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 (cung⁴, "to follow; from"), Georgian -დან (-dan, "from, out of"), and Dutch dan ("then").

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.literal translation 'this is from what?')
Why is that? (lit.literal translation 'this is because of what?')

mi pana e ijo pona tan ni2 　 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

The sitelen sitelen glyph for tan (tantan), like all preposition glyphs, is composed of 2 parts: the "head" and the empty "body". When tan is not used as a preposition, it behaves as one cohesive glyph. However, as a preposition, the "body" is used as a container for its complement.

The origin of the "head" of tan is unknown.

Like with any monosyllabic word, the word tan may also optionally be written with a syllable glyph (TANTAN). However, this is uncommon for tan, especially when used as a preposition, as the syllable glyph cannot act as a container for its complement.

Further reading

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