tonsi
tonsi is a post-pu word mainly relating to non-binary gender, coordinate with meli for femininity and mije for masculinity. It was coined in 2019 by jan inwin.[1]
  | |
.jpg) | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈton |
|---|---|
| Usage | 2023: Common4, Widespread6 (83% ↘︎ )2022: Widespread (86%) |
| Book and era | nimi ku suli (post-pu, "honorary nimi pu") |
| Part of speech | Content word |
| Codepoint | U+F197E |
Etymology
The word tonsi is derived from Mandarin Chinese 同志 (tóngzhì), originally meaning "comrade" as in a member of the Communist party, but nowadays also used to mean a member of the LGBT community. The word was coined by jan inwin on 17 January 2019 as a proposal for a nimi sin for non-binary gender.[1] It was informally voted on in a series of polls in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server.[2]
Semantic space
tonsi generally means non-binary or gender-nonconforming.
Some speakers use tonsi with the alternative meaning of transgender. This is contentious as some non-binary people do not identify with the trans label, and they and binary trans people may not want their experiences to be conflated. Due to the core definition of tonsi, describing binary trans people as meli tonsi or mije tonsi might be construed to imply that they are not fully women or men, especially as there is no coordinate term to specify cisgender meli and mije.
According to the data in the Toki Pona Dictionary, tonsi has also been used to describe intersexuality.Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. p. 381.
Adoption
The speaking community widely considers tonsi to be a crucial addition to Toki Pona, referring to it as an honorary nimi pu to give it equal consideration to meli and mije in spite of pu-rism. In the "Notes on lipu pu" section of the Toki Pona Dictionary, jan Sonja endorses the effort:Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. p. 6.
At this point, meli and mije have been taught. A third word, tonsi, has been created by the community of Toki Pona speakers in a grassroots project, and I support it. See the dictionary part of this book for definitions.
This is not to say that all non-binary and gender-nonconforming people identify with tonsi. Beyond personal opinions on the word, some speakers don't use tonsi by virtue of avoiding gender words altogether.
sitelen pona
.svg) |
 |
The sitelen pona glyph for tonsi was derived from the transgender symbol. The glyph was chosen by a poll on Reddit, decided from a total of 13 proposal.[3][4] The original creator of the glyph is unknown. According to kala Asi while making the poll, she encoutered it and made a stylized version herself.[5][6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 jan inwin (@orsetto) (17 July 2019). Message posted on the
#sona-musichannel in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server. Discord. - ↑ jan inwin (@orsetto) (18 July 2019). Message posted on the
#sona-musichannel in the ma pona pi toki pona DIscord server. Discord.let's redo the vote between the 2
1️⃣ mapu ← Hawaiʻian māhū
2️⃣ tonsi ← Mandarin tóngzhì 同志Option Votes mapu 1 tonsi 5 - ↑ kala Asi (u/AcipenserSturio) (10 May 2020). "Survey: how would you rank these glyphs for "tonsi"?". Reddit. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- ↑ kala Asi (u/AcipenserSturio) (19 May 2020). "Survey results: how much people liked/disliked these glyph ideas for "tonsi" (n = 49)". Reddit. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- ↑ kala Asi (@kala_asi) (10 May 2020). Message posted on the
#toki-ponachannel in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server. Discord. - ↑ kala Asi (@kala_asi) (10 May 2020). Message posted on the
#toki-ponachannel in the ma pona pi toki pona Discord server. Discord.