sona pona

sitelen sitelen

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sitelen sitelen (initialism: ss), also known as sitelen suwi, is a logographic writing system for Toki Pona, created by Jonathan Gabel (jan Josan Kapo) around 2006.[1] It is one of the two constructed writing systems featured in the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good, alongside sitelen pona. The overall style of sitelen sitelen was inspired by United States west-coast comix and East Coast graffiti, while the word shapes themselves are often taken from hieroglyphs or religious symbols.[2]

mi weka e ike jan la mi weka e ike mi.

sitelen sitelen is non-linear in nature. Rather of a straight row, words are arranged in blocks reminiscent of comic strips. Prepositions and part-of-sentence marking particles wrap around their contents, similarly to sitelen pona's cartouches.

Name

The name sitelen sitelen (meaning "drawing writing, writing made out of drawings") was suggested by jan Kipo (John Clifford), as a way to refer to pictograms and hieroglyphs. This is nowadays the most common way to refer to the script. The original name given by Gabel was sitelen suwi (meaning "sweet drawing"), describing the emphasis on appealing curves and shapes.[1]

Glyphs

Word glyphs

Aside from tonsi, which was added in 2020, Gabel designed the glyphs for nimi ku suli in collaboration between lon Jawin, jan Pensa, and jan Saki, with feedback from Nundrum, Skymandr, and jan Temili.[3]

Syllable glyphs

sitelen sitelen includes an alphasyllabary that is used to write names. It is also used for the words pu and ku, which lack their own word glyphs.

Null coda
 
a
 
e
 
i
 
o
 
u
 
Coda -n 		an en in on un
 
∅
 
a
 
e
 
i
 
o
 
u
 
∅…n
 
an
 
en
 
in
 
on
 
un
 
j
 
ja
 
je 		–
 
jo
 
ju
 
j…n
 
jan
 
jen 		–
 
jon
 
jun
 
k
 
ka
 
ke
 
ki
 
ko
 
ku
 
k…n
 
kan
 
ken
 
kin
 
kon
 
kun
 
l
 
la
 
le
 
li
 
lo
 
lu
 
l…n
 
lan
 
len
 
lin
 
lon
 
lun
 
m
 
ma
 
me
 
mi
 
mo
 
mu
 
m…n
 
man
 
men
 
min
 
mon
 
mun
 
n
 
na
 
ne
 
ni
 
no
 
nu
 
n…n
 
nan
 
nen
 
nin
 
non
 
nun
 
p
 
pa
 
pe
 
pi
 
po
 
pu
 
p…n
 
pan
 
pen
 
pin
 
pon
 
pun
 
s
 
sa
 
se
 
si
 
so
 
su
 
s…n
 
san
 
sen
 
sin
 
son
 
sun
 
t
 
ta
 
te 		–
 
to
 
tu
 
t…n
 
tan
 
ten 		–
 
ton
 
tun
 
w
 
wa
 
we
 
wi 		–
 
w…n
 
wan
 
wen
 
win 		–

Punctuation glyphs

Glyph Name sitelen Lasina
 
 Period .
 
 Comma ,
 
 Exclamation !
 
 Question ?
 
 Colon :
 
 Cartouche "　"
 
 Capsule

Writing

Glyph density

 
o ante e kulupu lili, written as syllable glyphs in 3 different sizes

When written at smaller sizes where they would otherwise be too dense, glyphs can be simplified. The drawing dictionary presents each word glyph at large and small sizes to give examples for how details can be removed while staying recognizable.[4]

Notable works

 
lipu lawa pi esun kama, a sitelen sitelen contract describing the sale of itself

lipu lawa pi esun kama

jan Mato created a challenge to test whether constructed languages were suited for sales contracts.[5] In 2009, Gabel followed through on jan Mato's challenge, negotiating with him mainly in Toki Pona[6] and writing lipu lawa pi esun kama. Written in sitelen sitelen, the contract describes the sale of itself for US$100 to jan Mato.[7]

Afterwards, jan Mato reflected on the experiment, sharing his opinions on Toki Pona's suitability for contracts and business.[8]

nasin nasa

nasin nasa is a surreal webcomic written by Vacon Sartirani about weird creatures on a weird planet, written entirely in sitelen sitelen. The first chapter came out in June 2019 and the latest chapter in May 2020.[9][10]

meli lili pi len loje

In 2019, jan Same released a translation of The Little Red Riding Hood from the brothers Grimm in four different writing systems, including sitelen sitelen.[11]

lipu tenpo

Since its first issue in February 2021, almost every issue of the monthly webzine lipu tenpo includes a poem written in sitelen sitelen, alongside the same poem written in the Latin alphabet.

  •  

    The poem seme li mi in sitelen sitelen by jan Alonola, published in the first issue of lipu tenpo in 2021

Notes

  1. ↑ Original glyph, now deemed alternative

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gabel, Jonathan (n.d.). "Welcome - kama pona". jonathangabel.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  2. ↑ Gabel, Jonathan (n.d.). "sitelen sitelen acknowledgements and etymology". jonathangabel.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  3. ↑ Jonathan Gabel. (5 September 2021). Designing glyphs - sitelen suwi pi nimi ku suli. https://jonathangabel.com.
  4. ↑ Gabel, Jonathan (n.d.). drawing dictionary: step by step. jonathangabel.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  5. ↑ Re: mi namako. Toki Pona Forums. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  6. ↑ jan Josan (11 December 2009). esun kepeken toki pona. Toki Pona Forums. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  7. ↑ Gabel, Jonathan (2 August 2012). lipu lawa pi esun kama. jonathangabel.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  8. ↑ jan Mato (10 January 2010). kama sona lukin pi esun pi toki pona. Toki Pona Forums.
  9. ↑ Vacon. Nasin Nasa. Tapas. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  10. ↑ Vacon Sartirani. nasin nasa. WEBTOON. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  11. ↑ jan Same. meli lili pi len loje. musi lili. Retrieved 23 October 2023.

External links

Retrieved from "https://sona.pona.la/wiki/sitelen_sitelen?oldid=9492"