View source for sitelen Ilakana and sitelen Katakana

{{tp title|sitelen Ilakana|sitelen Katakana}}
'''{{tp|sitelen Kana}}''' is a group of [[Writing systems|script adaptations]] of [[Toki Pona]] to the {{w|hiragana}} ('''{{tp|sitelen Ilakana}}''') and {{w|katakana}} ('''{{tp|sitelen Katakana}}''') syllabaries used to write {{w|Japanese language|Japanese}}, the {{w|Ryukyuan languages}}, {{w|Ainu language|Ainu}}, and {{w|Palauan language|Palauan}}. Various Toki Pona [[writing system]]s fall under these categories, as they have been suggested independently multiple times.

Kana include a separate character for each [[mora]]: for consonant&ndash;vowel pairs and for the coda ([[syllable]]-final) {{tp|-n}}. For example, {{tp|[[jan]]}} typically becomes {{ruby|{{tok|や}}|{{tp|ja}}|{{tok|ん}}|{{tp|n}}}} in {{tp|sitelen Ilakana}} systems and {{ruby|{{tok|ヤ}}|{{tp|ja}}|{{tok|ン}}|{{tp|n}}}} in {{tp|sitelen Katakana}} systems.

==Transcription for Japanese speakers==
When {{tp|sitelen Kana}} is used for educational purposes aimed at Japanese speakers, it is best to stay as close to Japanese usage of kana as possible. The following table can be used to faithfully transcribe Toki Pona to katakana. It is also possible to transcribe it with hiragana equivalents, but katakana is more typically used for foreign words and for writing non-{{w|Japonic languages}}.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+Mora chart
|-
!colspan="6"|{{tp|sitelen Katakana}}
|-
!
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-a}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-i}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-u}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-e}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-o}}
|-
!{{tp|∅-}}
|{{lang|ja|ア}}
|{{lang|ja|イ}}
|{{lang|ja|ウ}}
|{{lang|ja|エ}}
|{{lang|ja|オ}}
|-
!{{tp|k-}}
|{{lang|ja|カ}}
|{{lang|ja|キ}}
|{{lang|ja|ク}}
|{{lang|ja|ケ}}
|{{lang|ja|コ}}
|-
!{{tp|s-}}
|{{lang|ja|サ}}
|{{lang|ja|シ}}
|{{lang|ja|ス}}
|{{lang|ja|セ}}
|{{lang|ja|ソ}}
|-
!{{tp|t-}}
|{{lang|ja|タ}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|style="background:#DDDDF6;"|{{lang|ja|トゥ}}
|{{lang|ja|テ}}
|{{lang|ja|ト}}
|-
!{{tp|n-}}
|{{lang|ja|ナ}}
|{{lang|ja|ニ}}
|{{lang|ja|ヌ}}
|{{lang|ja|ネ}}
|{{lang|ja|ノ}}
|-
!{{tp|p-}}
|{{lang|ja|パ}}
|{{lang|ja|ピ}}
|{{lang|ja|プ}}
|{{lang|ja|ペ}}
|{{lang|ja|ポ}}
|-
!{{tp|m-}}
|{{lang|ja|マ}}
|{{lang|ja|ミ}}
|{{lang|ja|ム}}
|{{lang|ja|メ}}
|{{lang|ja|モ}}
|-
!{{tp|j-}}
|{{lang|ja|ヤ}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|{{lang|ja|ユ}}
|style="background:#DDDDF6;"|{{lang|ja|イェ}}
|{{lang|ja|ヨ}}
|-
!{{tp|l-}}
|{{lang|ja|ラ}}
|{{lang|ja|リ}}
|{{lang|ja|ル}}
|{{lang|ja|レ}}
|{{lang|ja|ロ}}
|-
!{{tp|w-}}
|{{lang|ja|ワ}}
|style="background:#DDDDF6;"|{{lang|ja|ウィ}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|style="background:#DDDDF6;"|{{lang|ja|ウェ}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|-
!{{tp|-n}}
|colspan="5"|{{lang|ja|ン}}
|}

The <span style="background:#DDDDF6;">highlighted</span> moras are written with a big katakana followed by a small one. The combinations {{lang|ja|イェ}}, {{lang|ja|ウィ}}, {{lang|ja|ウェ}} are used because modern Japanese does not natively have {{tp|je}}, {{tp|wi}}, {{tp|we}} moras. For the mora {{tp|tu}}, using {{lang|ja|トゥ}} ({{IPA|[tɯ̟ᵝ]}}) is preferable over {{lang|ja|ツ}} ({{IPA|[t͡sɨ]}}), because the Japanese pronunciation of the latter could be confused with {{tp|su}} or even {{tp|si}} by some Toki Pona speakers.

