History UsefulNotes / TokiPona

* [[https://twitter.com/jan_tonto/ jan Tonto]] is an active community project to localize political cartoons into Toki Pona.

* [[https://kijetesantakalu-o.tumblr.com/ kijetesankakalu o!]] is an original comic about Toki Pona's [[RascallyRaccoon unofficial mascot]] written in the language.

* Website/{{Wikipedia}} was officially available in Toki Pona in 2004. The edition was removed due to the language being incomplete at the time, and now exists on [[TheWikiRule its own website]] as ''[[https://wikipesija.org lipu Wikipesija]]''. Of course, official Wikipedia editions offer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toki_Pona articles on Toki Pona]].

Toki Pona is a {{conlang}} created by Canadian linguist Sonja Lang in 2001. Inspired by UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}} and the SapirWhorfHypothesis, it was designed to be fun, cute, and [[{{Minimalism}} minimalistic]], and [[ThinkHappyThoughts promote positive thinking]]. By its social media presence, Toki Pona may be the second most-used conlang online.

Toki Pona's characteristic small vocabulary consists of just over 120 essential words from [[MeltingPotNomenclature over a dozen languages]][[note]]including Tok Pisin, [[{{UsefulNotes/Finland}} Finnish]], [[{{UsefulNotes/Croatia}} Croatian]], [[UsefulNotes/EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage Esperanto]], [[UsefulNotes/DutchLanguage Dutch]], Acadian [[UsefulNotes/FrenchLanguage French]], and [[UsefulNotes/EnglishLanguage English]][[/note]]. With so few words, communication [[ItMakesSenseInContext depends heavily on context]] to reduce [[AmbiguousSituation ambiguity]]. To compensate, words can [[CombinatorialExplosion readily combine]] to narrow things down. If a word can't be used as a noun, adjective, and verb, it's likely a grammatical particle that helps mark parts of speech in the first place.

Complicated ideas must [[BuffySpeak break down]] into [[LaymansTerms simple terms]] for [[BeigeProse only their most important and relevant properties]]. This process can yield new insights and test whether the speaker understands what they're discussing. Even proper names must be preceded with a basic description of what they refer to[[labelnote:for example]]''jan'' for a person, ''ma'' for a country or place name, ''toki'' for a language. Note that these are the nouns; the names themselves are "proper adjectives"[[/labelnote]]. Names can optionally be "tokiponized" into the restrictive syllable rules, so "[[Website/TVTropes TV Tropes]]" might become ''lipu Siwi To''.[[note]]It is recommended to [[DefiedTrope avoid]] PleaseSelectNewCityName by tokiponizing a community's name for itself, even adapting a [[FunetikAksent local pronunciation]], so [[{{UsefulNotes/Toronto}} Toronto]] becomes ''ma Towano'' instead of ''ma Tolonto''.[[/note]]

Toki Pona is usually written with 14 [[UsefulNotes/LatinAlphabet Latin letters]] in [[AllLowercaseLetters all-lowercase]] style, with only names being capitalized. However, [[ArtificialScript original writing systems]] abound. The most popular is ''sitelen pona'', Sonja Lang's logography. Its pictorial shapes and rebus cartouches evoke simplified [[AncientEgypt hieroglyphs]]. An adjective can nest inside or stack above a noun: the symbol for Toki Pona is the smile of ''pona'' inside the emitting circle for ''toki''. Meanwhile, Jonathan Gabel's elaborate, graffiti-styled ''sitelen sitelen'' (also called ''sitelen suwi'') features a [[StarfishLanguage non-linear sentence layout]] and intricate glyphs.

2014 marked the language's completion with the book ''Toki Pona: [[YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord The Language of Good]]'', or ''lipu pu''. It includes lessons, texts, a phrasebook and dictionary, and a guide to both mentioned writing systems. The book limited Toki Pona's vocabulary to 120 words for learners' benefit.

Despite a few speakers regarding ''The Language of Good'' as an exacting style guide, others have proven eager to experiment with the language. Of Toki Pona's few grammar rules, most are tied up in specific sentence-structuring particles. But because complexity arises from the edge cases, there are many ways to analyze the grammar. Speakers can get away with [[ConstrainedWriting disavow certain structures and even words]], pushing the minimalism further.

