taki

From sona pona, the Toki Pona wiki
Pronunciation /ˈta.ki/ 🔊
Usage 2023: Obscure4, Rare6 (14% → )Caution: Most speakers don't use this word.2022: Rare (14%)
Book and era nimi ku lili (post-pu)
Part of speech Content word

taki is an obscure content word and nimi ku lili relating to the attachment of objects.

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The word taki is derived from Korean (tak), an onomatopoeia for a sudden collision, such as between two magnets hitting each other. It was coined in 2020 by jan Kapilu and jan Lewiku in the ma pona pi toki pona community.[1][2]

Semantic space[edit | edit source]

The semantic space of taki includes stickiness, electromagnetic attraction, fastening with a clip, and other bonds and forms of attachment.

mi taki e sitelen ni lon sinpin

mi taki e sitelen ni lon sinpin.[2]

I stick this image on the wall.

ku[edit | edit source]

For Toki Pona Dictionary, respondents in ma pona pi toki pona translated these English words as taki:[3]

bond½, attract½, attach½, clip½

sitelen pona[edit | edit source]

Horseshoe magnet
Taeguk found in the Korean flag

The main sitelen pona glyph for taki (taki) represents a horseshoe magnet lifting two dots. An alternative glyph (taki2) depicts a taegeuk, a Korean symbol composed of interlocking spirals with a vertical separator, symbolizing polarity and duality.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. p. 24.
  2. 2.0 2.1 jan Kapilu [@jankapilu]. (5 December 2020). [Message posted in the #sona-musi channel in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server]. Discord. Retrieved 25 December 2023.

    taki - from Korean (tag), (onomatopoeia, the sound of magnets sticking to each other)
    adjective: sticky, magnetic
    verb: to stick something, to put things together, to glue
    e.g.:
    mi taki e sitelen ni lon sinpin - I stick this image on the wall
    kiwen taki - magnets
    moku taki - gum
    telo taki - slime/glue

  3. Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. p. 355.

Further reading[edit | edit source]