If one wanted to emphasize that the mora {{tp|si}} in Toki Pona is often pronounced {{IPA|[si]}} rather than {{IPA|[ɕi]}}, it is possible to transcribe it using {{lang|ja|スィ}} instead of {{lang|ja|シ}}. However, this might require some explanation because {{lang|ja|スィ}} is very rare and not familiar to many Japanese speakers. Furthermore, unlike {{tp|tu}} and {{IPA|[t͡sɨ]}}, pronouncing {{tp|si}} as {{IPA|[ɕi]}} doesn't have a risk of causing misunderstandings in Toki Pona.

Katakana words are usually separated by a {{w|Halfwidth and fullwidth forms|fullwidth}} {{w|interpunct}} (・). Fullwidth spaces ({{idsp}}) can also be used, as is common in kana-only texts aimed at children.

==Adapting kana to Toki Pona==
When {{tp|sitelen Kana}} is used mostly for fun or artistic expression, it opens up various possibilities for adapting the kana writing systems better to Toki Pona.

There are two non-trivial differences between kana and Toki Pona [[phonology]], and writing system proposals tend to diverge at these points. They are <span style="background:#DDDDF6;">highlighted</span> in the following table.
*Toki Pona has initial {{tp|p-}} but no {{tp|*h-}} (or {{tp|*b-}}). Meanwhile, p-row kana are written as variants of the h-row, with the addition of a circular diacritic, the ''{{w|handakuten}}'' (half-{{w|Voice (phonetics)|voicing}}-mark). Some proposals use the characters with ''handakuten''<ref name="Derroflcopter">{{cite web|url=//deviantart.com/derroflcopter/journal/Hiragana-for-Toki-Pona-339541633|title=Hiragana for Toki Pona.|author=|username=Derroflcopter|date=Nov 25, 2012|website=DeviantArt|publisher=|access-date=2024-01-11|quote=}}</ref><ref name="HS1D4ever">{{cite web|url=//reddit.com/r/tokipona/comments/e7g91u/sitelen_hiragana_ひらがな|title={{tok|sitelen Hiragana}} ({{lang|ja|ひらがな}}) |author=|username=u/HS1D4ever|date=December 7, 2019|website=[[r/tokipona]]|publisher=Reddit|access-date=2024-01-11|quote=}}</ref> for maximum clarity, while others drop the ''handakuten''<ref name="bjAsianPona">{{cite web|url=//thaiyoo.com/tokipona/bjasian.htm|title={{tok|bjAsianPona - janPitelo 人ひ水 2020 0202}}|author=Jansson, Bertil|username=|date=|website=Thaiyoo|publisher=|access-date=2024-01-11|quote=}}</ref> as they provide no distinction from any other Toki Pona morae and there are no other characters with diacritics.
*Certain kana are obsolete, so that there is no single character in common use for certain morae. Toki Pona disallows the morae [[wuwojiti|{{tp|*wu}} and {{tp|*ji}}]], which avoids many of these cases. However, it does allow {{tp|je}}, occurring in words such as {{tp|[[jelo]]}}, {{tp|[[loje]]}}, {{tp|[[mije]]}}, {{tp|[[sijelo]]}}, and {{tp|[[kijetesantakalu]]}}. Japanese ''{{lang|ja|ye}}'' {{IPA|/je/}} was merged with ''{{lang|ja|e}}'', and the {{w|Ye (kana)|''{{lang|ja|ye}}'' kana}} are not displayed properly on many devices. Some proposals use the obsolete kana, despite this poor support; others use an {{w|E (kana)|''{{lang|ja|e}}'' kana}} for both {{tp|e}} and {{tp|je}}, and may even elide the {{tp|je}} in the middle of a word such as {{tp|sijelo}};<ref name="bjAsianPona" /> and others spell {{tp|je}} using multiple characters including small kana.<ref name="Derroflcopter" /><ref name="HS1D4ever" /> A similar but less extreme situation occurs for the semi-obsolete {{w|Wi (kana)|''{{lang|ja|wi}}''}} and {{w|We (kana)|''{{lang|ja|we}}''}}, which are still used in some proper names.