Contrastingly, speakers often coin new words or revive pre-''pu'' words, both known as ''nimi sin''. These might fill gaps in the vocabulary, add experimental grammar rules, or enable [[AlternativeNumberSystem original number systems]][[note]]numbers being an [[EverybodyHatesMathematics intentional blind spot]] in the language's design[[/note]]. Other ''nimi sin'' are [[InJoke In-Jokes]]. The best-known include the [[TheUnpronounceable Unpronounceable]] SelfDeprecating ''[[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion yupekosi]]''[[note]]to [[SeasonalRot worsen]] an old creative work by [[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion revising it]], like Creator/GeorgeLucas. The word introduces a letter ''y'' with no hint as to how to pronounce it.[[/note]] and a [[StylisticSuck hyperspecific]] AprilFoolsDay word for procyonids, ''[[OverlyLongName kijetesantakalu]]''. The community has designed glyphs for many of these words within Toki Pona's writing systems. James Flear's ''kijetesantakalu'' glyph for ''sitelen pona'' is something of a BreakoutCharacter, interpreted as a [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter cutesy]], mushroom-stealing RascallyRaccoon.

[[BrokenBase Tension]] existed between prescriptivists, and those who wanted the language to grow more [[DeathOfTheAuthor communal]], experimental, or [[MediaDiversityTropes inclusive]]. The conflict was [[AuthorsSavingThrow defused]] in 2021 when Lang published a second book, ''Toki Pona Dictionary'', or ''lipu ku''. It underscored her desire for the speaking community to [[PassingTheTorch take charge]] of Toki Pona's evolution, while compiling words, definitions, and more from community use. All translations came with frequency data; 17 ''nimi sin'' were attested enough to be considered "an essential part of Toki Pona".

Words aside, new methods of communication have been created. Luka Pona is a predominant [[UsefulNotes/SignedLanguage sign language]] in the community. UsefulNotes/{{Fonts}} for original writing systems have existed since 2016, often supporting ''nimi sin''. In early 2022, the [[https://kreativekorp.com/ucsur UCSUR]] allocated an unofficial Unicode range for ''sitelen pona''. Several fonts adopted the new codepoints, and more ''sitelen pona'' [[https://github.com/Id405/sitelen-pona-ucsur-guide/blob/main/README.md input tools]] became possible. Meanwhile, the community successfully applied for an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-3 ISO 639-3 code]], allowing digital text to be marked and recognized as Toki Pona, and opening new possibilities for software localization. Alongside recurrent media attention, this might codify Toki Pona as a notable living language.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Chess}}'': [[https://lichess.org lichess.org]] offers a Toki Pona language setting.

Contrastingly, speakers often coin new words or revive pre-''pu'' words, both known as ''nimi sin''. These might fill gaps in the vocabulary, add experimental grammar rules, or enable [[AlternativeNumberSystem original number systems]][[note]]numbers being an [[EverybodyHatesMathematics intentional blind spot]] in the language's design[[/note]]. Other ''nimi sin'' are [[InJoke In-Jokes]]. The best-known include the [[TheUnpronounceable Unpronounceable]] SelfDeprecating ''[[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion yupekosi]]''[[note]]to [[SeasonalRot worsen]] an old creative work by [[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion revising it]], [[TakeThat like]] [[Creator/GeorgeLucas George Lucas]]. The word introduces a letter ''y'' with NoPronunciationGuide.[[/note]] and a [[StylisticSuck hyperspecific]] AprilFoolsDay word for procyonids, ''[[OverlyLongName kijetesantakalu]]''. The community has designed glyphs for many of these words within Toki Pona's writing systems. James Flear's ''kijetesantakalu'' glyph for ''sitelen pona'' is something of a BreakoutCharacter, interpreted as a [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter cutesy]], mushroom-stealing RascallyRaccoon.

