Re: la phrases
Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2017 8:36 am
Maybe we should understand languages are living things.
Toki pona is changing and it has different branches. That is great! That means it is alive and people is using it. As long as we can understand each other it is fine.
American english and british english are different from each other. They are both english.
Formal english and informal youth english are different from each other. They are both english.
-Hello. I need to tell you something: Last night I met my old friend William. He said something along the lines of "I did not expect to see you here" and I was very surprised.
-Hi. I gotta tell you, last night I met my boy Willy, and he was like "I didn't expect you here" and I was like "Whaaaat".
Those phrases are both english. One is formal, the other one is colloquial. That does not make any of them "less english".
Jan Lope is pushing a formal, restrictive grammar aiming to overcome ambiguity based on pu, and creating new rules and tools to fill the gaps. This is good.
Other people is pushing a colloquial, natural, easier to use toki pona filling or exploiting this gaps with further utilities. This is also good!
People can talk using a formal, restrictive grammar if they feel comfortable with it. It is useful for learning the language, too, as the inherent ambiguity of toki pona can be hard to grasp sometimes. Then they can shift to a more relaxed way of speaking, when they feel appropriate, and shift back when they need clarification:
tan jan olin mi la mi pona
seme?
tan pi jan olin mi la, mi ' pona
For my lover, I'm better.
What? (does that means he is the best one his lover could choose, or that he healed for her, or maybe he is better now because she helped him?)
For the cause of my lover, I am a better person.
(this example may contain mistakes as I'm still learning)
They are just different registers. Both are good. Use both of them as tools, as colors, not as flags to fight for.
nasin ali li pona. o toki ala e ni: nasin mi li nasin wan. o sona e ni: mi toki e toki pona kepeken nasin ni tan ni: nasin mi li pona tawa mi.
Toki pona is changing and it has different branches. That is great! That means it is alive and people is using it. As long as we can understand each other it is fine.
American english and british english are different from each other. They are both english.
Formal english and informal youth english are different from each other. They are both english.
-Hello. I need to tell you something: Last night I met my old friend William. He said something along the lines of "I did not expect to see you here" and I was very surprised.
-Hi. I gotta tell you, last night I met my boy Willy, and he was like "I didn't expect you here" and I was like "Whaaaat".
Those phrases are both english. One is formal, the other one is colloquial. That does not make any of them "less english".
Jan Lope is pushing a formal, restrictive grammar aiming to overcome ambiguity based on pu, and creating new rules and tools to fill the gaps. This is good.
Other people is pushing a colloquial, natural, easier to use toki pona filling or exploiting this gaps with further utilities. This is also good!
People can talk using a formal, restrictive grammar if they feel comfortable with it. It is useful for learning the language, too, as the inherent ambiguity of toki pona can be hard to grasp sometimes. Then they can shift to a more relaxed way of speaking, when they feel appropriate, and shift back when they need clarification:
tan jan olin mi la mi pona
seme?
tan pi jan olin mi la, mi ' pona
For my lover, I'm better.
What? (does that means he is the best one his lover could choose, or that he healed for her, or maybe he is better now because she helped him?)
For the cause of my lover, I am a better person.
(this example may contain mistakes as I'm still learning)
They are just different registers. Both are good. Use both of them as tools, as colors, not as flags to fight for.
nasin ali li pona. o toki ala e ni: nasin mi li nasin wan. o sona e ni: mi toki e toki pona kepeken nasin ni tan ni: nasin mi li pona tawa mi.