The vocabulary for this page:
| word | meaning |
|---|---|
| akesi | “non-cute” animal, lizard |
| alasa | to hunt, to gather, to seek, to try (doing something) |
| kon | air, essence, spirit, ephemeral |
| pan | bread, grain, corn, rice, pizza |
| pilin | heart, feeling, touch, sense |
| pu | the official toki pona book, interacting with it |
| supa | horizontal surface |
| taso | but, however, only |
| uta | mouth, lips |
| weka | absent, away, remote, get rid of |
These are the final 10 official words in toki pona. They all function in the same way as other words mentioned before, with one exception.
alasa
The word “alasa” is sometimes used as a pre-verb meaning “to seek” or “to try”:
mi alasa sona e toki pona. – I’m trying to learn toki pona.
taso
The word “taso” can be used as a regular adjective to mean “only” or “just”:
mi lon tomo ni. – I’m in this house.
mi taso li lon tomo ni. – Only I’m in this house.
kulupu ona li jo e jan tu taso. – Their community only has two people.
mi pali taso. – I was only working.
But, when added at the beginning of a sentence, it means “but” or “however”:
taso, tenpo kama li wile ala ante. – But, the future refused to change.
Dialectal differences
This part of the document describes how certain toki pona courses differ in explaining certain ideas, or how communities differ in using them.
In the official dictionary, “pu” is only defined as “interacting with the official Toki Pona book”. Usage of this word as “the official Toki Pona book” itself, while common among some users, is unofficial. Sonja Lang personally uses the noun phrase “lipu pu” to refer to the official book itself. (Though the phrase “pu la” is also used in the book to mean “in this book”).
Exercises
Now, try to figure out the meaning of these sentences.
- sina wile kama sona e toki pona la pu li nasin pona nanpa wan tawa ni.
- tenpo suno ni la mi pilin pona mute.
- sina wile ala wile moku e pan sike?
- supa lape mi li pakala. mi ken ala lape tan ni.
- jan Mali Konto li toki e ni: o weka e ijo ike sina.
- kulupu ijo tu wan li lon. ona li kulupu kiwen, li kulupu telo, li kulupu kon.
- taso, meli lili pi jan lawa li lon tomo awen ante.
And try to translate the following sentences into toki pona.
- I saw a dragon (“big green fire lizard”)!
- Hello! How are you? (“How do you feel?”)
- The hunter gave us lots of meat and fruit.
- I’m reading a document. Very soon (in a short time), it will end.
- I can speak toki pona very well.
That’s it!
And that’s the end of the toki pona course! We’ve covered all 120 official words and all the rules of the language. If you want to find out more or to try using toki pona with others, feel free to check out the extra pages or the list of resources on the bottom of the top page.
~ jan Lentan (/dev/urandom)