pi
  | |
| Pronunciation | /pi/ |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Core (99% ↗︎ )2022: Core (98%) |
| Book and era | nimi pu |
| Part of speech | Particle |
| Codepoint | U+F194D |
pi is a particle used for grouping modifiers together. The resulting phrase that follows it is called a pi phrase, by analogy to prepositional phrases.
How it works
By default, each modifier applies to the whole phrase before it[a]:
jan ponajan pona
good person
jan pona mutejan pona mute
many good people
pi marks the next word as a new head, which takes its own modifiers.
jan pi(pona mute)jan pi pona mute
very good person
The effect can be similar to hyphenating an adjective phrase in English:
tomo telo nasatomo telo nasa
strange water room (the room, perhaps a washroom, is weird)
tomo pi(telo nasa)tomo pi telo nasa
strange-water room (the liquid is weird; perhaps a pub)
pi needs to be followed by at least two content words: the new head and a modifier applying to it. If there would only be one word after it, you don't need the pi.
There is no way to "close" a pi phrase, beyond using a higher-priority particle or preposition, or ending the sentence. Instead, modifiers that apply to the first word should be moved before the pi:
jan pi(pana sona)jan pi pana sona
knowledge-giving person (teacher)
jan-ike pi(pana sona)jan ike pi pana sona
knowledge-giving bad person (bad teacher)
Notes
- ↑ Some speakers analyze all modifiers as applying to the first word instead, but the distinction often doesn't matter.
Multiple pi
While not defined in pu, some speakers do use multiple pi in a single phrase. However, this carries a risk of ambiguity as to whether the second pi is contained within the first or not:
lipu pi sona mute pi toki [ijo ni li ike]lipu pi sona mute pi toki Inli
English much-knowledge book (is the book in English or is the knowledge about English?)
The possible structures are:
- Flat pi
- lipu pi sona mute pi toki Inli
- Nested pi
- lipu pi sona mute pi toki Inli
jan Lope argues that, like li and e, both pi phrases apply equally to the first noun in the phrase, rather than nesting.[1] As an example, he gives:
kulupu pi kalama musi pi ma [ijo ni li ike] li ponakulupu pi kalama musi pi ma Inli li pona.
The English rock band is good.
The ambiguity is whether it's an English band that plays some sort of music, or a band from somewhere that plays English music. There is no consensus on this matter, and in practice both interpretations are possible. In fact, many speakers want it to be ambiguous so that clearer phrasing is used instead.
Using a single word between the pi does prevent the ambiguity, as the flat structure would contain an invalid single-word pi phrase. However, if you feel the need to stack this many modifiers, you might be better off rephrasing the phrase into a sentence:
kiwen pi(soweli pi kute suli)kiwen pi soweli pi kute suli
big-eared animal rock
kiwen ni li sama soweli pi(kute suli)kiwen ni li sama soweli pi kute suli.
This rock is like a big-eared animal.
soweli pi(kute suli) li lawa e kiwen nisoweli pi kute suli li lawa e kiwen ni.
A big-eared animal rules over this rock.
pi is not "of"
Some dictionaries, most notably the one in pu, define pi as the English word "of". This is misleading, as most senses of "of" don't translate into pi:
tokipiponatoki
piponathe language of good
It may be more helpful to think of every modifier as having an implied "of" before it:
kala utala sulikala utala suli
fish of fighting of bigness
Possession
A related misconception is that pi marks possession. In reality, adjectives can be interpreted as possessive with or without pi. It is just about whether the possessor is referred to with more than one word.
tomo onatomo ona
their house
tomo pi(ona ale)tomo pi ona ale
all of theirs' house
tomo pi(ona wan)tomo pi ona wan
one of them's house
Controversy
pi is controversial. To many speakers, it feels too engineered for Toki Pona's natural design, it creates more complexity and misconceptions than it is worth, and it encourages learners to find "the phrase" for any given word.[citation needed] Avoiding pi is a common nasin called pin't.
External resources
- pu Lesson 11
- jan Lentan Lesson 9
- soweli Tesa Lesson 6
- sitelen sitelen Descriptions and Possesives
- nasin toki pona
- jan Kekan San Modifiers and pi