Toki Pona

{{Short description|Minimalist language by Sonja Lang}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox language | name = Toki Pona | nativename = toki pona | image = toki pona.svg | imagescale = 0.6 | imagealt = Logo of Toki Pona. It is composed of a circle with three lines emitting from above at 330°,0° and 30°, with an inscribed smile inside. The outlines are colored navy blue and the circle is filled in with a light yellow. | imagecaption = Logo of Toki Pona, presenting the words {{lang|tok|toki pona}} written in Sitelen Pona | pronunciation = {{IPA|tok|ˈtoki ˈpona|}} | familycolor = constructed languages | family = Constructed language, combining elements of the subgenres personal language and philosophical language | creator = Sonja Lang | created = 2001 | speakers = 500–5000 | date = 2021 | ref = <ref name="ISO" group="†">{{Cite web |last=van der Meulen |first=Spencer |title=Request for New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3 |url=https://iso639-3.sil.org/sites/iso639-3/files/change_requests/2021/2021-043_tok.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230706140833/https://iso639-3.sil.org/sites/iso639-3/files/change_requests/2021/2021-043_tok.pdf |archive-date=2023-07-06 |access-date=2023-11-16 |collaboration=Toki Pona community}}</ref> | setting = Testing principles of minimalism, the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis and pidgins | posteriori = A posteriori language, with elements of English, Tok Pisin, Finnish, Georgian, Dutch, Acadian French, Esperanto, Serbo-Croatian and Chinese | script = {{ubl | Latin script ({{lang|tok|sitelen Lasina}}) | Sitelen Pona | Sitelen Sitelen | Numerous other community-made scripts }} | sign = {{ubl | {{lang|tok|luka pona}} (sign language) | {{lang|tok|toki pona luka}} (manually-coded) }} | iso3 = tok | ietf = tok | notice = IPA | glotto = toki1239 | glottorefname = Toki Pona }} '''Toki Pona''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|oʊ|k|i|_|ˈ|p|oʊ|n|ə}}; {{lang|tok|toki pona}},{{efn|When writing in Toki Pona, capital letters are used only for proper names, such as the names of people.<ref name="Blahuš-2011">{{Cite journal |last=Blahuš |first=Marek |date=November 2011 |editor-last=Fiedler |editor-first=Sabine |title=Toki Pona: eine minimalistische Plansprache |trans-title=Toki Pona: A Minimalistic Planned Language |url=http://www.interlinguistik-gil.de/wb/media/beihefte/18/beiheft18.pdf#page=51 |url-status=live |journal=Interlinguistische Informationen |language=de |location=Berlin |volume=18 |pages=51–55 |issn=1432-3567 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627181940/http://www.interlinguistik-gil.de/wb/media/beihefte/18/beiheft18.pdf#page=51 |archive-date=2021-06-27 |access-date=2019-01-08}}</ref><ref name="Rogers-2011">{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Steven D. |title=A Dictionary of Made-Up Languages |publisher=Adams Media |year=2011 |isbn=978-1440528170 |location=United States of America |chapter=Part I: Made-Up Languages – Toki pona}}</ref>}} {{IPA|tok|ˈtoki ˈpona|pron|audio=LL-Q36846-Lepticed7-toki pona.wav}}, {{lit|the language of good}}) is a philosophical and artistic constructed language designed for its small vocabulary, simplicity, and ease of acquisition. It was created by Canadian translator and polyglot Sonja Lang with the stated purpose of simplifying her thoughts and communication. The first drafts were published online in 2001, while the complete form was published in the 2014 book ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'' (referred to as {{lang|tok|lipu pu}} in Toki Pona). Lang also released the ''Toki Pona Dictionary'' ({{lang|tok|lipu ku}}), in July 2021, describing the language as used by its community of speakers. In 2024, a third book was released, a Toki Pona adaptation of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', written in Sitelen Pona.

Toki Pona is an isolating language with only 14 phonemes and an underlying feature of minimalism. It focuses on simple, near-universal concepts to maximize expression from very few words. In ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'', Lang presents around 120 words, while the later ''Toki Pona Dictionary'' lists 137 "essential" words and a small number of less-used ones.{{Efn-la|name="wordcount"|Prior to the publication of ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'', the language grew to 118 root words.<ref name="Classic Word List Improved!" group="†">{{Cite web |title=Classic Word List (Improved!) |url=http://www.tokipona.net/tp/ClassicWordList.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030131846/http://www.tokipona.net/tp/ClassicWordList.aspx |archive-date=2018-10-30 |access-date=2019-01-07 |website=tokipona.net}}</ref> Between then and the publication of ''Toki Pona Dictionary'', varying counts were given for the number of words in the former ({{lang|tok|nimi pu}}, {{Lit|words of the official Toki Pona book}}), ranging between 120 and 125.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /><ref name="Morin-2015">{{Cite news |last=Morin |first=Roc |date=2015-07-15 |title=How to Say (Almost) Everything in a Hundred-Word Language |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/07/toki-pona-smallest-language/398363/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712222757/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/07/toki-pona-smallest-language/398363/ |archive-date=2022-07-12 |access-date=2019-08-01 |work=The Atlantic}}</ref><ref name="Roberts-2007">{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Siobhan |date=2007-07-09 |title=Canadian has people talking about lingo she created |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/canadian-has-people-talking-about-lingo-she-created/article20399052/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312071710/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/canadian-has-people-talking-about-lingo-she-created/article20399052/ |archive-date=2017-03-12 |access-date=2017-03-10 |work=The Globe and Mail |language=en-ca}}</ref> The ''Toki Pona Dictionary'' added 16 new "essential" words ({{lang|tok|nimi ku suli}}, {{Lit|important dictionary words}}), and states on its back cover that there are a total of 137. It also includes several less-used words ({{lang|tok|nimi ku pi suli ala}} or {{lang|tok|nimi ku lili}}, {{Lit|dictionary words of little importance}}).}} Its words are easy to pronounce across language backgrounds, which allows it to serve as a bridge of sorts for people of different cultures. However, it was not created as an international auxiliary language. Partly inspired by Taoist philosophy, the language is designed to help users concentrate on basic things and to promote positive thinking, in accordance with the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. Despite the small vocabulary, speakers can understand and communicate, mainly relying on context, combinations of words, and expository sentences to express more specific meanings.

After its initial creation, a small community of speakers developed in the early 2000s. While activity mainly takes place online in chat rooms, on social media, and in other online groups, there have been a few organized in-person meetups.

