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lipu loje pi kon nimi (WIP)
WIP: Am working through the words slowly, aiming for one section a day. Maybe worth putting things into details tags, though I'd want an "expand all" button. Will look into that eventually, I can tank replacing 130 elements. :skull:
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about toki pona, and, because it has so few words, I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about almost all of them. I thought it'd be fun to collect these thoughts together!
Each word I'll give a definition that rings true to me, and then share anything interesting I have to say about it.
At present this page is ordered in the way words are introduced in Wasona. Not that this page is necessarily a user-friendly resource, but I like the way it groups some words.
soweli soweli
The animal words in toki pona I think do quite a good job at demonstrating the idea that toki pona word meanings are less about, like, scientific categories, and more about how we experience the world. (For some fun examples of animal categorisation, check out this awesome survey.)
soweli describes a category type of animal. These animals are usually fluffy or hairy, have four legs, and live on land. A dog or a cat is the perfect example of soweli. A horse is soweli, though it's on the larger side, as they come. Despite its scaly skin and hugeness, an elephant may be soweli - it's an unusual soweli, but the word fits them better than others, and like, come on, look at a fluffy baby elephant, that's a soweli.
Ostensibly, it looks like you could translate soweli as "mammal", but that's not a perfect fit, because the edges of the word "mammal" in English don't align with the edges of soweli. Whales are mammals, but they're more kala than soweli. Pangolins are mammals, but they're more akesi2 than soweli.
Some people use soweli to mean "all types of animal", or even "living things", when they want a vague word, but I don't do this because it doesn't make much sense to me. kala and pipi and waso are not very soweli, in my eyes. For this reason, some people use the nimisin ka, from tuki tiki, to mean "living things", but I simply take delight in saying soweli en waso en kala en ijo ale ante :p
waso waso
waso describes a category of animal. Usually, they can fly, have feathers, and two feet. You might translate it as "bird", but in the sense used in medieval bestiaries, wherein a bat is a type of bird. Indeed, bats are waso, (though they could also be soweli.) Penguins could be waso, but they could be kala, too.
I've seen tawa waso used to mean "fly" - a type of movement related to this category of animals. Isn't that delightful?
pipi pipi
pipi describes a category of animal. They're very small, and often have many legs or eyes, or segmented bodies with exoskeletons. Sometimes they have little crystalline wings. Sometimes they're too small to make out all the details, but they are for sure visible to the naked eye.
I mean basically pipi are bugs - all sorts! Butterflies, beetles, spiders and maggots are all pipi. If a spider was big and hairy enough to be closer to a dog than a beetle, it may well be soweli, and maggots may well be described as jaki.
kasi kasi
This one's not too out there: kasi are plants! It describes a category of living things that are often incredibly slow-moving, with branching stem-like bodies, and deep roots. Trees, flowers, moss and perhaps even coral are kasi, (despite coral being, like, the waste structures of communities of tiny undersea pipi).
The sitelen pona character for kasi is often drawn asymmetrically, which I think is really lovely. I implore you not to draw it symmetrically!
moku moku
moku describes a relationship with consumption, be it literal, in the sense of eating, or more figurative, in the way that, say, sleep consumes time. Food is moku, because it's, like, the quintessential thing related to consumption - if I'm choosing not to disambiguate beyond just "moku", then I'm probably talking about food. When something is eating, it li moku, because it's involved in consumption. When I eat something, mi moku e ona, because by consuming it, I am making it related to consumption.
I always thought the sitelen pona character for moku was a hand holding a bowl, but I realised recently that the half-circle is a mouth! (The same one as in uta, kalama, and loje!)
lukin lukin
lukin describes a relationship with seeing. When I'm lukin, I'm seeing something. When I'm lukin e something, I'm making it into something that is part of my seeing (by looking at it). When something is pona lukin, it's good in a way that is related to the seeable parts of it - it's good in a visual way.
Many people, probably slightly over half, use lukin to refer to eyes, while others (like myself) use oko. I concede that the majority usage makes sense - in much the same way as moku refers to food. I think I just use oko cause I like its vibes, and how letting it take the "visual sense organ" meaning means that lukin lives in a more verby space.