Because mispronunciation is less of an issue, {{tp|tu}} is written as a {{w|Tsu (kana)|''{{lang|ja|tsu}}'' kana}} in most proposed systems, which is shorter than using the digraphs {{lang|ja|トゥ}} in katakana or {{lang|ja|とぅ}} in hiragana.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
|+Mora chart
|-
!colspan="6"|{{tp|sitelen Ilakana}}
!colspan="6"|{{tp|sitelen Katakana}}
|-
!
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-a}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-i}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-u}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-e}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-o}}
!
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-a}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-i}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-u}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-e}}
!style="min-width:30px;"|{{tp|-o}}
|-
!{{tp|∅-}}
|{{tok|あ}}
|{{tok|い}}
|{{tok|う}}
|{{tok|え}}
|{{tok|お}}
!{{tp|∅-}}
|{{tok|ア}}
|{{tok|イ}}
|{{tok|ウ}}
|{{tok|エ}}
|{{tok|オ}}
|-
!{{tp|k-}}
|{{tok|か}}
|{{tok|き}}
|{{tok|く}}
|{{tok|け}}
|{{tok|こ}}
!{{tp|k-}}
|{{tok|カ}}
|{{tok|キ}}
|{{tok|ク}}
|{{tok|ケ}}
|{{tok|コ}}
|-
!{{tp|s-}}
|{{tok|さ}}
|{{tok|し}}
|{{tok|す}}
|{{tok|せ}}
|{{tok|そ}}
!{{tp|s-}}
|{{tok|サ}}
|{{tok|シ}}
|{{tok|ス}}
|{{tok|セ}}
|{{tok|ソ}}
|-
!{{tp|t-}}
|{{tok|た}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|{{tok|つ}}
|{{tok|て}}
|{{tok|と}}
!{{tp|t-}}
|{{tok|タ}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|{{tok|ツ}}
|{{tok|テ}}
|{{tok|ト}}
|-
!{{tp|n-}}
|{{tok|な}}
|{{tok|に}}
|{{tok|ぬ}}
|{{tok|ね}}
|{{tok|の}}
!{{tp|n-}}
|{{tok|ナ}}
|{{tok|ニ}}
|{{tok|ヌ}}
|{{tok|ネ}}
|{{tok|ノ}}
|-style="background:#DDDDF6;"
!{{tp|p-}}
|{{tok|は<br />ぱ}}
|{{tok|ひ<br />ぴ}}
|{{tok|ふ<br />ぷ}}
|{{tok|へ<br />ぺ}}
|{{tok|ほ<br />ぽ}}
!{{tp|p-}}
|{{tok|ハ<br />パ}}
|{{tok|ヒ<br />ピ}}
|{{tok|フ<br />プ}}
|{{tok|ヘ<br />ペ}}
|{{tok|ホ<br />ポ}}
|-
!{{tp|m-}}
|{{tok|ま}}
|{{tok|み}}
|{{tok|む}}
|{{tok|め}}
|{{tok|も}}
!{{tp|m-}}
|{{tok|マ}}
|{{tok|ミ}}
|{{tok|ム}}
|{{tok|メ}}
|{{tok|モ}}
|-
!{{tp|j-}}
|{{tok|や}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|{{tok|ゆ}}
|style="background:#DDDDF6;"|{{tok|&#x1B001;<br />いぇ<br />え}}
|{{tok|よ}}
!{{tp|j-}}
|{{tok|ヤ}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|{{tok|ユ}}
|style="background:#DDDDF6;"|{{tok|&#x1B121;<br />イェ<br />エ}}
|{{tok|ヨ}}
|-
!{{tp|l-}}
|{{tok|ら}}
|{{tok|り}}
|{{tok|る}}
|{{tok|れ}}
|{{tok|ろ}}
!{{tp|l-}}
|{{tok|ラ}}
|{{tok|リ}}
|{{tok|ル}}
|{{tok|レ}}
|{{tok|ロ}}
|-
!{{tp|w-}}
|{{tok|わ}}
|style="background:#DDDDF6;"|{{tok|ゐ<br />うぃ}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|style="background:#DDDDF6;"|{{tok|ゑ<br />うぇ}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
!{{tp|w-}}
|{{tok|ワ}}
|style="background:#DDDDF6;"|{{tok|ヰ<br />ウィ}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|style="background:#DDDDF6;"|{{tok|ヱ<br />ウェ}}
|{{N/A|link=wuwojiti}}
|-
!{{tp|-n}}
|colspan="5"|{{tok|ん}}
!{{tp|-n}}
|colspan="5"|{{tok|ン}}
|}