==Etymology== The name of the language has two parts: {{lang|tok|toki}} {{gloss|language}}, derived from Tok Pisin {{lang|tpi|tok}}, which itself comes from English ''talk''; and {{lang|tok|pona}} {{gloss|good, simple}}, from Esperanto {{lang|eo|bona}}, from Latin {{lang|la|bonus}}.<ref name="tokiponaorg-2009a" group="†">{{Cite web |date=2009-09-28 |title=Toki Pona word origins |url=http://en.tokipona.org/wiki/Etymology_of_Toki_Pona_words |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100308091122/http://en.tokipona.org/wiki/Etymology_of_Toki_Pona_words |archive-date=2010-03-08 |website=tokipona.org}}</ref> The name {{lang|tok|toki pona}} therefore means 'good language', 'the language of good' and 'simple language', emphasizing that the language encourages speakers to find joy in simplicity.<ref name="Dance-2007">{{Cite news |author= |date=2007-08-24 |title=Babel's modern architects |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-24-sci-conlang24-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021114259/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-24-sci-conlang24-story.html |archive-date=2019-10-21 |access-date=2022-03-26 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

==Purpose== Toki Pona was designed both as a personal artistic language<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Galán Rodríguez |first=Carmen |url=https://www.dykinson.com/libros/el-jubilo-de-la-palabra/9788411706971/ |title=El júbilo de la palabra |date=2023-12-31 |publisher=Dykinson |isbn=978-84-1170-697-1 |editor-last=Pinilla Gómez |editor-first=Raquel |edition=1ª |pages=109–128 |language=es |trans-title=The Joy of Language |chapter=Toki Pona: el haiku del pensamiento |trans-chapter=Toki Pona: The Haiku of Thought |doi=10.14679/2565 |editor-last2=Sarmiento Guede |editor-first2=José Ramón |editor-last3=Becerra García |editor-first3=Javier}}</ref> and a philosophical language focused on minimalism.<ref name="Rogers-2011" /> It is designed to express maximal meaning with minimal complexity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-31 |title=Le Toki Pona : une langue universelle à découvrir |trans-title=Toki Pona: A Universal Language to Discover |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/ohdio/premiere/emissions/michel-le-samedi/segments/entrevue/365010/sonja-lang-langue-toki-pona-dictionnaire |access-date=2025-08-06 |website=ici.radio-canada.ca |language=fr}}</ref> Inspired by pidgins, it focuses on simple concepts and elements that are common among cultures. Its minimal vocabulary and 14 phonemes are devised to be easy to pronounce for speakers of various language backgrounds.<ref name="Morin-2015" /><ref name="Blahuš-2011" /><ref name="Roberts-2007" />

Partly inspired by Taoist philosophy,<ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" /> another goal of Toki Pona is to help its speakers focus on the essentials by reducing complex concepts to basic elements.<ref name="Morin-2015" /> From these simple notions, more complex ideas can be built up by simple combining.<ref name="Rogers-2011" /> This allows the users to see the fundamental nature and effect of the ideas expressed.{{Fact or opinion|date=May 2026}} It was designed for the speakers to become aware of the present moment and pay more attention to the surroundings and the words people use.<ref name="Morin-2015" /> According to its author, Toki Pona is meant to be "fun and cute".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Okrent |first=Arika |author-link=Arika Okrent |title=In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers who Tried to Build a Perfect Language |title-link=In the Land of Invented Languages |date=2009-05-19 |publisher=Spiegel & Grau |isbn=978-0-385-52788-0 |language=en |chapter=The Secret Vice |quote=Toki Pona[...] is intended [...] to be 'fun and cute[...].'}}</ref>

On the basis of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, which states that a language influences the way its speakers think and behave,<ref name="Roberts-2007" /><ref name="Tomaszewski-2012">{{Cite web |last=Tomaszewski |first=Zach |date=2012-12-11 |title=A Formal Grammar for Toki Pona |url=https://www2.hawaii.edu/~chin/661F12/Projects/ztomaszewski.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101110606/http://www2.hawaii.edu/%7Echin/661F12/Projects/ztomaszewski.pdf |archive-date=2019-11-01 |access-date=2019-09-21 |website=University of Hawai‘i}}</ref> Toki Pona was designed to induce positive thinking.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Malmkjær |first=Kirsten |title=The Routledge Linguistics Encyclopedia |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |isbn=9780415424325 |edition=3rd |location=New York |pages=34 |chapter=Artificial languages |oclc=656296619}}</ref>

Although it was not intended as an international auxiliary language, a worldwide online community uses it for communication.<ref name="Coluzzi-2022" /><ref name="Morin-2015" />

==History== Toki Pona was developed by the Canadian polyglot and translator '''Sonja Lang''' (formerly Sonja Elen Kisa). Born in 1978 in Moncton, New Brunswick,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2009-11-15 |title=3-60 - Toki Pona |url=http://en.tokipona.org/wiki/3-60 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20091115031837/http://en.tokipona.org/wiki/3-60 |archive-date=2009-11-15 |access-date=2022-04-27 |website=en.tokipona.org}}</ref> Lang grew up in a bilingual family; her mother spoke French, and her father spoke English. During and after her high school years, she became fluent in five languages, including Esperanto. Esperanto was the inspiration for her creation of constructed languages.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-07-18 |title=AFP 20 - Sonja Lang: Toki Pona, Conlanging, meaning of life |url=https://actualfluency.com/20-sonja-lang-toki-pona-conlanging-meaning-life/ |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=Actual Fluency |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2001, Lang was experiencing depression and started working on Toki Pona as a way to simplify her thoughts.<ref name="Dance-2007" /> In the same year, an early version of the language was published online, and it quickly gained popularity.<ref name="Roberts-2007" /> An early community formed in a Yahoo group created by Lang. She was inspired by hunter-gatherers, saying in an interview with ''The Atlantic'': "I thought, what would it have been like to just be a person in nature, interacting with things in a primitive way?"<ref name="Morin-2015" /> {{anchor|Toki Pona: The Language of Good}} In 2014, Lang released her first book on the language, ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'', which features 120 main words, plus 3 words presented as synonyms of these,{{efn|While some sources consider {{lang|tok|ale}} and {{lang|tok|ali}} separate words,<ref name="Fabbri-2018">{{Cite journal |last=Fabbri |first=Renato |date=July 2018 |title=Basic concepts and tools for the Toki Pona minimal and constructed language |journal=ACM Transactions on Asian and Low-Resource Language Information Processing |arxiv=1712.09359}}</ref> they are just variations of the same word.<ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" /><ref name="Yerrick-2002" />}} though generally in use with different meanings, and provides a completed form of the language based on how Lang used the language at the time. In 2016, the book was also published in French,<ref name="Fabbri-2018" /><ref name=":0" /> and versions in German, Esperanto, and Persian have since been completed. In April 2026, Lang posted a declaration on X.com dedicating the original English edition of the book to the public domain.<ref>{{Cite tweet|last=Lang|first=Sonja|user=tokipona|number=2043869843997299173|title=Toki Pona: The Language of Good” (2014 English edition) is hereby in the public domain.|access-date=14 April 2026}}</ref>