Complicated ideas must [[BuffySpeak break down]] into [[LaymansTerms simple terms]] for [[BeigeProse only their most important and relevant properties]]. This process can yield new insights and test whether the speaker understands what they're discussing. Even proper names must be preceded with a basic description of what they refer to[[labelnote:for example]]''jan'' for a person, ''ma'' for a country or place name, ''toki'' for a language. Note that these are the nouns; the names themselves are "proper adjectives"[[/labelnote]]. Names can optionally be "tokiponized" into the restrictive syllable rules, so "[[Wiki/TVTropes TV Tropes]]" might become ''lipu Siwi To''.[[note]]It is recommended to [[DefiedTrope avoid]] PleaseSelectNewCityName by tokiponizing a community's name for itself, even adapting a [[FunetikAksent local pronunciation]], so [[{{UsefulNotes/Toronto}} Toronto]] becomes ''ma Towano'' instead of ''ma Tolonto''.[[/note]]

* Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} was officially available in Toki Pona in 2004. The edition was removed due to the language being incomplete at the time, and now exists on [[TheWikiRule its own website]] as ''[[https://wikipesija.org lipu Wikipesija]]''. Of course, official Wikipedia editions offer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toki_Pona articles on Toki Pona]].

Toki Pona is a {{conlang}} created by Canadian linguist Sonja Lang in 2001. It's possibly the second most-used conlang online. Inspired by UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}} and the SapirWhorfHypothesis, it was designed to be fun, cute, and [[{{Minimalism}} minimalistic]], boasting a base vocabulary of only 120 words. Or 137, by a later assessment.

The vocabulary is derived and simplified from [[MeltingPotNomenclature over a dozen languages]][[note]]including Tok Pisin, [[{{UsefulNotes/Finland}} Finnish]], [[{{UsefulNotes/Croatia}} Croatian]], [[UsefulNotes/EsperantoTheUniversalLanguage Esperanto]], [[UsefulNotes/DutchLanguage Dutch]], Acadian [[UsefulNotes/FrenchLanguage French]], and yes, [[UsefulNotes/EnglishLanguage English]][[/note]]. Despite these international roots, Toki Pona was originally meant to [[ThinkHappyThoughts promote positive thinking]], rather than become an [[CommonTongue auxiliary language]] like Esperanto.

Due to the small lexicon, Toki Pona communication [[ItMakesSenseInContext depends heavily on context]] to reduce [[AmbiguousSituation ambiguity]]. With that said, most words are either meant to [[CombinatorialExplosion freely combine with each other]] to help narrow things down, or are grammatical particles that mark a word's role in a sentence.[[note]]Content words can take the role of a subject or object, modifier, predicate (intransitive stative or dynamic verb), transitive verb, prepositional phrase, and context phrase. Some can also serve as prepositions, auxiliary verbs, conjunctions, interjections, particles, and phrases.[[/note]] As most complicated concepts don't get dedicated words, they usually have to be [[BuffySpeak broken down]] into [[LaymansTerms simple terms]], [[BeigeProse describing only their most important and relevant properties]], which can yield new insights. Proper names are treated as modifiers instead of nouns, and must be preceded by a basic description of what they refer to[[labelnote:for example]]''jan'' for a person, ''ma'' for a country or place name, ''toki'' for a language[[/labelnote]]. Names can optionally be "tokiponized", adapted into the restrictive syllable rules, so "[[Wiki/TVTropes TV Tropes]]" might become ''lipu Siwi To''.[[note]]It is recommended to [[DefiedTrope avoid]] PleaseSelectNewCityName by tokiponizing a community's name for itself, even adapting a [[FunetikAksent local pronunciation]], so [[{{UsefulNotes/Toronto}} Toronto]] becomes ''ma Towano'' instead of ''ma Tolonto''.[[/note]]

Toki Pona is most commonly written with 14 [[UsefulNotes/LatinAlphabet Latin letters]] in an [[AllLowercaseLetters all-lowercase]] style, with capital letters exclusively marking names. However, there are many [[ArtificialScript original writing systems]]. The most popular and most-used is ''sitelen pona'', a logography also created by Sonja Lang. Its simple shapes and name cartouches are vaguely reminiscent of [[AncientEgypt hieroglyphs]]. Pairs of glyphs can be combined by placing one in or above the other; hence, the symbol for Toki Pona is the smiling glyph for ''pona'' inside the emitting-circle glyph for ''toki''. Another well-known writing system is ''sitelen sitelen'', also called ''sitelen suwi'', by Jonathan Gabel. Stylized after comix and graffiti, it is much more elaborate, featuring a [[StarfishLanguage non-linear sentence layout]] and much more intricate glyphs.

