wile

wile is a core content word and preverb relating to desire and necessity.

wile
Pronunciation	/ˈwi.le/
Usage	2023: Core (100% → )2022: Core (100%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Preverb, content word
Codepoint	󱥷 U+F1977

Etymology

The word wile is derived from Dutch willen, meaning "to want, to desire". It is cognate with English will, with the sense "to wish, to desire, to long", as in at will, willful, and willpower, not the future tense. Cognates with other languages include German wollen, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ville, Swedish and Norwegian Nynorsk vilja, French vouloir, and Italian volere.

Semantic space

The semantic space of wile includes desire and necessity. It should be compared to o, which expresses exhortation or obligation.^{[citation needed]}This claim needs references to reliable sources.

Content word

As a content word, wile refers to wanting or needing something. Toki Pona encourages the speaker to re-examine the difference between their wants and needs and emphasizes the action taken to fulfill them over their origin or nature.

nasin pi(toki-pona) la ijo pi(wile suli ala) o weka

nasin pi toki pona la, ijo pi wile suli ala o weka.

In the way of Toki Pona, things that aren't absolutely necessary should be removed. (lit. not-importantly-needed things)

mi wile e ni: jan [moku esun lukin awen noka insa] li kama tawa tomo mi

mi wile e ni: jan Melani li kama tawa tomo mi.

I want the following: Mélanie will come to my home.
I want Mélanie to visit me.

According to lipamanka, wile is not meant to merge wants with needs, but to discard the concept and connotations of a need. Their dictionary gives the example "my body wants food, but I don't want to eat", which could be translated:

sijelo mi li wile e moku 　 taso mi wile ala moku

sijelo mi li wile e moku. taso mi wile ala moku.

Preverb

As a preverb, wile indicates that the subject wants or needs to be or do the predicate.

mama o mi wile tawa li wile toki　

mama o, mi wile tawa li wile toki.

Mamma, I want to go! I want to talk! (alt: I need to go! I need to talk!)

pu

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

PRE-VERB  must, need, require, should, want, wish

ku

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

want⁵81–100% of respondents, wish⁵81–100% of respondents, intend⁵81–100% of respondents, require⁵81–100% of respondents, need⁵81–100% of respondents, desire⁵81–100% of respondents, intention⁵81–100% of respondents, willing⁵81–100% of respondents, will⁵81–100% of respondents, intent⁴61–80% of respondents, preference⁴61–80% of respondents, motivation⁴61–80% of respondents, necessity⁴61–80% of respondents, ought⁴61–80% of respondents, yearn⁴61–80% of respondents, necessary⁴61–80% of respondents, willingness⁴61–80% of respondents, ambition⁴61–80% of respondents, hope⁴61–80% of respondents, prefer⁴61–80% of respondents, requirement⁴61–80% of respondents, required⁴61–80% of respondents, must³41–60% of respondents, obligation³41–60% of respondents, decision³41–60% of respondents, should³41–60% of respondents, demand³41–60% of respondents, eager³41–60% of respondents, request³41–60% of respondents, agenda³41–60% of respondents, goal²21–40% of respondents, would²21–40% of respondents, select²21–40% of respondents, motive²21–40% of respondents, interested²21–40% of respondents, criteria²21–40% of respondents, dare²21–40% of respondents, opt²21–40% of respondents, choose²21–40% of respondents, consent²21–40% of respondents, expectation²21–40% of respondents, shall²21–40% of respondents, urge²21–40% of respondents, determination²21–40% of respondents, pick²21–40% of respondents, objective²21–40% of respondents, depend²21–40% of respondents, elect²21–40% of respondents, dependent²21–40% of respondents, deserve²21–40% of respondents, selection²21–40% of respondents, incentive²21–40% of respondents, strive²21–40% of respondents, choice²21–40% of respondents, supposed²21–40% of respondents, interest²21–40% of respondents, enthusiasm²21–40% of respondents

sitelen pona

The sitelen pona glyph for wile (󱥷) is derived from the Latin letter W, as in the first letter of the word, normally drawn with the bottom half rounded down. There is an alternative glyph where the ends of the glyph are connected and form an upside-down heart, a mirror image of pilin.

sitelen sitelen

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Further reading

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