Toki Pona Forums

Hi all,

I'm starting this thread for asking how would you say a word or a sentence in Toki Pona. I could already save some, but some other words and phrases are getting tricky in my head.

For instance, a couple of hours ago, I was thinking about how one would say a known person in Toki Pona. I first thought of jan sona, but jan sona [NOUN NOUN] is a person of knowledge, like a teacher or a wiseman/wisewoman. However, according to The Official Toki Pona Book, you can convert any verb as an adjective [page 26], so I think jan sona [NOUN ADJECTIVE] could be translated as a known person as well, but I'm not sure.

What do you think, people?

Thanks a lot for reading!

The first problem is that adj sona means "knowing", not "known", there is no tp passive. So, to say he is known means somebody knows him, but that is hard to work into a tidy phrase. The doesn't seem to be a good direct solution. The best approach seems to be to reword the whole sentence with the phrase.

The first problem is that adj sona means "knowing", not "known", there is no tp passive. So, to say he is known means somebody knows him, but that is hard to work into a tidy phrase. The doesn't seem to be a good direct solution. The best approach seems to be to reword the whole sentence with the phrase.

Thanks for your answer, Kipo!

These explanations of yours help me to understand Toki Pona deeper!

KNTRO wrote:Hi all,

I'm starting this thread for asking how would you say a word or a sentence in Toki Pona. I could already save some, but some other words and phrases are getting tricky in my head.

For instance, a couple of hours ago, I was thinking about how one would say a known person in Toki Pona. I first thought of jan sona, but jan sona [NOUN NOUN] is a person of knowledge, like a teacher or a wiseman/wisewoman. However, according to The Official Toki Pona Book, you can convert any verb as an adjective [page 26], so I think jan sona [NOUN ADJECTIVE] could be translated as a known person as well, but I'm not sure.

What do you think, people?

Thanks a lot for reading!

toki!

Try re-phrasing with "jan li sona e jan ni" or, if you really have to, use a noun phrase like this: "jan ni: jan li sona e ona". (at your own risk )

mi tawa. awen pona!
jan Tepan

I have become a big fan of ‘ni:’, not just for indirect discourse but also for complex modifiers, like passives and expressions like “so ... that..” ('mama sina li suli ni: ona jo e nanpa sama pi ma pi lon pi lipu pana toki’). Constantly finding new uses.

Hi all,

How would you people say freedom/liberty in Toki Pona?

Thanks in advance.

Mainly ‘ken’ though ‘wile’ and ‘wawa’ also get used, but with different emphases.

KNTRO wrote:Hi all,

How would you people say freedom/liberty in Toki Pona?

Thanks in advance.

This should be safe:
(jan) ala li lawa e mi.

Experimenting, I'm also thinking in the direction of using "taso":
mi taso wawa.

Perhaps this could also be understood:
mi wan wawa.

Or just:
mi wawa.

taso PARTICLE but, however
ADJECTIVE only

wan ADJECTIVE unique, united
NUMBER one

wawa ADJECTIVE strong, powerful; confident, sure; energetic, intense

i hope you won't mind me hijacking this thread.

when thinking about toki pona i often try to translate everyday words. sometimes i am pleased with my ideas, sometimes i am not so satisfied.
- a dog: soweli pi jan alasa. a hunter's animal. then again, this could also mean game animals.
- a cat: soweli pi moku waso. an animal catching birds. i don't want to get into having to first describe a mouse .
- a doctor: jan pi pona jan. a person helping other people. vague.
- a fridge: poki lete
- a pizza: pan sike lipu. a round and flat bread. not perfect, but concise
- milk: telo soweli
- yogurt: ko walo pi telo soweli. a white dairy matter
- butter: ko jelo pi telo soweli. a yellow dairy matter. dairy products are difficult to disambiguate
- a cow: soweli ma pi lawa pi nena palisa. a horned animal from plains.
- a goat: soweli nena pi lawa pi nena palisa. a horned animal from hills.

if you know a much better way to express any of the words, please let me know.