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. However, it is virtually unused.
Etymology
The word sipi is derived from Latin sibi, which is the dative case of its reflexive pronoun. It was coined by spad0103 in 2007.[1]
Semantic space
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/pilin sipi for "egoism"), the main proposed use was as a reflexive pronoun:
ona li lukin e sipi.[1]
They look at themself.
In common Toki Pona, this would be expressed by repeating the pronoun (ona li lukin e ona), optionally with a sama modifier to make clear that it refers to the same entity (ona li lukin e ona sama).
sitelen pona
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
- ↑ 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
- "sipi" on lipu Linku