Facebook Lessons by jan Akidave

Language learning: How to speak Toki Pona, translation problems, advice, memory aids, tools and methods to learn Toki Pona and other languages faster
Lingva lernado: Kiel paroli Tokiponon, tradukproblemoj, konsiloj, memoraj helpiloj, iloj kaj metodoj por pli rapide lerni Tokiponon kaj aliajn lingvojn
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janMato
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Facebook Lessons by jan Akidave

Post by janMato »

jan Akidave wrote this on his face book page. I took the liberty of copying it here. This would be the 3rd micro-blogged lesson set for tp in existence.
Toki Pona is a simple constructed language consisting of 123 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).



Toki Pona: Basic vocabulary - mi = I, we; sina = you; ona = he, she, it; jan = person, someone, anyone; ijo = thing, something; pona = good, to fix; lukin = to look at; jo = to have; moku = food, to eat; kili = fruit; pipi = insect; tomo = house, room; lili = small, little, young; suli = big, tall, long
All vocabulary available here: https://files.pbworks.com/down?load/dr9 ... 0words.pdf



Toki Pona: Sentence structure - 'li' separates subject from verb (except when subject is mi or sina). 'e' separates verb from direct object. Basic structure is: subject li verb e direct object. Adjectives come after the word they describe. mi lukin e pipi = I see the bug. jan li moku e kili = people eat fruit. ona li jo e tomo lili = he/she has a little house.


Toki Pona: More vocabulary - moli = death, to kill; ilo = tool; telo = water, liquid; suno = sun, light; ike = bad, evil, complicated; utala = war, to fight; nasa = crazy, weird, stupid; olin = to love (a person); mute = much, many

Toki Pona combines root words for additional meaning: jan pona = friend; jan lili = child; jan utala = soldier; ilo moku = fork, knife; ilo utala = gun; tomo tawa = car (moving house [constructed thing]). Remember adjective follows the noun.


Toki Pona does not have a word for 'to be'. (Russian, Hebrew and Arabic exhibit the same lack of 'to be'.) pipi li lili = the bug is small. jan li suli = the person is big.


Toki Pona: 'ni' means 'this' or 'that'; ni can refer to a thing or to an entire sentence.


There are no tenses in toki pona. Use a time expression with la before the subject to indicate when the action occurs. tenpo ni la mi moku = I eat now. tenpo pini la mi moku = I ate earlier. tenpo kama la mi moku = I will eat later. Vocab: tenpo = time; pini = finished; kama = coming.


More toki pona vocabulary: mun = moon; jaki = dirty, disgusting; ko = semi solid substance; wile = want, wish, to need to; musi = fun, to play, game, recreation, art; sona = knowledge, to know, to understand; toki = speak, talk, language; ma = field, country, open space; sewi = high, holy, heaven, above; len = clothing; meli = woman; mije = man; pakala = accident, to mess up, swear word


Toki Pona: for compound sentences with one subject and multiple verbs, 'li' is repeated. suno li suli li pona = the sun is big and good. ona li ike li nasa = he is bad and crazy.


How to say you like something in toki pona. kili li pona tawa mi. I like fruit. (fruit is good to me). sina pona tawa mi. I like you. (you are good to me).


Toki Pona roots come from many languagesincluding English, Finnish, Georgian, Dutch, Acadian French, Esperanto, Croatian, and Chinese. Roots are modified to fit the toki pona alphabet. For example - kala = fish, from Finnish: kala; kepeken = to use, from Dutch: gebruiken; luka = hand, arm, from Croatian: ruka; kute = to listen, from French: écouter; jo = to have, from Chinese ? you; seme = what, from Chinese ?? shénme.


Toki Pona yes/no questions are in the form of 'verb ala verb'. sina wile ala wile e suwi = do you want a cookie?
Answer "Yes" by repeating the sentence. sina wile ala wile? mi wile.
Answer "No" with just ala. sina wile ala wile? ala. (ala = no, not, none, negation, zero)


Toki Pona: 'lon' used as a veb means "to be present", "to be there". mi lon. = I am present, I exist, I am alive. jan mute li lon. = there are many people


Toki Pona: As a preposition, 'lon' means "in, at, on". suno li lon sewi. = The sun is in the sky. jan lili li lon tomo sona. = The children are in the school. ona li musi lon ma. = She/he plays in the field. (vocab: sewi = above, sky; suno = sun, light; musi = fun, game, art; tomo sona = school (house of knowledge))


More Toki Pona vocab: nena = bump, nose, hill, mountain, button; kon = air, wind, smell, soul; lupa = hole, window, door; palisa = long cylindrical thing, rod, stick, branch; lawa = main, leading, head, control, steer; linja = string, rope, hair, cord; selo = surface, skin, shell, outside, shape



Toki Pona: wile (to wish, to want) can be used as a verb or with another verb: mi wile moku. = I wish to eat. mi wile e moku. = I want food. mi wile moku e telo. = I wish to drink water. ona li wile mute e ni. = he wants that very much. ona li wile jo e tomo. = she wishes to have a house. mi wile mute lukin e sina. = I wish to see you very much. jan nasa li wile moli! = crazy people wish to die!


In Toki Pona we can say many simple things: mi nasa! = I am crazy! mi olin e sina. = I love you. jan utala li utala e ona li moli e ona. = The soldier fought him and killed him. sina jan lili! = You are a child! jan suli li moku e telo nasa. = The adults drink alcohol. mi mute li moli e pipi = We kill the insects. sina ike mute. = You are very bad. ike! = that's wrong ! oh dear ! pona! = great ! OK ! Yay !


Describing temperature in Toki Pona: seli li lon. = It is hot. lete li lon. = It is cold. seli mute li lon. = It is very hot. seli lili li lon. = It is warm. lete lili li lon. = It is cool. (seli=heat, lete=cold, mute=much, lili=little)

Toki Pona has 6 prepositions: lon = to be in, at or on; sama = like; poka = with, alongside; kepeken = using; tawa = to, for; tan = from, because of.


Time in toki pona is expressed using 'tenpo X la' phrases - Past: tenpo pini la jan li pali = He worked. Future: tenpo kama la jan li pali = He will work. Present: tenpo ni la jan li pali = He is working. (tenpo = time; kama = coming; pini = finished; ni = this; pali = to work)
aikidave
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Re: Facebook Lessons by jan Akidave

Post by aikidave »

mi kama jo e pilin ni tan jan Mato.
mi kama jo e nimi sona tan jan Mato en jan Eli.
mi pali ala e nimi sona ni.
mi taso pana e nimi sona lon lipu pi lipu toki lawa mi.
jan Mato en jan Eli, o pona.

I got this idea from jan Mato.
I stole the words from jan Mato and jan Eli.
I did not create these lessons.
I only put the lessons on my face book page.
Thank you jan Mato and jan Eli !

I have about 110 'friends' on FB. I figure that is an additional 100 people who will be exposed to the existence of toki pona by my postings. I'm just planting the seeds. Only about 3 people have commented on my toki pona posts so far; they were not serious comments - just people asking me if I have lost my mind!
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