Toki Pona news: new website, upcoming book, announcements from the language's creator
Tokiponaj novaĵoj: nova TTT-ejo, venonta libro, aperonta libro, anoncoj de la kreinto de la lingvo
n m
n [m]
n m pi n m
n [m] pi n [m]
n m pi n pi n m < --- This one seems like it should work. I can't explain why, if it doesn't work then I feel like I'm adding unnecessary modifiers.
n m pi n m pi n m
n [m] pi n [m] pi n [m]
Longer strings of "pi" are unintelligible. I recently read that Finnish, would can have as many suffixes as it would like, usually stops and 3. The "pi" constructions process probably has similar limitations for my winnie the pu sized brain.
tenpo ni la akesi li pilin pona. ona li pilin e ni: jan li wile toki e ike tawa jan ante la, jan li nimi e ona kepeken nimi monsuta. tenpo kama la nimi akesi li nimi ike ala. pilin pona la, akesi li ken lape lon suno. (akesi li pali pona e ni.)
To jan Ape first
Yes, I guess it does say that, but as a very minor part of a much larger symphony of ideas about tp (and one actually rejected in another movement in the whole -- but so are some of the more dominant motifs as well). So, I don't see that as a useful rationale for new words.
But finding uses for monsuta is useful and these are some handy ones (but, note that 'pi' requires two words after it). The note that alasa differs from kama jo is also helpful.
to jan Mato (better Pooh than Piglet) All the strings you not work and all but the first four are discouraged -- but the ones with two 'pi's are often necessary and used. I have seen three and had a rough job of it if the intervening bits were more than two words (the ambiguity of all such constructions increases exponentially, of course).
As so often, it is not clear whether it is kon monsuta or monsuta kon. Thanks for your vote.
jan Josan. lon. tenpo pini la nimi 'akesi' li nimi ike tason tenpo kama la nimi 'monsuta' kin li nimi ike. taso nimi 'monsuta' li nimi ike taso ala. jan li ken kepeken e nimi 'akesi' kin tawa ni: jan li nimi ike e jan ante.
jan Ape second.
Don't shoot off "adjective" and "noun" to freely; monsuta is both (or neither, depending on how you do this). But 'pi' still requires two following words, whatever their nature (right grouping within left).
Probably that , too (whatever it means) but the head-modifier relation is, as Mato regularly notes, about as vague as possible; context would be needed in each case. Watching a horror flick one might use it for fearful (there might be a monster behind me, oooh!) In a horror flick. a character might use it just before he transformed into a three headed ground sloth -- with fangs.
moku soweli - food for animals, or animals as food?
My interpretation would be that "moku soweli" would be "animal feed".
"moku jan" would be "people food".
"soweli moku" would be a(n) animal(s) for eating.
"soweli moli moku" would be a dead editable animal.
It seems to depend on stress and (as usual for tp) circumstances. 'moku soweli' is food made of animals (not animals raised for food) when some Vegan is screaming at you ( 'mi moku e moku kala taso') but food for animals in the store, probably (though I can imagine it going the other way there, too). moku soweli is, after all, food, not animals, just as 'soweli moku' is animals, not food, per se. It could. of course, be animals that eat/are eating, for example.
Animals as food are still just animals: mi moku e kili. -- I eat fruits. mi moku e kala. -- I eat fish. mi moku e waso. -- I eat chickens. mi moku e soweli. -- I eat pigs.
Though one can say: mi wile alasa e soweli moku. -- I need to hunt an eatable animal (for meat, not for fur).