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{{tp title|pi}}
'''{{tp|pi}}n't''' is a common {{tp|[[nasin]]}} that avoids the phrasal-modifier-grouping [[particle]] {{tp|[[pi]]}}.
To most users,
==Motivations==
Line 7 ⟶ 8:
'''(This is REAL Grammar, done by REAL Tokiponists)''':
Is <code>A</code>
'''They have played us for absolute fools'''
</center></div></div></div>
There are many perceived issues with
===Complexity===
{{tp|pi}} adds complexity and makes understanding a more demanding task. Longer phrases with multiple modifiers already make it more difficult for listeners to keep up, compared to [[Multiple sentences|using full sentences]], and only describe loose relationships between the head and the modifier. Adding {{tp|pi}} increases the complexity exponentially.
===Misleadingness===
{{tp|pi}} is misleading and difficult to explain. Learners who encounter {{tp|pi}} are prone to extend it to proscribed uses, like assuming that it means "of", marks possession, has some other [[semantic (value)|semantic value]], or can be used in ungrammatical positions. Correcting them requires vigilance and very specific explanations.
{{Indent|Even {{tp|pi}}<nowiki />'s etymology (from Tok Pisin {{tp|bilong}}, from English {{tp|belong}}) is misleading about its current, non-possessive use.}}
===Effects on grammar===
{{tp|pi}} encourages translating concepts as [[Lexicalization|set phrases]] without any clarifying grammatical particles, instead of choosing phrases dynamically from [[context]] and [[Circumlocution|describing concepts]] in [[Multiple sentences|as many sentences as needed]].
Particles like {{tp|[[li]]}}, {{tp|[[e]]}}, and {{tp|[[la]]}} are crucial to understanding the role of concepts in a sentence. They are not allowed in {{tp|pi}} phrases because they have higher priority than {{tp|pi}} in marking sentence structure. This can be fixed by splitting the noun phrase into a new sentence and replacing {{tp|pi}} with {{tp|li}}.
{{Example|*jan <del>pi</del> sona e ma li pona.|{{tp|*pi sona e ma}} is ungrammatical. This sentence could also be corrected to {{tp|jan sona li pona e ma}}, which has a completely different meaning.}}
{{Example|jan <ins>li</ins> sona e ma li pona.|{{tp|li sona e ma}} is grammatical.}}
{{tp|pi}} itself creates unpleasant grammar. Slightly "advanced" uses of {{tp|pi}} rapidly overcomplicate the grammar and create ambiguities.
{{Indent|Even among {{tp|pi}} users, there is deliberately no consensus on some issues, like whether multiple {{tp|pi}} have a flat or nested structure, to encourage people to use more pleasant methods of phrasing.}}
===Engineered-ness===
{{tp|pi}} feels too engineered for Toki Pona's natural design, and so it is aesthetically unpleasant and demands extra mental overhead.
The way that {{tp|pi}} requires a preceding head and at least two following words is overcomplicated, and harder to adjust to than the other particles.
{{tp|pi}} is highly sensitive to changes outside its phrase, and from several words away. Minor changes to a sentence can make a {{tp|pi}} phrase ungrammatical.
{{tp|pi}} also feels like a "spoken bracket" that is common in engineered languages, demanding speakers to keep track of nested phrases like <code>push</code>ing and <code>pop</code>ping a [[wikipedia:Stack (abstract data type|stack]].
===<var>π</var>===
{{tp|pi}} can be confused for the mathematical constant 𝜋, and some speakers are [[nanpan't]] or [[wikipedia:Tau (mathematical constant)|tauist]].
===For fun===
For some speakers,
==Strategies==
===
In some cases,
{{Example|lipu <del>pi</del> mute ala|not many books}}
{{Example|lipu mute ala|not many books}}
----
{{Nonstandard}}
Some speakers like to drop {{tp|pi}} in other cases as long as the meaning is still easy enough to guess, such as {{tp|tomo <del>pi</del> jan Epawan}}. This is fairly nonstandard.
===Prepositions===
Replacing
{{Example|kiwen <del>pi</del> kasi suli|hard thing <del>with <em>any</em> relation to</del> large plants}}
{{Example|kiwen <ins>lon</ins> kasi suli|hard thing <ins>at, in, or on</ins> large plants (perhaps bark, a rock in the woods, a bramble's thorn)}}
{{Example|kiwen <ins>tan</ins> kasi suli|hard thing <ins>from</ins> large plants (perhaps peeled bark, timber, tree nuts, branches or roots, a fallen apple)}}
{{Example|kiwen <ins>tawa</ins> kasi suli|hard thing <ins>toward</ins> large plants (perhaps an axe, a barrier that plants cannot penetrate)}}
===Possession===
There are several ways to phrase multi-word possessives without pi.
{{Example|ni li musi <del>pi</del> jan Epawan.|This is Abraham's art ~ game. (This provokes the similar, but now ungrammatical, {{tp|1=*<u>musi ni li</u> <span style="opacity:0.5;">∅</span> pi jan Epawan.}})}}
{{Example|ni li musi <ins>tan</ins> jan Epawan.|This is art ~ a game <ins>by</ins> Abraham. ({{tp|<u>musi ni li</u> tan jan Epawan.}} remains grammatical.)}}
{{Example|jan Epawan <ins>li jo e</ins> musi ni.|Abraham <ins>owns</ins> this art ~ game.}}
{{Example|jan Epawan <ins>la</ins> ni li musi <ins>ona</ins>.|<ins>As for</ins> Abraham, this is <ins>their</ins> art ~ game.}}
{{Example|jan Epawan <ins>la</ins> musi ni li <ins>jo ona</ins>.|<ins>As for</ins> Abraham, this art ~ game <ins>is their property</ins>.}}
===Predicate or sentence splitting===
Sometimes
{{Example|jan <del>pi</del> kama sona li wile e nasin sin.|Learning people want new methods.}}
{|
|style="padding-right:1em;"|
|style="border-left:1px solid currentColor;padding-left:1em;"|(People in general, or only some people? Granted, this can be clear in [[context]].)
|}
The obscure particle {{tp|[[ki]]}} has also been suggested for this purpose, but many speakers dislike the idea of a [[wikipedia:Relative clause|relative clause]] marker in Toki Pona and prefer using cross-sentence {{tp|[[ni]]}} for [[recursion]].
Replacing {{tp|pi}} with {{tp|li}} can present opportunities to clarify the words' roles with particles, or get rid of unneeded information in the head phrase before {{tp|pi}}:
{{Example|<del>mi jan.</del> <ins>mi</ins> pana e sona.|<del>I'm a person.</del> <ins>I</ins> give knowledge.}}
{{Example|mi pana e sona.|I give knowledge. (Since I am speaking, you can tell from context that I'm probably a person.)}}
Or it can clarify what the
===Just rephrasing the whole sentence===
Sometimes a sentence with
[[Category:Styles of toki pona]]
|