tan

tan
Pronunciation	/tan/ 🔊 🔊
Usage	2023: Core (99% → )2022: Core (99%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Preposition, content word
Codepoint	󱥧 U+F1967

tan is a core preposition and content word relating to the origin, cause, or reason of something.

Etymology

The etymology of the word tan is uncertain. Some possibilities include Cantonese 從 (Jyutping: cung⁴), meaning "to follow; from"; Georgian -დან (-dan) "from; out of; since"; and Dutch dan "then; after that; in that case".

Semantic space

The semantic space of tan includes the source, origin, cause, or reason for something.

Preposition

As a preposition, tan is translated as "because (of)", "by", and "from".

mi tan ma [kasi alasa nasin awen telo a].

mi tan ma Kanata.

I'm from Canada.

kasi suli li ken kama tan kili lili　

kasi suli li ken kama tan kili lili.

A big plant can come from a small fruit.

ni li tan seme?

ni li tan seme?

Where is this from? (lit. this is from what?)
Why is that? (lit. this is because of what?)

mi pana e ijo pona tan ni> : mi olin e sina.

mi pana e ijo pona tan ni: mi olin e sina.

I gave something nice because you're dear to me.

Content word

As a content word, tan's semantic space includes "origin" and "reason", the latter being based on the preposition sense of "because". While some speakers chiefly use tan as a preposition, ku's "Notes on lipu pu" acknowledges the content word usage with the example sentence:

mi sona ala e tan　

mi sona ala e tan.

I don't know the reason.

pu

In the "Official Toki Pona Dictionary" section, the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good defines tan as:

PREPOSITION  by, from, because of

ku

For Toki Pona Dictionary, respondents in ma pona pi toki pona translated these English words as tan:

from⁵81–100% of respondents, reason⁵81–100% of respondents, because of⁴61–80% of respondents, by⁴61–80% of respondents, source⁴61–80% of respondents, behalf of²21–40% of respondents, basis²21–40% of respondents, origin²21–40% of respondents, motive²21–40% of respondents, cause²21–40% of respondents, purpose²21–40% of respondents, per²21–40% of respondents, since²21–40% of respondents, factor²21–40% of respondents, incentive²21–40% of respondents

sitelen pona

An undo icon resembling tan in sitelen pona

The sitelen pona glyph for tan (󱥧) depicts a curved arrow pointing counterclockwise, pointing from the phrase for the origin to the phrase for what is from there. It resembles the undo icon in many applications, which returns a document to a previous state.

sitelen sitelen

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Further reading

• "tan" on lipu Linku
• "tan" on lipu Wikipesija
• "tan" on English Wiktionary