TP Solresol System

[Mako]

A Solresol system adapted for TP
Toki Pona Solresol
Based on C major
A flat – s
A – p
B flat – j
B – t
C - k
D – m
E - n
F – l
G – w
3rd – Ca
4th – Ce
5th – Co
6th – Ci
7th – Cu

[janMato]

Would the words have a pleasant sound?

I never learned to make music, but I've spoken with people who do and they say there exists rules and patterns for knowing in advance what will sound good.

[janKipo]

I took a theory course once, to no visible (audible) effect on my production. But the general notion about phonemes seems to be that vowels are most pleasing, followed by fricatives (but not spirants), then nasal, then lenis stops (e.g., English voiced), then spirants that fortis stops. In general, where there is a choice in a category, the preference moves from front to back. "Hellish Racket" gets some of its discordant force from that /ch/ in the second word. But that doesn't answer how well this will work in practice. Got some shape note singers handy?

[Mako]

jan Kipo o! jan Mato o!
My music theory is very weak. This is merely a preliminary scheme (or perhaps a mad daydream). The difficulty is this: I have to fit 14 consonants and 5 vowels onto a 12-note system. Even if the CV syllables are formed by chords, there are more consonants than keys!

[janSakewi]

jan Mato - there are not 14 consonants!

p, t, k, m, n, w, l, j, s

There are only nine. With a twelve-note system, you could use all but one vowel. And apparantly, o and u do not conflict in toki pona. That is, if you were to put a u instead of an o in any word, you would not get an actual word.

[janSakewi]

[janKipo]

No law requires you to stick to 12 note scales, especially since modern instruments can hack an octave any which way. And, of course, it is not the absolute notes that need concern you, but the relative positions: more solfeggi than pitch? So, while I don't see the point of this, you should be able to do it.

[Mako]

mi pakala. mi kepeken e nanpa sama jan pi toki pona. toki pona li jo e nimi mute (mute tu tu). nimi li jo tu kipisi. kipisi nanpa wan li nimi mute (luka tu tu wan). kipisi nanpa tu li nimi mute (luka).

[mastersheep13]

Hey, I know I'm (extremely) late to this party but had a similar idea after seeing SolReSol and Moss (http://www.thelanguageofmoss.com/) and wondering if both could be combined, and I feel that this is a great idea!

What I think could make it even better would be an entrance tone to clarify where the pitch center is (just a "nucleus" tone, like a C) and then a way to signify the end/beginning of a word. Possibly could be done with articulation of the final note considering that there is never successive consonants/vowels. (EDIT: One could also end with a simple half-step slurred down from the final letter, signifying the end of a sentence, and a half-step slurred up, signifying the natural vocal inflections one would have for a question.)

If anybody is interested in screwing around with this, I'd be glad to talk with any of you!

EDIT: Also, to clarify further the understanding of vowel/consonant placement, you could slur all consonant-vowel movements, which would start to group together letter pairs (wa-, te-, etc) together in the listener's ear.