{{anchor|Toki Pona Dictionary}} <section begin="dictionary" /> In 2021, Lang released her second book, ''Toki Pona Dictionary'', a comprehensive two-way Toki Pona–English dictionary including more than 11,000 entries detailing the use of the language as she gathered from polls conducted in the {{lang|tok|ma pona pi toki pona}} Discord server over a few months. The book presents the original 120 words plus 16 {{lang|tok|nimi ku suli}} ({{Lit|major dictionary words}}) as gathered from at least over 40% of respondents. It also contains 45 words given by 40% or less of respondents, referred to as {{lang|tok|nimi ku pi suli ala}} ({{Lit|minor dictionary words}}), sometimes also called {{lang|tok|nimi ku lili}}.<ref name="Coluzzi-2022">{{Cite journal |last=Coluzzi |first=Paolo |date=3 June 2022 |title=How learning Toki Pona may help improving communication strategies in a foreign or second language |journal=Language Problems and Language Planning |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=78–98 |doi=10.1075/lplp.00086.col |s2cid=249350572}}</ref><section end="dictionary" />

After two failed applications for an ISO 639-3 code, a third request was filed in August 2021, which resulted in the ISO 639-3 code {{mono|tok}} being adopted in January 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 January 2022 |title=Change Request Documentation: 2021-043 |url=https://iso639-3.sil.org/request/2021-043 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719145158/https://iso639-3.sil.org/request/2021-043 |archive-date=2022-07-19 |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=SIL International ISO 639-3}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Toki Pona was the subject of some scientific works,<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cerino Jiménez |first1=Rigoberto |last2=Pinto Avendaño |first2=David Eduardo |last3=Vergara Limon |first3=Sergio |date=2023-06-17 |title=Pictographic Representation of the Toki Pona Language for Use in Augmentative and Alternative Communication Systems |url=https://www.cys.cic.ipn.mx/ojs/index.php/CyS/article/view/4418 |journal=Computación y Sistemas |language=es |volume=27 |issue=2 |doi=10.13053/cys-27-2-4418 |issn=2007-9737|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Baggetto |first1=Pablo |title=Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis |last2=López |first2=Damián |last3=Larriba |first3=Antonio M. |date=2023 |publisher=Springer Nature Switzerland |isbn=978-3-031-36616-1 |editor-last=Pertusa |editor-first=Antonio |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |volume=14062 |location=Cham |pages=654–664 |language=en |chapter=Study and Automatic Translation of Toki Pona |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-36616-1_52 |editor-last2=Gallego |editor-first2=Antonio Javier |editor-last3=Sánchez |editor-first3=Joan Andreu |editor-last4=Domingues |editor-first4=Inês |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-36616-1_52}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Coluzzi |first=Paolo |date=2024-08-08 |title=Esperanto, Klingon and Toki Pona: evaluating non-speaker perceptions of the orthographic and phonological characteristics of three popular constructed languages |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2024.2384593 |journal=International Journal of Multilingualism |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=2130–2145 |doi=10.1080/14790718.2024.2384593 |via=Taylor & Francis Online|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kitano |first=Magda |date=2024-08-01 |title=Teaching Toki Pona in Japan |url=https://jalt-publications.org/articles/29087-teaching-toki-pona-japan |journal=JALT Postconference Publication |language=en |volume=2023 |issue=1 |pages=245–252 |doi=10.37546/jaltpcp2023-27|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and it has also been used for artificial intelligence and software tools.<ref name="Fabbri-2018" /> One psychiatrist has studied a therapeutic method for eliminating negative thinking by having patients keep track of their thoughts in the language.<ref name="Roberts-2007" /> In 2010, it was chosen for the first version of the vocabulary for the ROILA project. The purpose of the study was to investigate the use of an artificial language on the accuracy of machine speech recognition, and it was revealed that the modified vocabulary of Toki Pona significantly outperformed English.<ref name="Mubin-2010">{{Cite book |last1=Mubin |first1=Omar |title=Advances in Natural Language Processing |last2=Bartneck |first2=Christoph |last3=Feijs |first3=Loe |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-642-14769-2 |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |volume=LNCS 6233/2010 |pages=250–256 |chapter=Towards the Design and Evaluation of ROILA: A Speech Recognition Friendly Artificial Language |citeseerx=10.1.1.175.6679 |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-14770-8_28 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221418730 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref>

In February of 2024, Lang released the book ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Toki Pona edition)'', the first in a planned series of illustrated storybooks written in Sitelen Pona (referred to collectively as {{lang|tok|lipu su}}).<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Esposito |first=Veronica |date=2024-12-11 |title=Toki Pona |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/946535 |journal=World Literature Today |language=en |volume=99 |issue=1 |pages=12–13 |doi=10.1353/wlt.2025.a946535 |issn=1945-8134 |via=Project MUSE|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Phonology==

===Phonemic inventory=== Toki Pona has nine consonants ({{IPA|/p, t, k, s, m, n, l, j, w/}}) and five vowels ({{IPA|/a, e, i, o, u/}}).<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /><ref name="Roberts-2007" /> Stress falls on the initial syllable of a word, and it is marked by an increase in loudness, length, or pitch. There are no diphthongs, vowel hiatus, contrasting vowel length, consonant clusters (except those starting with the nasal coda), or tones.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /> Both its sound inventory and phonotactics are compatible with the majority of human languages, and are therefore readily accessible.<ref name="Thomas-2018">{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Simon |date=2018-03-27 |title=Exploring Toki Pona: do we need more than 120 words? |url=https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2018/03/27/toki-pona-invented-language-120-words/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511184141/https://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2018/03/27/toki-pona-invented-language-120-words/ |archive-date=2019-05-11 |access-date=2019-02-03 |website=Oxford Dictionaries}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Consonants ! ! Labial ! Coronal ! Dorsal

|- ! Nasal | {{IPA link|m}} | {{IPA link|n}} |

|- ! Stop | {{IPA link|p}} | {{IPA link|t}} | {{IPA link|k}}

|- ! Fricative | | {{IPA link|s}} |

|- ! Approximant | {{IPA link|w}} | {{IPA link|l}} | {{IPA link|j}} |}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Vowels