In the past, lukin, when used as a preverb had a meaning close to "to try to". I don't really intuitively understand the link from "seeing" to "attempting", but it's good to keep this previous usage in mind when a sentence involving lukin is not parsing for you. These days, preverb alasa is far more common for the "try to" usage, and the link feels more clear there, as alasa is concerned with searching.
sona sona
sona describes a relationship with knowledge, or information. If something li sona, perhaps it is knowledgable, or wise. sona by itself might refer to a piece of information, or a type of knowledge.
I'm a big fan of toki pona abbreviations, I think it's really cool how they're, like, emergent phenomena of it being a living language that sees use. One you'll see often that involves sona is msa (or MSA) as an abbreviation for mi sona ala
suli suli
suli describes something that takes up a lot of space, be it physical or mental. An elephant is suli because it's big. Something important, or with grave consequences is also suli, because it takes up a lot of space in your mind. A loud noise could be suli, because it takes up space in the soundscape by drowning out other sounds. If something is not important, and I want to make sure you don't bother yourself with it, I might say: ni li suli ala.
lili lili
lili describes something that does not take up a lot of space, be it physical or mental. Babies are lili because they're small. Something unimportant, with no consequences is also lili, because it doesn't take up much space in your mind. This paragraph is also lili.
pona pona
pona describes things which are good. The word's semantic space is sort of centered around a particular vibe of things which are good: hearty food, time with friends, a cozy sleep-in with no consequences. It's sometimes translated as "simple" because the good things it describes are good in their simplicity.
People can disagree about whether they think something is pona, depending on their perspective or opinion. If I pona e something, I'm making it pona, so maybe I'm fixing, or repairing it (if I think functional things are pona).
ike ike
ike describes things which are bad. The word's semantic space is sort of centered around a particular vibe of things which are bad: having to pick a side in an imploding friend group, legal proceedings where money triumphs over justice, things that wrap you up in rules such that there's no good path forward. It's sometimes translated as "complex", because if the bad things it described were simple, you'd probably have fixed them by now.
People can disagree about whether they think something is ike, depending on their perspective or opinion. If I ike e something, I'm making it ike, so maybe I'm overcomplicating it or making it unfair (if you think unfair things are ike).
wawa wawa
wawa describes the capacity to affect, sometimes translated as "strength", or "power". If I can lift a heavy rock, I'm wawa. If a song can inspire intense feelings in me, it's wawa. When I'm sleepy, a coffee can provide me with wawa. The "inspiring big feelings (particularly of awe)" usage is increasingly common - think pona wawa, or even wawa alone, as an interjection.
suwi suwi
suwi describes things that are sweet, or cute. I haven't figured out how to reconcile these two meanings in an intuitive way, like I have for many other words. When I see a teeny tiny bunny rabbit with a big leaf on its head and my heart melts, that is for sure suwi, but I don't see how that connects to the flavour of a marshmallow. Maybe this is just a metaphor of toki pona, that a strawberry tastes like a cat's meow.
ni ni
ni describes things that are related to that thing. Or perhaps to this thing. The thing to which I (the speaker) am referring. It's like a,,, freaking demonstrative pronoun.
ni^ Woah what the heck it's pointing at something else! ni> I'm surrounded! ni< It's out of control! When I'm writing in sitelen pona, I like to use ni^ to refer to things that have already been introduced, and ni (or sometimes ni>, depending on layout) to link to things I'm about to introduce. It can point in all sorts of directions, and I've seen it stretch across the page with a long squiggly tail, to indicate its referent.
mi mi
mi describes things that are related to me. Though, I guess when you say it, it describes things that are related to you. It describes things that are related to the speaker.
sina sina
sina describes things that are related to you. Though, I guess when you say it, it describes things that are related to me. It describes things that are related to the recipient of speech.
ona ona
ona describes things that are related to something that is, at this moment, neither the speaker or the spoken to, but the spoken about. When I was a beginner I overused ni, and now, in its stead, I use ona aaaall the time. It's really useful! You should give a little thought to whether you could use ona more.
Below: the rest of the Wasona Part 1 words.