Synonyms
Synonyms are words with the same meaning. They are the opposite of antonyms.
"Synonyms" in pu[edit | edit source]
The book Toki Pona: The Language of Good lists three words—kin, oko, and namako—as "synonyms" of the a, lukin, and sin, respectively. These "synonyms" are generally not counted among the 120 nimi pu.
| Word | Definition in practice | "Synonym" | Merged definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| kin | also | a | emotion particle, emphasis marker |
| namako | spice, extra | sin | new, extra |
| oko | eye | lukin | see, eye, (pre-verb) try |
Those words have been in use before and since the publication of pu, but with different meanings from their supposed relatives. Calling them "synonyms" was a deliberate attempt to merge them.[1] ku acknowledges that the words have retained their separate meanings among those who use them.
The merger of these words was mostly successful with lukin/oko, and mostly unsuccessful with sin/namako and a/kin. However, kin's original role as an emphasis marker moved completely to a, which was previously only a sentence-final particle to indicate emotion.[2] Here is an overview of how meanings changed over time:
| Word | Pre-pu usage | Usage in pu | Post-pu usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | emotion particle | emotion particle, emphasis marker | emotion particle, emphasis marker |
| kin | also, (uncommon: emphasis marker) | also | |
| sin | new, another, more | new, another, more, extra, additional | new, another, more |
| namako | spice, embellishment, extra, additional | spice, embellishment, extra, additional | |
| lukin | see, look, visual | see, look, visual, eye, try | see, look, visual, eye, try |
| oko | eye | eye, (uncommon: see, look) |
ali[edit | edit source]
ali is generally considered a pronunciation variant of ale, rather than a separate word.
nimi sin[edit | edit source]
There are some nimi sin coined at different times, which happen to coincide in meaning:
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ The words aka and eki are considered deprecated and synonymous of the main word natu.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Messages from jan Sonja in ma pona pi toki pona: kin, namako, oko.
- ↑ The 2007 definitions in Classic Word List define a as an "emotion word" and kin as a word that "emphasizes the word(s) before it".