! ! Front ! Back

|- ! Close | {{IPA link|i}} | {{IPA link|u}}

|- ! Mid | e | o

|- ! Open | colspan="2" | a

===Distribution=== The statistical vowel spread is fairly typical when compared with other languages.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /> Counting each word once, 32% of vowels are {{IPA|/a/}}, 25% are {{IPA|/i/}}, with {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} a bit over 15% each, and 10% are {{IPA|/u/}}.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /> The usage frequency from the official Toki Pona mailing list and websites of fluent speakers was slightly more skewed: 34% {{IPA|/a/}}, 30% {{IPA|/i/}}, 15% each {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}}, and 6% {{IPA|/u/}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Phoneme frequency table / Ofteco de fonemoj |url=http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/i/jimhenry1973/conlang/tokipona/tokipona.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114085856/http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/i/jimhenry1973/conlang/tokipona/tokipona.htm |archive-date=2007-11-14 |website=lipu pi toki pona pi jan Jakopo}}</ref>

Of the syllable-initial consonants, {{IPA|/l/}} is the most common, at 20% total; {{IPA|/k, s, p/}} are over 10%, then the nasals {{IPA|/m, n/}} (not counting final n), with the least common, at little more than 5% each, being {{IPA|/t, w, j/}}. The high frequency of {{IPA|/l/}} and low frequency of {{IPA|/t/}} is somewhat unusual among the world's languages.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" />

===Phonotactics=== The first syllable of a word follows the form (C)V(N), i.e. an optional consonant, a vowel, and an optional final nasal. Subsequent syllables follow the same form, except that the leading consonant is required. Syllables can thus be CV, CVN, V, or VN.<ref name="Fabbri-2018" /> As in most languages, CV is the most common syllable type, at 75% (counting each word once).<ref name="Blahuš-2011" />

The following sequences are not allowed: * {{IPA|/wu, wo, ji, ti/}}, nor may a syllable's final nasal occur immediately before {{IPA|/m/}} or {{IPA|/n/}} in the same word.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /><ref name="Fabbri-2018" />

Proper nouns are usually converted into Toki Pona proper adjectives using a set of guidelines. The native, or even colloquial, pronunciation is used as the basis for the subsequent sound conversion. Thus, English becomes {{lang|tok|Inli}} and John becomes {{lang|tok|San}}.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Valid syllables in Toki Pona ! scope="col" | ! scope="col" | -a ! scope="col" | -an ! scope="col" | -e ! scope="col" | -en ! scope="col" | -i ! scope="col" | -in ! scope="col" | -o ! scope="col" | -on ! scope="col" | -u ! scope="col" | -un |- ! scope="row" | ∅- | a | an | e | en | i | in | o | on | u | un |- ! scope="row" | p- | pa | pan | pe | pen | pi | pin | po | pon | pu | pun |- ! scope="row" | t- | ta | tan | te | ten | colspan="2" {{N/A}} | to | ton | tu | tun |- ! scope="row" | k- | ka | kan | ke | ken | ki | kin | ko | kon | ku | kun |- ! scope="row" | m- | ma | man | me | men | mi | min | mo | mon | mu | mun |- ! scope="row" | n- | na | nan | ne | nen | ni | nin | no | non | nu | nun |- ! scope="row" | s- | sa | san | se | sen | si | sin | so | son | su | sun |- ! scope="row" | l- | la | lan | le | len | li | lin | lo | lon | lu | lun |- ! scope="row" | w- | wa | wan | we | wen | wi | win | colspan="4" {{N/A}} |- ! scope="row" | j- | ja | jan | je | jen | colspan="2" {{N/A}} | jo | jon | ju | jun |}

===Allophony=== Because of its small phoneme inventory, Toki Pona allows for extensive allophonic variation. For example, {{IPA|/p t k/}} may be pronounced {{IPA|[b d ɡ]}} as well as {{IPA|[p t k]}}, {{IPA|/s/}} as {{IPA|[z]}} or {{IPA|[ʃ]}} as well as {{IPA|[s]}}, {{IPA|/l/}} as {{IPA|[ɾ]}} as well as {{IPA|[l]}}, and vowels may be either long or short.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" />

Furthermore, while written as ''n'', the nasal at the end of a syllable can be pronounced as any nasal stop, and it is normally assimilated to the following consonant.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" />

==Writing systems== thumb|Latin alphabet chart for Toki Pona

Fourteen letters of the Latin alphabet{{Efn|Commonly referred to as {{lang|tok|sitelen Lasina}} in Toki Pona}}—''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''j'', ''k'', ''l'', ''m'', ''n'', ''o'', ''p'', ''s'', ''t'', ''u'', ''w''—are used to write the language. They have the same values as in the International Phonetic Alphabet:<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /> ''j'' sounds like English ''y'' (as in many Germanic and Slavic languages) and the vowels are like those of Spanish, Modern Greek, or Modern Hebrew. Capital initials are used to mark proper names, while common words are always written with lowercase letters, even when they start a sentence.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /><ref name="Rogers-2011" />

Besides the Latin alphabet, which is the most common way of writing the language, many alternative writing systems have been developed for and adapted to Toki Pona.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /> Most successful and widespread are two logographic writing systems, Sitelen Pona and Sitelen Sitelen. Both were included in the book ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good''.

===Sitelen Pona=== {{Main|Sitelen Pona}} alt=Table, 10 items high by 12 items wide, containing hand drawn characters, each with a word using Latin characters under it.|thumb|Sitelen Pona hieroglyphs from ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'' by Sonja Lang

Sitelen Pona ({{Lit|good/simple writing/drawing}})<ref name="Coluzzi-2022" /> is a logographic writing system devised by Lang as an alternative writing system for Toki Pona, and first published in her book ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'' in 2014. As a logography, each word is represented by its own symbol. It has been described as "a hieroglyphic-like script that makes use of squiggles and other childlike shapes".<ref name="Smith Journal-2019">{{Cite news |date=2019-06-03 |title=Toki Pona – The language of good |url=https://www.pressreader.com/australia/smith-journal/20190603/282660393885733 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020080915/https://www.pressreader.com/australia/smith-journal/20190603/282660393885733 |archive-date=2019-10-20 |access-date=2019-10-20 |work=Smith Journal |location=Melbourne, Australia}}</ref>

Symbols representing a single adjective may be written inside or above the symbol for the preceding word that they modify. The symbol of the language 20px|class=skin-invert-image is written in Sitelen Pona, with the symbol 20px|class=skin-invert-image ({{lang|tok|pona}}) written inside the symbol 20px|class=skin-invert-image ({{lang|tok|toki}}).<ref name=":0" /> <gallery class="center"> Toki Pona - toki.jpg|''toki'' (language) Toki Pona - pona.jpg|''pona'' (good, simple) Toki Pona - toki pona.jpg|''toki pona'' (the language of good) Toki Pona - telo.jpg|''telo'' (water, liquid) Toki Pona - lete.jpg|''lete'' (cold) Toki Pona - telo lete.jpg|''telo lete'' (cold water) </gallery>

===Sitelen Sitelen=== alt=sitelen sitelen dictionary|thumb|The word symbols and punctuation of Sitelen Sitelen

Sitelen Sitelen ({{Lit|drawn writing}}), alternatively known as {{lang|tok|sitelen suwi}} ({{Lit|cute writing}}), is a mixed writing system for Toki Pona created by Jonathan Gabel. This more elaborate non-linear system combines a logographic script with an abugida for writing syllables (especially for proper names). The complex artful designs of the glyphs are chosen to help people who use this writing system to slow down and explore how not only the language but also the method of communication can influence their thinking.

