pali

pali
Pronunciation	/ˈpa.li/
Usage	2023: Core (100% ↗︎ )2022: Core (99%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Content word
Codepoint	󱥉 U+F1949

pali is a core content word relating to work.

Etymology

The word pali is derived from Esperanto fari, meaning "to do, to make".

Semantic space

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The semantic space of pali includes work, effort done to achieve something. It is commonly used to describe jobs and creating things.

tomopalila mipalie pan

tomo pali la mi pali e pan.

At my workplace I make pastries.

pali can also refer to a project or activity that requires work.

Historically, pali was often used as a generic verb meaning "to do". This has fallen out of favor with many speakers, who prefer more direct constructions with implied "do".

ona linasae mi

ona li nasa e mi.

It is doing something weird to me.

pu

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

VERB  to do, take action on, work on; build, make, prepare

ku

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

work⁵81–100% of respondents, do⁵81–100% of respondents, construct⁵81–100% of respondents, make⁵81–100% of respondents, produce⁵81–100% of respondents, activity⁵81–100% of respondents, job⁵81–100% of respondents, build⁵81–100% of respondents, production⁵81–100% of respondents, labour⁵81–100% of respondents, working⁵81–100% of respondents, action⁵81–100% of respondents, task⁵81–100% of respondents, create⁵81–100% of respondents, function⁵81–100% of respondents, occupation⁵81–100% of respondents, operating⁴61–80% of respondents, project⁴61–80% of respondents, execute⁴61–80% of respondents, craft⁴61–80% of respondents, manufacturing⁴61–80% of respondents, develop³41–60% of respondents, generate³41–60% of respondents, compose³41–60% of respondents, assemble³41–60% of respondents, act³41–60% of respondents, profession³41–60% of respondents, assignment³41–60% of respondents, commit³41–60% of respondents, perform³41–60% of respondents, enact³41–60% of respondents, operation³41–60% of respondents, creation³41–60% of respondents, effort³41–60% of respondents, service³41–60% of respondents, accomplish³41–60% of respondents, implement³41–60% of respondents, operate³41–60% of respondents, implementation³41–60% of respondents, behaviour³41–60% of respondents, processing³41–60% of respondents, behave³41–60% of respondents, career³41–60% of respondents, actively²21–40% of respondents, employment²21–40% of respondents, practice²21–40% of respondents, development²21–40% of respondents, execution²21–40% of respondents, invent²21–40% of respondents, industry²21–40% of respondents, role²21–40% of respondents, procedure²21–40% of respondents, functional²21–40% of respondents, construction²21–40% of respondents, achieve²21–40% of respondents, prepare²21–40% of respondents, interact²21–40% of respondents, undergo²21–40% of respondents, accomplishment²21–40% of respondents, undertake²21–40% of respondents, busy²21–40% of respondents, behavioural²21–40% of respondents, productive²21–40% of respondents, industrial²21–40% of respondents, plan²21–40% of respondents, participation²21–40% of respondents, manipulate²21–40% of respondents

sitelen pona

The sitelen pona glyph for pali (󱥉) is a hand (luka) with a circle (ijo) above, representing a generic action. A way to remember this is that words like "manufacture" and "manipulate" are from the Latin word for "hand", manus, referring to "manual labor" or "handwork". Theoretically, the glyph could be confused with a stacked glyph for luka ijo, but ijo is unlikely to be a modifier.

Further reading

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