In 2014, the language was completed with the publication of ''Toki Pona: [[YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord The Language of Good]]'', or ''lipu pu''. The book includes lessons, translated texts, a phrasebook, a dictionary, and a guide to the aforementioned writing systems. Its vocabulary was minimized to 120 words for the benefit of learners, cutting several words from early Toki Pona drafts. Three words were [[InsistentTerminology listed as synonyms of others]] as an unsuccessful merge; swaths of the community continue to use them with their established separate meanings.

Many of Toki Pona's grammar rules boil down to definitions for sentence-structuring particles. However, a surprising amount of complexity arises from the rules and their edge cases, putting the intricacies of the grammar up for deeper analysis. As people form their own ways of speaking, some [[ConstrainedWriting disavow certain structures and words]], pushing the minimalism further.

Other speakers prefer to try adding features. There are hundreds upon thousands of new, experimental, and revived words, termed ''nimi sin''. Some fill a gap in the base vocabulary. Others introduce their own grammar rules. Many are [[InJoke In-Jokes]]. The best-known include the [[TheUnpronounceable Unpronounceable]] SelfDeprecating ''[[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion yupekosi]]''[[note]]to [[SeasonalRot worsen]] an old creative work by [[GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion revising it]], [[TakeThat like]] [[Creator/GeorgeLucas George Lucas]]. The word introduces a letter ''y'' with NoPronunciationGuide.[[/note]] and a [[StylisticSuck hyperspecific]] AprilFoolsDay word for procyonids, ''[[OverlyLongName kijetesantakalu]]''. The community has designed glyphs for many of these words within the custom writing systems. James Flear's ''kijetesantakalu'' glyph for ''sitelen pona'' has become something of a BreakoutCharacter, interpreted as a [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter cutesy]], mushroom-stealing RascallyRaccoon.

This [[DeathOfTheAuthor experimentation and expansion]] led to [[BrokenBase debate]] between certain "''pu''-rists", adhering to the language as presented in ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'', and those in favor of evolving the language, whether for better [[MediaDiversityTropes inclusivity]], the sake of linguistic descriptivism, or [[ItAmusedMe just for fun]]. The controversy was [[AuthorsSavingThrow defused]] with 2021's ''Toki Pona Dictionary'', or ''lipu ku''. In this second book, Lang emphasized a desire for the speaking community to [[PassingTheTorch take charge]] of the language's natural evolution, while compiling words, definitions, and alternative grammatical constructs primarily from community use. ''Toki Pona Dictionary'' considers 17 words to be used frequently enough to have become "an essential part of Toki Pona", making 137 words total.

Aside from words, many [[AlternativeNumberSystem number systems]][[note]]numbers being an [[EverybodyHatesMathematics intentional blind spot]] in the language's design[[/note]] and new methods of communication have been created. While a manually coded form of Toki Pona was included in ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'', it is considered obsolete in favor of a community-constructed [[UsefulNotes/SignedLanguage sign language]], Luka Pona. UsefulNotes/{{Fonts}} for original writing systems have proliferated since 2016, and increasingly include glyphs for ''nimi sin''.

In January 2022, the Toki Pona community successfully applied for an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_639-3 ISO 639-3 code]]. This will allow digital text to be marked and recognized as Toki Pona, and open new possibilities for software to be localized into the conlang. Alongside recurrent media attention, this might codify Toki Pona as a notable living language.

* [[WebVideo/JanMisali jan Misali]] likes the language enough to go by a tokiponization of his name. One of his video series, ''[[https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuYLhuXt4HrQIv3xnDxZqRaLfmxB2U5rJ 12 Days of sona pi toki pona]]'', is among the most popular Toki Pona learning resources, and it's being [[https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuYLhuXt4HrQwIDV7FBkA8zApw0pnEJrX redone from the ground up]] starting in 2021. He reviewed Toki Pona in episode twelve of ''[[WebVideo/ConlangCritic Conlang Critic]]'', arguing that its design goals line up with the ideal for an [[CommonTongue international auxiliary language]], and [[DarkHorseVictory continued comparing it favorably against actual interlangs]] in later episodes with the ranking system. Misali also makes, translates, and remixes lyrical music in Toki Pona.

* Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} was officially available in Toki Pona in 2004. The edition was removed due to the language being incomplete at the time, and now exists on its own website as ''[[https://wikipesija.org lipu Wikipesija]]''. Of course, official Wikipedia editions offer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toki_Pona articles on Toki Pona]].