Sitelen Sitelen's overall aesthetics are inspired by US west-coast comix artists such as Jim Woodring and US east-coast graffiti artists such as Kenny Scharf. The designs of many individual characters are inspired by characters and principles from various other writing systems, including Egyptian hieroglyphs, Linear B, Chinese characters, Maya script, Mi'kmaw hieroglyphs, Dongba symbols, as well as early Pagan and Christian signs and symbols.

<gallery class="center"> jan - sitelen sitelen word symbol drawn by Jonathan Gabel.jpg|''jan'' (person, people) ale - sitelen sitelen word symbol drawn by Jonathan Gabel.jpg|''ale'' (all) li - sitelen sitelen word symbol drawn by Jonathan Gabel.jpg|''li'' (particle) kepeken - sitelen sitelen word symbol drawn by Jonathan Gabel.jpg|''kepeken'' (use) e - sitelen sitelen word symbol drawn by Jonathan Gabel.jpg|''e'' (particle) toki - sitelen sitelen word symbol drawn by Jonathan Gabel.jpg|''toki'' (language) sama - sitelen sitelen word symbol drawn by Jonathan Gabel.jpg|''sama'' (same) </gallery>

==Grammar== Toki Pona's word order is subject–verb–object.<ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" /> The particle {{lang|tok|li}} introduces the predicate (marking the main verb phrase, including any preverbs), and the particle {{lang|tok|e}} introduces direct objects.<ref name="LCS-2019">{{Cite web |title=3. Toki Pona Text – Grammar and Vocabulary |url=https://conlang.org/language-creation-conference/lcc6/lcc6-relay/3-toki-pona-text/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126061134/https://conlang.org/language-creation-conference/lcc6/lcc6-relay/3-toki-pona-text/ |archive-date=2019-01-26 |access-date=2019-01-25 |website=Language Creation Society}}</ref> Toki Pona is head-initial: a noun or verb is followed by its modifiers.<ref name="LCS-2019" />

Some words are grammatical particles, while the others are content words with lexical meanings. The content words do not fall into most traditional parts of speech; they may be used as nouns, verbs, modifiers, or interjections.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /><ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" /> A content word's position in a sentence and phrase determines its role, allowing the limited number of words to serve many purposes.<ref name="Fabbri-2018" /> Thus, the word {{lang|tok|moku}} means "to eat" in the verb position following {{lang|tok|li}}, but means "food" (that which is eaten) in a noun position, and might mean "edible" (of or relating to eating) as an adjective.<ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" />

Toki Pona has more complicated sentence structures as well. There are closed classes of content words that can act as preverbs and prepositions in specific parts of a sentence. Preverbs are catenative and are inserted between {{lang|tok|li}} and the main verb. Prepositional phrases follow the objects. The particle {{lang|tok|la}} ends a phrase or clause that comes before the subject to add additional context.<ref name="Fabbri-2018" />

===Sentence structures=== A sentence may be an interjection, statement, wish/command, or question.<ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" />

For example, interjections such as {{lang|tok|a}}, {{lang|tok|ala}}, {{lang|tok|ike}}, {{lang|tok|jaki}}, {{lang|tok|mu}}, {{lang|tok|pakala}}, {{lang|tok|pona}}, {{lang|tok|toki}}, etc. can stand alone as a sentence.<ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" />

Full sentences all follow the subject–predicate order with an optional {{lang|tok|la}} phrase at the beginning. In statements, the word {{lang|tok|li}} precedes the predicate unless the subject is {{lang|tok|mi}} or {{lang|tok|sina}}.<ref name="Fabbri-2018" /> The marker {{lang|tok|e}} comes before direct objects. More {{lang|tok|li}} and {{lang|tok|e}} markers can present more predicates and direct objects respectively. Vocative phrases come before the main sentence and are marked with {{lang|tok|o}} at the end of the phrase, after the addressee.<ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" /><ref name="Fabbri-2018" />

In commands, {{lang|tok|sina}} as a second-person subject may be dropped, and the word {{lang|tok|o}} comes before the verb. This allows commands to treat a vocative phrase as the subject. The word {{lang|tok|o}} can also replace {{lang|tok|li}}, or come after the subjects {{lang|tok|mi}} or {{lang|tok|sina}}, to express wishes.

There are two ways to form yes–no questions in Toki Pona. One method is to use the A-not-A construction, "verb {{lang|tok|ala}} verb", in which {{lang|tok|ala}} comes in between a duplicated verb, auxiliary verb, or other predicates.<ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" /> Another way is to put the question tag {{lang|tok|anu seme?}} ({{Lit|or what?}}) after the phrase being inquired about. Just putting a question mark at the end of a sentence does not form a question grammatically.

Non-polar questions are formed by replacing the unknown information with the interrogative word {{lang|tok|seme}}.<ref name="Fabbri-2018" />

===Pronouns=== Toki Pona has four basic pronouns: {{lang|tok|mi}} (first person), {{lang|tok|sina}} (second person), {{lang|tok|ona}} (third person), and {{lang|tok|ni}} (demonstrative). As with content words in general, number and gender are not obligatorily marked, but can be specified with additional modifiers to the pronouns.

===Nouns=== right|thumb|Noun phrases express concepts beyond Toki Pona's basic vocabulary. Each Sitelen Pona symbol in the above image represents one word. With such a small vocabulary, Toki Pona relies heavily on noun phrases, where a noun is modified by a following word, to make more complex meanings. A typical example is combining {{lang|tok|jan}} (''person'') with {{lang|tok|utala}} (''fight'') to make {{lang|tok|jan utala}} (''fighter, soldier, warrior''). {{See below|{{section link||Modifiers}}}}

Nouns do not decline according to number; {{lang|tok|jan}} can mean ''person, people, humanity, somebody'' depending on context.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /> Adding {{lang|tok|wan}}, {{lang|tok|tu}}, or {{lang|tok|mute}} as needed specifies singular, dual, or plural, respectively.

