seli

seli
Pronunciation	/ˈse.li/ (listen)
Usage	2023: Core (99% → ) 2022: Core (99%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Content word
Codepoint	󱥗 U+F1957

seli is a core content word relating to heat.

Etymology

The word seli is derived from Georgian ცხელი (cxeli), meaning "hot".

Semantic space

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inclusion of more meanings

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The semantic space of seli includes the quality of heat and and actions relating to it, such as cooking, baking, or a reaction that produces heat. Its antonym is lete.

It is sometimes used to refer to south, as in ma Amelika seli ("South America"). This is somewhat biased towards the Northern Hemisphere, where going south leads closer to the warmer equator. However, it is reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, where going south leads further away from it. This usage was first attested in 2007.

pu

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

ADJECTIVE  fire; cooking element, chemical reaction, heat source

After the publication of the Toki Pona Dictionary, the definition was corrected and changed into a noun.

NOUN  fire; cooking element, chemical reaction, heat source

ku

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

fire⁵81–100% of respondents, heat⁵81–100% of respondents, hot⁵81–100% of respondents, burning⁵81–100% of respondents, flame⁵81–100% of respondents, burn⁴61–80% of respondents, warm⁴61–80% of respondents, warming³41–60% of respondents, bake²21–40% of respondents, temperature²21–40% of respondents, cook²21–40% of respondents, boil²21–40% of respondents, cooking²21–40% of respondents, tropical¹11–20% of respondents

sitelen pona

The sitelen pona glyph for seli (󱥗) represents a fire starting off from a dot. The lines are sometimes analyzed as a variant of emitters, representing heat being given off.