sipi
 | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsi |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Not notable (1% ↗︎ ) Most speakers don't understand this word.2022: Obscure (0%)
|
| Book and era | No book (pre-pu) |
| Part of speech | Content word |
sipi is a marginal content word and nimi sin functioning as a reflexive pronoun, as well as relating to the concept of self. It is notably an early example of a word coined by a member of the Toki Pona community despite being virtually unused.
Etymology[edit | edit source]
The word sipi is derived from Latin sibi, the dative case of the reflexive pronoun. It was coined by Toki Pona Forums user spad0103 in 2007.[1]
Semantic space[edit | edit source]
The semantic space of sipi includes "ego", "self", or "(one's) own". Aside from a regular content word meaning (evidenced in the example compounds nasin sipi and pilin sipi for "egoism"), the main proposed use was as a reflexive pronoun:
ona li lukin e sipi.[1]
They look at themself.
In standard Toki Pona, this is expressed by repeating the pronoun: ona li lukin e ona. Optionally, sama ("same") can be added as a modifier to clarify that the second pronoun has the same referent as the first: ona li lukin e ona sama.
sitelen pona[edit | edit source]
The word sipi predated sitelen pona; a glyph was later[when?] proposed[by whom?] so that it could be used in the writing system. The proposed glyph (sipi) is a circle with an attached arrow pointing to itself, somewhat reminiscent of the other pronoun glyphs. In practice, it is unknown whether the glyph sees significant use.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 spad0103. (20 January 2007). "Re: Word requests / Petoj pri vortoj". Toki Pona Forums. Archived from the original on 5 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
Further reading[edit | edit source]
- "sipi" on lipu Linku