Toki Pona does not use isolated proper nouns; instead, they must modify a preceding noun. For this reason, they may be called "proper adjectives" or simply "proper words" instead of "proper nouns". For example, names of people and places are used as modifiers of the common word for "person" and "place", e.g. {{lang|tok|ma Kanata}} ({{Lit|Canada land}}) or {{lang|tok|jan Lisa}} ({{Lit|Lisa person}}).<ref name="Blahuš-2011" />

===Modifiers=== Phrases in Toki Pona are head-initial; modifiers always come after the word that they modify.<ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" /> Therefore, {{lang|tok|soweli utala}} ({{Lit|animal of fighting}}), can be a ''fighting animal'', whereas {{lang|tok|utala soweli}} ({{Lit|fighting of animal}}), can mean ''animal war''.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" />

When a second modifier is added to a phrase, for example {{lang|tok|jan pona mute}}, it modifies all that comes before it, so {{lang|tok|jan pona mute}} might mean ''many good people'', with both {{lang|tok|pona}} (''good'') and {{lang|tok|mute}} (''many'') modifying {{lang|tok|jan}} (''person''). The particle {{lang|tok|pi}} is placed before two or more modifiers to group them into another phrase that functions as a unit to modify the head: In {{lang|tok|jan pi pona mute}}, {{lang|tok|pona mute}} as a unit means ''much goodness'', to together mean ''very good person''. {{lang|tok|mute}} modifies {{lang|tok|pona}}, and {{lang|tok|pona mute}} as a whole modifies {{lang|tok|jan}}.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /><ref name="Fabbri-2018" />

Demonstratives, numerals, and possessive pronouns come after the head like other modifiers.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" />

===Verbs=== Toki Pona does not inflect verbs according to person, tense, mood, or voice, as the language features no inflection whatsoever. Person is indicated by the subject of the verb; time is indicated through context or by a temporal adverb in the sentence.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" />

Prepositions can be used in the predicate in place of a regular verb.<ref name="LCS-2019" /> This expresses the verb and preposition senses in one. For example, {{lang|tok|tawa}} means "to go toward" in this case.

==Vocabulary== {{See also|List of Toki Pona words}} Toki Pona has around 120 to 137 words.{{Efn-la|name="wordcount"}} Each is polysemous, and covers a range of similar concepts,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sinyashchik |first=Anna |date=2018-01-03 |script-title=ru:Коротко и ясно. Как искусственный язык учит фокусироваться на главном |trans-title=Briefly and Clearly. How an Artificial Language Teaches to Focus on What's Important |url=https://focus.ua/ukraine/388398/ |url-status=live |journal=Фокус (Focus) |language=ru |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212132257/https://focus.ua/ukraine/388398/ |archive-date=2019-02-12 |access-date=2019-02-10}}</ref><ref name="Tomaszewski-2012" /> so {{lang|tok|suli}} not only means ''big'' or ''long'', but also ''important''.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /> Their use relies heavily on context. To express more complex thoughts, the words can be combined. For example, {{lang|tok|jan pona}} can mean ''friend'', although it translates to ''good person'',<ref name="Dance-2007" /> and {{lang|tok|telo nasa}} ({{Lit|strange liquid}}), could be understood to mean ''alcohol'' or ''alcoholic beverage'' depending on the context. The verb ''to teach'' can be expressed by {{lang|tok|pana e sona}} ({{Lit|give knowledge}}).<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /> Essentially identical concepts can be described by different words as the choice relies on the speaker's perception and experience.<ref name="Thomas-2018" />

===Colors=== [[File:Color mixture.svg|alt=|thumb|167x167px|Many colors can be expressed by using subtractive colors.]]

Toki Pona has five words for colors: {{lang|tok|pimeja}} (black), {{lang|tok|walo}} (white), {{lang|tok|loje}} (red), {{lang|tok|jelo}} (yellow), and {{lang|tok|laso}} (blue and green). Although the simplified conceptualization of colors tends to exclude a number of colors that are commonly expressed in Western languages, speakers sometimes may combine these five words to make more specific descriptions of certain colors. For instance, "purple" may be represented by combining {{lang|tok|laso}} and {{lang|tok|loje}}. The phrase {{lang|tok|laso loje}} means "a reddish shade of blue" and {{lang|tok|loje laso}} means "a bluish shade of red".<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /> More specific colors may be expressed by comparison with objects, or other shared context. A common example amongst English speakers is {{lang|tok|laso kasi}} - combining "blue–green" with "plant" to mean green.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lang |first1=Sonja |title=Toki Pona dictionary |date=2021 |isbn=9780978292362 |pages=20-21, 97}}</ref>

===Numbers=== Toki Pona has words for one ({{lang|tok|wan}}), two ({{lang|tok|tu}}), and many ({{lang|tok|mute}}). In addition, {{lang|tok|ala}} can mean ''zero'' (its main meaning being ''no, none''), and {{lang|tok|ale}} ({{Lit|all}}) can express an infinite or immense amount.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" />

The simplest number system uses these five words to express any amount necessary. For numbers larger than two, speakers would use {{lang|tok|mute}} which means ''many''.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" />

A more complex system expresses larger numbers additively by using phrases such as {{lang|tok|tu wan}} for three, {{lang|tok|tu tu}} for four, and so on. This feature purposely makes it impractical to communicate large numbers.<ref name="Yerrick-2002">{{Cite web |last=Yerrick |first=Damian |date=2002-10-23 |title=Toki Pona li pona ala pona? A review of Sonja Kisa's constructed language Toki Pona |url=http://www.pineight.com/tokipona/tpreview.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014539/http://www.pineight.com/tokipona/tpreview.html |archive-date=2007-09-28 |access-date=2007-07-20 |website=Pin Eight}}</ref> This system, described in Lang's book, also uses {{lang|tok|luka}} ({{Lit|hand}}) to signify five, {{lang|tok|mute}} ({{Lit|many}}) to signify twenty, and {{lang|tok|ale}} ({{Lit|all}}) to signify hundred. For example, using this structure {{lang|tok|ale tu}} would mean 102 and {{lang|tok|mute mute mute luka luka luka tu wan}} would signify 78.