==Kanji==
{{Needs work|How would the words with (semi-)obsolete morae be expected to be written in hiragana in this specific system?|section}}
{{Main|sitelen Kansi|l1={{tp|sitelen Kansi}}}}
A system by {{tok|janPitelo}} combines hiragana with [[kanji]] for certain words:<ref name="bjAsianPona" />

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-style="font-size:smaller;"
!style="width:0;"|{{tp|[[sitelen Lasina]]}}
!Kanji
!Expected {{tp|sitelen Ilakana}}
|-
|-
|{{tp|[[ala]]}}
|{{tok|不}}
|{{tok|あら}}
|-
|{{tp|[[ale|ale / ali]]}}
|{{tok|全}}
|{{tok|あれ／あり}}
|-
|{{tp|[[anpa]]}}
|{{tok|下}}
|{{tok|あんは}}
|-
|{{tp|[[en]]}}
|{{tok|又}}
|{{tok|えん}}
|-
|{{tp|[[jan]]}}
|{{tok|人}}
|{{tok|やん}}
|-
|{{tp|[[kalama]]}}
|{{tok|音}}
|{{tok|からま}}
|-
|{{tp|[[kepeken]]}}
|{{tok|用}}
|{{tok|けへけん}}
|-
|{{tp|[[kiwen]]}}
|{{tok|石}}
|
|-
|{{tp|[[lili]]}}
|{{tok|小}}
|{{tok|りり}}
|-
|{{tp|[[loje]]}}
|{{tok|红}}
|
|-
|{{tp|[[mama]]}}
|{{tok|母}}
|{{tok|まま}}
|-
|{{tp|[[mani]]}}
|{{tok|元}}
|{{tok|まに}}
|-
|{{tp|[[meli]]}}
|{{tok|女}}
|{{tok|めり}}
|-
|{{tp|[[mije]]}}
|{{tok|男}}
|
|-
|{{tp|[[mun]]}}
|{{tok|月}}
|{{tok|むん}}
|-
|{{tp|[[nena]]}}
|{{tok|山}}
|{{tok|ねな}}
|-
|{{tp|[[noka]]}}
|{{tok|足}}
|{{tok|のか}}
|-
|{{tp|[[open]]}}
|{{tok|开}}
|{{tok|おへん}}
|-
|{{tp|[[pali]]}}
|{{tok|工}}
|{{tok|はり}}
|-
|{{tp|[[pan]]}}
|{{tok|米}}
|{{tok|はん}}
|-
|{{tp|[[pona]]}}
|{{tok|好}}
|{{tok|ほな}}
|-
|{{tp|[[sewi]]}}
|{{tok|天}}
|
|-
|{{tp|[[sitelen]]}}
|{{tok|画}}
|{{tok|してれん}}
|-
|{{tp|[[suli]]}}
|{{tok|大}}
|{{tok|すり}}
|-
|{{tp|[[suno]]}}
|{{tok|日}}
|{{tok|すの}}
|-
|{{tp|[[telo]]}}
|{{tok|水}}
|{{tok|てろ}}
|-
|{{tp|[[toki]]}}
|{{tok|言}}
|{{tok|とき}}
|-
|{{tp|[[tu]]}}
|{{tok|二}}
|{{tok|つ}}
|-
|{{tp|[[walo]]}}
|{{tok|白}}
|{{tok|わろ}}
|-
|{{tp|[[wan]]}}
|{{tok|一}}
|{{tok|わん}}
|-
|{{tp|[[wawa]]}}
|{{tok|力}}
|{{tok|わわ}}
|}

==Names and punctuation==
{{Needs work|Punctuation standards|section}}
Some writing systems propose using corner brackets (「」) or switching from {{tp|sitelen Ilakana}} to {{tp|sitelen Katakana}} to mark proper [[name]]s.<ref name="HS1D4ever" />

Writing systems that use unchanged Japanese punctuation would use the following {{w|Halfwidth and fullwidth forms|fullwidth}} punctuation:
{|class="wikitable"
|period
|style="text-align: center;"|。
|-
|comma
|style="text-align: center;"|、
|-
|exclamation point
|style="text-align: center;"|！
|-
|question mark
|style="text-align: center;"|？
|-
|colon
|style="text-align: center;"|：
|-
|quotation marks
|「{{idsp}}」
|}

Words may be separated by a fullwidth {{w|interpunct}} (・) or a fullwidth space ({{idsp}}).

==References==
{{Wikipedia|kana}}
<references />
{{Writing systems}}
[[Category:Writing systems]]