emitters above. It was designed by nimi Elemenopi in August 2020, replacing his previous design which synthesized jan, musi, and lili.

References

Original text related to this article:

Atawans Guide on How To Make A nimi sin™

Further reading

• "nimisin" on lipu Linku
• "samu" on lipu Linku