===Vocabulary history=== {{Primary sources|section|date=August 2025}} [[File:BodyTokiPona.jpg|thumb|right|Body parts in Toki Pona. The words {{lang|tok|oko}}, {{lang|tok|uta}}, {{lang|tok|lawa}}, {{lang|tok|luka}}, and {{lang|tok|noka}} have Slavic, particularly Serbo-Croatian, roots: {{lang|sh|oko}}, {{lang|sh|usta}}, {{lang|sh|glava}}, {{lang|sh|ruka}}, and {{lang|sh|noga}}.]]Some words have obsolete synonyms. For example, {{lang|tok|nena}} replaced {{lang|tok|kapa}} (protuberance) early in the language's development for unknown reasons.<ref name="knight-2017a" group="†">{{Cite web |last=Knight |first=Bryant |date=2017-08-31 |title=Extinct words |url=http://tokipona.net/tp/janpije/extinctwords.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217124810/http://tokipona.net/tp/janpije/extinctwords.php |archive-date=2020-02-17 |access-date=2019-01-13 |website=lipu pi jan Pije}}</ref><ref name="nimialepona-2020a" group="†">{{Cite web |date=2020-10-08 |title=nimi ale pona (2nd ed.) |url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1t-pjAgZDyKPXcCRnEdATFQOxGbQFMjZm-8EvXiQd2Po/edit?usp=sharing |access-date=2024-11-18}}</ref> Later, the pronoun {{lang|tok|ona}} replaced {{lang|tok|iki}} (''he, she, it, they''), which was sometimes confused with {{lang|tok|ike}} (''bad''). Similarly, {{lang|tok|ali}} was added as an alternative to {{lang|tok|ale}} (''all'') to avoid confusion with {{lang|tok|ala}} (''no, not'') among people who reduce unstressed vowels, though both forms are still used.<ref name="Yerrick-2002" />

Originally, {{lang|tok|oko}} meant ''eye'' and {{lang|tok|lukin}} was used as a verb ''to see''. In ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'', the meanings were merged into {{lang|tok|lukin}}, {{lang|tok|oko}} being the alternative.<ref name="Fabbri-2018" />

Words that were simply removed from the lexicon include {{lang|tok|leko}} (''block, stairs''), {{lang|tok|monsuta}} (''monster, fear''), {{lang|tok|majuna}} (''old''), {{lang|tok|kipisi}} (''cut''), and {{lang|tok|pata}} (''sibling'').<ref name="knight-2017a" group="†" /><ref name="nimialepona-2020a" group="†" /> These words were considered outdated because they were not included in the official book.<ref name="knight-2017a" group="†" /> However, {{lang|tok|oko}}, {{lang|tok|leko}}, {{lang|tok|monsuta}}, and {{lang|tok|kipisi}} retained enough usage in the community that they were re-included in the lexicon as {{lang|tok|nimi ku suli}} ({{Lit|major ''Toki Pona Dictionary'' words}}) in ''Toki Pona Dictionary''.{{sfn|group=†|Lang|2021|p=22}}

Besides {{lang|tok|nena}} and {{lang|tok|ona}}, which replaced existing words, a few words were added to the original 118: {{lang|tok|pan}} (''grain, bread, pasta, rice''), {{lang|tok|esun}} (''market, shop, trade''), {{lang|tok|alasa}} (''hunt, gather''), and {{lang|tok|namako}} (''extra, additional, spice''), another word for {{lang|tok|sin}} (''new, fresh'').<ref name="Classic Word List Improved!" group="†" />

===Provenance=== {{Pie chart | caption= Origin language of Toki Pona words{{efn|Only counts words that were published in ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good''.}}<ref name="nimialepona-2020a" group="†" /> | direction = row-reverse | autoscale=true | label1 = Finnish | value1 = 16 | color1 = #e41a1c | label2 = Tok Pisin | value2 = 16 | color2 = #377eb8 | label3 = Esperanto | value3 = 13 | color3 = #4daf4a | label4 = Serbo-Croatian | value4 = 13 | color4 = #984ea3 | label5 = Dutch | value5 = 11 | color5 = #ff7f00 | label6 = Acadian French | value6 = 11 | color6 = #ffff33 | label7 = Georgian | value7 = 8 | color7 = #a65628 | label8 = English | value8 = 8 | color8 = #f781bf | label9 = Cantonese | value9 = 4 | color9 = #66c2a5 | label10 = Mandarin Chinese | value10 = 4 | color10 = #fc8d62 | label11 = other languages{{efn|Lojban, Japanese, Tongan, and Welsh each originate one word.}} | value11 = 4 | color11 = #8da0cb | label12 = multiple languages | value12 = 8 | color12 = #000000 | label13 = onomatopoeia | value13 = 3 | color13 = #555555 | label14 = ''a priori'' | value14 = 1 | color14 = #BBBBBB | label15 = unknown | value15 = 1 | color15 = #FFFFFF }}

Most Toki Pona words come from English, Tok Pisin, Finnish, Georgian, Dutch, Acadian French, Esperanto, and Serbo-Croatian, with a few from Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese).<ref name="tokiponaorg-2009a" group="†" /><ref name="nimialepona-2020a" group="†" /><ref name="Rogers-2011" />

Many of these derivations are transparent. For example, {{lang|tok|toki}} (''speech, language'') is similar to Tok Pisin {{lang|tpi|tok}} and its English source ''talk'', while {{lang|tok|pona}} (''good, positive''), from Esperanto {{lang|eo|bona}}, reflects generic Romance {{lang|fr|bon}}, {{lang|it|buona}}, English ''bonus'', etc. However, the changes in pronunciation required by the simple phonetic system often make the origins of other words more difficult to see. The word {{lang|tok|lape}} (''sleep, rest''), for example, comes from Dutch {{lang|nl|slapen}} and is cognate with English ''sleep''; {{Lang|tok|kijetesantakalu}} (any animal from the superfamily Musteloidea) from Finnish {{lang|fi|kierteishäntäkarhu}}; {{lang|tok|kepeken}} (''use'') is somewhat distorted from Dutch {{lang|nl|gebruiken}}, and {{lang|tok|akesi}} from {{lang|nl|hagedis}} (''lizard'') is scarcely recognizable. (Because ''*ti'' is an illegal syllable in Toki Pona, Dutch ''di'' becomes ''si.'')<ref name="tokiponaorg-2009a" group="†" /><ref name="nimialepona-2020a" group="†" />

Although only 14 words (12%) are listed as derived from English, a large number of the Tok Pisin, Esperanto, and other words are transparently cognate with English, raising the English-friendly portion of the vocabulary to about 30%. The portions of the lexicon from other languages are 15% Tok Pisin, 14% Finnish, 14% Esperanto, 12% Serbo-Croatian, 10% Acadian French, 9% Dutch, 8% Georgian, 5% Mandarin, 3% Cantonese; one word each from Welsh, Tongan (an English borrowing) and Akan, four phonesthetic words (two which are found in English, one from Japanese, and one which was made up); and one other made-up word (the grammatical particle {{lang|tok|e}}).<ref name="tokiponaorg-2009a" group="†" />

===Signed Toki Pona and {{lang|tok|luka pona}}=== alt=|thumb|220x220px|Hand shapes of Signed Toki Pona and Luka Pona

Signed Toki Pona, or {{lang|tok|toki pona luka}}, is a manually coded form of Toki Pona.<ref name=":0" /> Each word and letter has its own sign, which is distinguished by the handshape, location of the hand on the body, palm or finger orientation, and the usage of one or both hands. Most signs are performed with the right hand at the required location. A few signs, however, are performed with both hands in a symmetrical way. To form a sentence, each of the signs is performed using the grammar and word order of Toki Pona.

