pilin

pilin is a core content word relating to feelings and the heart.

pilin
Pronunciation	/ˈpi.lin/
Usage	2023: Core (100% → )2022: Core (100%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Content word
Codepoint	󱥎 U+F194E

Etymology

The word pilin is derived from Tok Pisin pilim, meaning "to feel", from English feel and the transitivizer suffix -im.

Semantic space

The semantic space of pilin include feelings, as in emotions, thoughts, or sensations. It also includes the heart, either emotionally or anatomically. As a predicate, it may either be intransitive ("to feel a certain way") or transitive ("to sense something").

mi pilin e kiwen

mi pilin e kiwen.

I feel/touch the rock.

jan li pilin e ni2 　 sona li pona

jan li pilin e ni: sona li pona.

People believe that knowledge is good.

Due to the transitiveness of the predicate sense of pilin, there have been debates on the order of modifiers in certain phrases. In pre-pu sources, the most common way to say "I feel well" is mi pilin pona, analysing it as the intransitive sense. Nowadays, some speakers often say mi pona pilin, analysing it transitively and by analogy with other phrases, such as pona lukin ("pretty") and pona kute ("nice-sounding").

pu

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

NOUN  heart (physical or emotional)
ADJECTIVE  feeling (an emotion, a direct experience)

ku

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

feeling⁵81–100% of respondents, emotion⁵81–100% of respondents, feel⁵81–100% of respondents, sentiment⁵81–100% of respondents, mood⁴61–80% of respondents, emotionally⁴61–80% of respondents, heart⁴61–80% of respondents, sense⁴61–80% of respondents, attitude⁴61–80% of respondents, emotional⁴61–80% of respondents, opinion³41–60% of respondents, notion³41–60% of respondents, assume³41–60% of respondents, impression³41–60% of respondents, hypothesis³41–60% of respondents, perceive³41–60% of respondents, deem³41–60% of respondents, thinking²21–40% of respondents, believe²21–40% of respondents, assumption²21–40% of respondents, thought²21–40% of respondents, speculation²21–40% of respondents, conscience²21–40% of respondents, suppose²21–40% of respondents, experience²21–40% of respondents, stimulus²21–40% of respondents, reaction²21–40% of respondents, suspicion²21–40% of respondents, belief²21–40% of respondents, perception²21–40% of respondents, touch²21–40% of respondents, idea²21–40% of respondents, estimated²21–40% of respondents, consider²21–40% of respondents, outlook²21–40% of respondents, think²21–40% of respondents, mentally²21–40% of respondents

sitelen pona

The sitelen pona glyph for pilin (󱥎) is derived from the heart symbol, which is often used to represent passionate feelings, as well as to stand in for the complicated shape of the anatomical heart. The glyph for olin is derived from it via reduplication, as two stacked heart radicals.

sitelen sitelen

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Further reading

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