View source for sitelen Lasina

{{tp title}}
'''{{tp|sitelen Lasina}}''' is a common [[Names|tokiponized name]] for the {{wp|Latin alphabet}}, particularly as used to write [[Toki Pona]]. According to the 2022 [[Toki Pona census]], it is by far the most commonly used [[writing system]] for Toki Pona, preferred by about 3 times as many people as the bespoke {{tp|[[sitelen pona]]}}.<ref>[//tokiponacensus.github.io/results2022/#writing-systems Results of the 2022 Toki Pona census - Writing systems]</ref>

==Letters==
{{Source|Toki Pona: The Language of Good/Letters and Sounds|''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'' {{sect}} Letters and Sounds}}
[[File:AEI Chart.png|thumb|A {{w|Flat design|flat-design}} {{w|emoji}}-based version of the "{{tp|[[AEI pi toki pona]]}}" alphabet chart, by Raxicorico]]
Toki Pona uses 14 letters. Consonants are pronounced as in the {{w|International Phonetic Alphabet}}.<ref group="lower-alpha" name="joke">Aside from some joke words, such as {{tp|[[kalamARR]]}}, {{tp|[[Pingo]]}} and {{tp|[[yupekosi]]}}.</ref> For more about pronunciation, see [[Phonology]].

{|style="text-align: center;"
|-
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|j}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|k}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|l}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|m}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|n}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|p}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|s}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|t}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|w}}
|-
|{{IPA|[j]}}
|{{IPA|[k]}}
|{{IPA|[l]}}
|{{IPA|[m]}}
|{{IPA|[n]}}
|{{IPA|[p]}}
|{{IPA|[s]}}
|{{IPA|[t]}}
|{{IPA|[w]}}
|}

Vowels can also be pronounced as in the IPA, but according to {{pu}} are ideally more centered, with /a/ being centralized and /e o/ being lowered to mid.

{|style="text-align: center;"
|-
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|a}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|e}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|i}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|o}}
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|u}}
|-
|{{IPA|[ä]}}
|{{IPA|[e̞]}}
|{{IPA|[i]}}
|{{IPA|[o̞]}}
|{{IPA|[u]}}
|}

===Alphabet===
{{tp|sitelen Lasina}} has no official {{w|alphabetical order}} or {{w|letter name}}s. In practice, the collation order of the {{w|ISO basic Latin alphabet}} (identical to that of the {{w|English alphabet}}) is often used to alphabetize lists in {{tp|sitelen Lasina}}. This may be influenced by the prevalence of "{{tp|[[AEI pi toki pona]]}}" alphabet charts.

==Capitalization==
Capital letters are not used in any common words,<ref group="lower-alpha" name="joke" /> including at the beginning of a sentence. Thus, most text is completely lowercase. Capitalization is only found in [[name]]s, and as names are proper adjectives that conventionally follow a common [[headnoun]], sentences always start with lowercase letters.

{{Example|<del>S</del>uli sitelen ni li ike.|(Nonstandard capitalization)|sp=no}}
{{Example|<ins>s</ins>uli sitelen ni li pona.|(Standard capitalization)|sp=no}}

Autocorrect may add unwanted capitalization that is nonstandard in {{tp|sitelen Lasina}}. See {{sect|Autocorrect#Dealing with automatic capitalization}}.

==Punctuation==
{{Needs work|scope=section}}
Punctuation in {{tp|sitelen Lasina}} is not expressly defined in the ''[[Official Toki Pona]]'' books. The most common punctuation marks are the {{w|full stop}} (or period) and the {{w|Colon (puncutation mark)|colon}} as sentence separators, as well as the {{w|question mark}}, {{w|exclamation mark}}, and the {{w|comma}}, which are optional.

The question mark is generally limited to sentences that are [[Questions|grammatically marked as questions]]. The exclamation mark is more permissive. It is used for [[command]]s, exclamations, [[interjection]]s, and generally in sentences with {{tp|[[a]]}} and {{tp|[[o]]}}, but sometimes to mark emphasis in sentences without a spoken {{tp|a}}.

The comma is often used to disambiguate sentences by dividing them up,<ref name="koko2024" /> or to make long sentences easier to read. It may be placed before or after the particle {{tp|[[la]]}}, or not at all; in the ''Toki Pona Dictionary'', {{tok|[[jan Sonja]]}} calls this a "stylistic choice".<ref>{{cite ku|9}}</ref>

{{w|Quotation mark}}s are sometimes used to clarify quoted speech.

The {{w|hyphen}} is generally <em>not</em> used in {{tp|sitelen Lasina}}, instead being used as a {{w|control character}} in [[ASCII transcription]] of {{tp|sitelen pona}}, where it is not supposed to appear verbatim.

===Alternative styles===
An alternative to the full stop is a {{w|middle dot}} with a space to both sides ( · ). Usually, this is strictly used to <em>separate</em> sentences rather than <em>end</em> them, and so is not used at the end of a line.

==See also==
* [[Writing systems]]
* {{tp|[[sitelen pona]]}}
* {{tp|[[sitelen sitelen]]}}

==Notes==
<references group="lower-alpha" />

==References==
{{Wikipedia|Latin script|the Latin script}}
<references>
  <ref name="koko2024">{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/828474497865744444/1196030215831441409|name={{tok|ko Koko}}|usermame=never_rare|message-type=Informal poll|channel={{tp|sona-kulupu}}|server={{tp|ma pona pi toki pona}}|access-date=2024-02-03|quote=how do you use commas in {{tok|sitelen Lasina}}?}}
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ How do you use commas in {{tp|sitelen Lasina}}?
|-
! Option
! Votes<br/><small>(multiple choice)</small>
|-
! In place of period when the ideas are relevant
| 29
|-
! In order to split up lengthy sentences
| 52
|-
! In order to represent pause in speech
| 58
|-
! In order to disambiguate sentences
| 16
|-
! After addressing someone
| 78
|-
! Before or after {{tp|a}}
| 34
|-
! Before or after {{tp|a a a}}
| 20
|-
! Before or after {{tp|anu seme}}
| 18
|-
! Before or after {{tp|la}}
| 74
|-
! Before or after {{tp|taso}}
| 37
|-
! I don't/try not to use commas
| 17
|}
</ref>
</references>
{{General|collapsed=yes}}
{{Writing systems}}
[[Category:Writing systems]]