tuki tiki
tuki tiki (meaning "repetitive language" or "roundabout language") is a radically minimalist constructed language and tokiponido. It was created by Ðoom Epictooþ (ka Tumu) starting in 2020.[1] It has 39 words and 8 phonemes.
While tuki tiki is more minimalist compared to Toki Pona, it is not – nor is it meant to be – absolutely minimalist or the language with the fewest amount of words. Its goal is to to shrink down Toki Pona's grammar and vocabulary to an even simpler but usable scale.[2]
Phonology[edit | edit source]
Consonants[edit | edit source]
The consonant inventory of tuki tiki includes 9 phonemes. The small inventory allows for a lot of allophonic variation. It was made smaller by sound changes. Namely, /s/ merged with /t/, /w/ and /j/ merged with /k/, and /n/ merged with /l/.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obstruent | p | t | k |
| Sonorant | m | l |
Vowels[edit | edit source]
The vowel inventory of tuki tiki includes 3 vowels, /a, i, u/. /e/ merged with /i/, and /o/ with /u/.
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Open | a | |
Grammar[edit | edit source]
The grammar of tuki tiki is very similar to that of Toki Pona.
Simple phrases[edit | edit source]
A "simple phrase" consists of one or more "simple words" (analogous to content phrases and content words in Toki Pona grammar). Phrases are head-initial, that is, the first word in the phrase is the head.
muku pula mi
my good food
Wordlist[edit | edit source]
The lexicon of tuki tiki is entirely derived from Toki Pona, with the word's semantic spaces expanded to compensate for its small size. For example, the word tu is derived from Toki Pona tu, but the semantic space is more similar to mute.
| Word | Part of speech | Meaning | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | simple word | all, only, exist, true, ah | a |
| ala | simple word | no, not, nothing | ala |
| connector | [question marker] | ||
| i | reference word | [object reference] | e |
| iku | simple word | thing, substance, object | ijo |
| ilu | simple word | tool, use, method, way | ilo |
| ka | simple word | being, person, creature, alive | jan |
| kati | simple word | plant, non-moving creature, leaf, page | kasi |
| ki | simple word | possible, able, maybe, can | ken |
| kiku | simple word | rock, hard, earth, ground, land, place | kiwen |
| ku | simple word | air, gas, spirit, feeling, vibe, sound | kon |
| la | reference word | [context reference] | la |
| lapi | simple word | calm, rest, fuzzy, dim, inactive, cold | lape |
| li | simple word | this, that; him, her, them, it | li, ni |
| reference word | [subject reference]: he, she, they, it, that | ||
| lika | simple word | line, stick, limb | linja |
| lili | simple word | little | lili |
| lu | connector | [conjunction, preposition] | lon |
| lupa | simple word | hole, box, room, mouth, inside | lupa |
| mi | simple word | me, my, us, our | mi |
| reference word | [subject reference]: I, we | ||
| muku | simple word | eat, food, tasty, sweet, pleasant | moku |
| muti | simple word | fun, play, culture, art | musi |
| paka | simple word | break, destroy, violence, conflict | pakala |
| pali | simple word | do, make, creation, structure | pali |
| puka | simple word | side, backside, vicinity | poka |
| pula | simple word | good | pona |
| taka | simple word | move, go, come, change, time | tawa |
| tama | simple word | same, similar, also, stay the same | sama |
| tiki | simple word | circle, cycle, repeat, pattern, again, time | sike |
| tiku | simple word | high, tall, big, important, top, head, sky | sewi |
| tila | simple word | you, your | sina |
| reference word | [subject reference]: you | ||
| tilu | simple word | water, liquid | telo |
| timi | simple word | what? | seme |
| tipi | simple word | front, face, vertical surface | sinpin |
| titi | simple word | image, symbol, mean, represent | sitelen |
| tu | simple word | a lot, much, many, amount, group | tu |
| tuki | simple word | language, make noise, talk, think | toki |
| tula | simple word | know, feel, learn, knowledge, document | sona |
| tulu | simple word | sun, light, warm, colour, energy | suno |
| uli | simple word | want, need, force, goal, direction | wile |
| upi | simple word | new, fresh, begin, start, cause | open |
Writing systems[edit | edit source]
Besides the Latin script (titi Latila), the most common way of writing the language is with the logographic writing system titi pula, inspired by sitelen pona.
Fonts[edit | edit source]
As of November 2023, there are three available fonts for tuki tiki:
- kiku upi ala
- tama ka Tumu
- nasin luka (codepoints only)
In Toki Pona culture[edit | edit source]
tuki tiki is commonly represented by a mascot, first designed by Reddit user u/Linguistic-Spiral in 2022 for the webcomic Prolangs.[3] It is an anthropomorphized representation of the language, drawn with a floating body without arms, shorter than Toki Pona's mascot. The glyph for tuki tiki is present in the face and torso of the mascot. The head has a mouth and a hat with emitters above. The character has a pink and yellow color scheme, contrasting with the blue and yellow colors of Toki Pona.
In 2023, as an April Fools' joke, the Toki Pona webzine lipu tenpo published an issue written entirely in tuki tiki, named kati tiki tu lili.[4] The issue nanpa sin features a serious article on tuki tiki.[5]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ The Conlang Database. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ↑ ilu tuki tiki. Google Docs. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.
- ↑ u/Linguistic-Spiral (15 June 2022). tokiponido family reunion!. Reddit. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ↑ kulupu pi lipu tenpo (1 April 2023). kati tiki tu lili (in Tuki Tiki). lipu tenpo.
- ↑ jan Ke Tami (1 November 2023). "tuki tiki li seme?". In lipu tenpo nanpa sin (in Toki Pona). lipu tenpo.