Toki Pona is a simple constructed language consisting of 120 words and 18 basic sounds. It is a minimal language. Like a pidgin, it focuses on simple concepts and elements that are relatively universal among cultures. Toki Pona aims to express maximal meaning with minimal complexity. There are five vowels and nine consonants (j, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, w). Pronunciation is easy: vowels are the same as in Italian or Japanese - sushi, Mario, kenpo, spaghetti. j is pronounced like y. The grammar is very regular and easy to learn. Core words are combined for more specific meanings. Verb endings are all the same, since there is no tense. Since there are a limited number of words, there is some ambiguity and often the meaning is derived from context. Each word can have multiple meanings, which makes learning the language more difficult than one might think. For example, the word 'Pona' can be a verb (to improve, to fix), an adjective (good, simple, right), a noun (goodness, simplicity), or an interjection (great!, cool! yay!). Context helps to determine which particular meaning is intended.
There is a philosophy of simplicity and goodness associated with toki pona. Training your mind to think in Toki Pona can lead to many deeper insights about yourself or the world around you.
This is the list of root words that make up TP: a, akesi, ala, ale (ali), anpa, ante, anu, awen, e, en, esun, ijo, ike, ilo, insa, jaki, jan, jelo, jo, kala, kalama, kama, kasi, ken, kepeken, kili, kin, kiwen, ko, kon, kule, kute, kulupu, la, lape, laso, lawa, len, lete, li, lili, linja, lipu, loje, lon, luka, lukin, lupa, ma, mama, mani, meli, mi, mije, moku, moli, monsi, mu, mun, musi, mute, nanpa, nasa, nasin, nena, ni, nimi, noka, o, oko, olin, ona, open, pakala, pali, palisa, pan, pana, pi, pilin, pimeja, pini, pipi, poka, poki, pona, sama, seli, selo, seme, sewi, sijelo, sike, sin, sina, sinpin, sitelen, sona, soweli, suli, suno, supa, suwi, tan, taso, tawa, telo, tenpo, toki, tomo, tu, unpa, uta, utala, walo, wan, waso, wawa, weka, wile.
TP to English Vocabulary This pdf file has all TP words on 2 pages. If you print it out back to back, you can have all TP words on one sheet.
English to TP dictionary - I put this together from Sonja's official TP to English list, working backwards.
A page for my own TP draft sentences.
My notes on TP lessons
My list of TP idioms
TP parts of speech
Random TP messages from internet for learning
Roots of TP words
TP to do
Custom TP dictionary for MS Word
John Clifford's TP to English Google Docs spreadsheet
John Clifford's English to TP Google Docs spreadsheet
TP words by category
TP stuff
TP Philosophy
Official website by Sonja Elen Kisa
New TP Forum
New TP Wiki
TP lessons:
TP Links to other sites as of October 2009
Lord's prayer in TP
mama pi mi mute o,
sina lon sewi kon.
nimi sina o sewi en pona.
ma sina o kama.
jan o pali e wile sina en lon sewi kon en lon ma.
sina o pana lon tenpo suno ni e moku tawa mi.
o weka e pali ike mi, sama la mi weka e pali ike pi jan ante.
o pana ala e wile ike tawa mi.
o awen e mi weka tan ike.
ni li nasin.
Why should I learn TP? I found these answers on various websites:
1. Might be good for improving your mind and mood. It will stimulate your brain cells to grow & be active. Also, some people suspect that a language designed to be cute, good and happy might make you cute, good and happy.
2. You have a chance of finishing. The language uses lots of tricks to keep the vocabulary burden down. Likewise, grammar is restricted to a few regular and predictable constructs. Toki pona is about a month of work to read and write at a basic level.
3.You probably will be able to pronounce it. The sounds in toki pona also exist in most other languages. There are fewer sounds, so even if you consistently use the wrong consonant or vowel, you probably will still be understood.
4. It is no one's native language. In toki pona, everyone is a bit hard to follow, so I’m on even footing.
5. It makes an excellent code language. Natural languages are some of the hardest codes to crack. Toki pona with its words that change depending on context gives you plausible deniability, i.e. maybe you are speaking in code, maybe you are meaning what you words say on the surface.
6. You’ll be able to say you are bilingual.
7. You could teach it to your children and they would be bilingual. It will make them smarter.
8. It’s (possibly) a window into the early days of human language. In the beginning there was a word. Or two. Somehow, people made themselves understood with a smaller vocabulary.
9. It’s good for brainstorming. Translation into toki pona or even writing toki pona requires constantly thinking of alternative way to express things.
10. It’s a drug free way to see the world in a different light. Reading toki pona induces a sense of creativity, since the constant ambiguity forces you to consider bizarre, whimsical or potentially profound new connections between seemingly unrelated things.
11. This is something you can choose to learn in addition to your native tongue. If I wanted to be able to speak with a friend in China, we could both put in a few weeks to learn this language, and start speaking! Great idea!
Toki pona, with its limited vocabulary and minimalist grammar, has a very different objective: to become a personal tool for practicing a different way of thinking. It is a kind of mental yoga, exercise a way of communicating without complications, abstractions and nuances, to learn to focus only on what is fundamental.
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