A more naturalistic constructed sign language called {{lang|tok|luka pona}} also exists,<ref name=":1" /> and is more widely used in the Toki Pona community than {{lang|tok|toki pona luka}}. It is a separate language with its own grammar, but has a vocabulary that generally parallels Toki Pona. {{lang|tok|luka pona}}'s signs have increased iconicity as compared to {{lang|tok|toki pona luka}}, and many signs are loan-words from natural sign languages. Its grammar is subject-object-verb, and, like natural sign languages, it makes use of classifier constructions and signing space.<ref group="†">{{Cite web |title=luka pona li seme? |url=https://lukapona.blogspot.com/2021/04/luka-pona-li-seme.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515170532/https://lukapona.blogspot.com/2021/04/luka-pona-li-seme.html |archive-date=2021-05-15 |access-date=2022-01-01 |website=lukapona.blogspot.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> In ''Toki Pona Dictionary'', Sonja Lang recommends learning {{lang|tok|luka pona}} instead of {{lang|tok|toki pona luka}}.

== Community == thumb|''sitelen soweli'': a short animated film in Toki Pona The language is fairly well known among Esperantists, who often offer courses and conversation groups at their meetups.<ref name="Blahuš-2011" /> In 2007, Lang said that at least 100 people speak Toki Pona fluently and estimated that a few hundred have a basic knowledge of the language.<ref name="Roberts-2007" /><ref name="Marsh-2007">{{Cite news |last=Marsh |first=Stefanie |date=2007-09-06 |title=Now you're really speaking my language |work=The Times |location=London, England |page=2}}</ref> One-hour courses of Toki Pona were taught on various occasions by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during their Independent Activities Period.<ref name="Roberts-2007" />

The language is used mainly online on social media, in forums, and other online groups.<ref name="Marsh-2007" /> Users of the language are spread out across multiple platforms. A ''Yahoo!'' group existed from about 2002 to 2009, when it moved to a forum on a phpBB site.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Matthew |date=2018-03-11 |title=Conlang SE |url=http://fakelinguist.wakayos.com/?p=861 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112190751/http://fakelinguist.wakayos.com/?p=861 |archive-date=2019-11-12 |access-date=2019-10-20 |website=Fake languages by a fake linguist}}</ref>

The largest groups exist on Facebook, Discord, and Reddit. Two large groups exist on Facebook: one designated for conversation in Toki Pona and English, and the other for conversation in only Toki Pona.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Knežević |first=Nenad |year=2018 |title=Constructed languages in the whirlwind of the digital revolution |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328135114 |journal=Језик, књижевност и технологија (Jezik, književnost i tehnologija) / Language, Literature and Technology: Proceedings from the Sixth International Conference at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, 19–20 May 2017 |publisher=Алфа БК универзитет (Alfa BK univerzitet) |pages=16 |isbn=978-86-6461-023-0 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref> The former of the two is the more popular.

Memrise has user-created materials for learning Toki Pona.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bramley |first=Ellie Violet |date=8 January 2015 |title=What happened when I tried to learn Toki Pona in 48 hours using memes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jan/08/toki-pona-invented-language-memrise |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115224633/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jan/08/toki-pona-invented-language-memrise |archive-date=15 November 2023 |access-date=25 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |location=London |quote=Only around 100 people in the world understand this language. This is Toki Pona, created in 2001 by Sonja Lang, a Toronto-based linguist, and I’m one of a group of 17 who recently took on a challenge to learn it in 48 hours. [...] To attempt it, we gathered in the East London warehouse that is the head office of Memrise, an online platform for language-learning.}}</ref>

In-person meetups have been organized by the community, including in Sarajevo,<ref name=":0" /> Vienna, Maastricht, Berlin, Seattle, and Amsterdam.

=== Toki Pona Wikipedia === There is a Wikipedia written in Toki Pona (called {{lang|tok|lipu Wikipesija}}). Its first iteration was closed in 2005<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=van Steenbergen |first=Jan |year=2018 |title=A new era in the history of language invention. |url=https://www.linguapax.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Linguapax_Review_2018_revisio%CC%81MC-complet-1.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424225844/https://www.linguapax.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Linguapax_Review_2018_revisio%CC%81MC-complet-1.pdf |archive-date=2022-04-24 |access-date=2020-07-09 |magazine=Linguapax Review |page=154 |volume=6 |quote=In the past, there have been Wikipedia editions in Toki Pona and Klingon as well, but both were closed and deleted in 2005.}}</ref> and moved to the wiki hosting service Wikicities, now known as Fandom. On 23 April 2021 it then moved from Fandom to an independent website at wikipesija.org, and on 26 November 2025 it returned to being a subdomain of wikipedia.org.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tok.wikipedia.org/wiki/lipu_open|title=lipu Wikipesija|access-date=2025-12-02|archive-date=2025-12-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251202040209/https://tok.wikipedia.org/wiki/lipu_open|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=February 2026}}

==Literature== thumb|The first issue of ''lipu tenpo'' There are a few published books and many other works in Toki Pona. Most of the published works are language-learning books for beginners like {{lang|tok|akesi seli lili}} and {{lang|tok|meli olin moli}}. Many other works are translations of original literature in other languages.

Starting in 2020, a group has been working on and publishing a zine in Toki Pona called {{lang|tok|lipu tenpo}} ({{Lit|book of time}}), and it is officially registered as a zine in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ISSN 2752-4639 (Online) |url=https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/2752-4639 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125115641/https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/2752-4639 |archive-date=2023-01-25 |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=portal.issn.org}}</ref>

==Sample texts== thumb|alt=Refer to caption|A legal contract in Sitelen Sitelen, created in 2012 by Jonathan Gabel

==={{lang|tok|tenpo li lili}}=== An original poem about time by {{lang|tok|jan Jasun}}, which won first place in a 2023 poetry contest.<ref group="†">{{Cite web |last=jan Jasun |date=2023 |title=tenpo li lili |url=https://utala.pona.la/toki-en-lipu/toki-lili.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516225646/https://utala.pona.la/toki-en-lipu/toki-lili.html#tenpo-li-lili |archive-date=2024-05-16 |access-date=2024-04-11 |website=utala musi pi ma pona}}</ref>

{{Poem quote| | text = {{lang|tok|ona li wawa li lawa li tawa ali la ona li ken awen ala ona li mute li suli li lon li kama e moli li weka e kon tenpo li lili e musi e mi e ken pali ali pi jan pali ni tenpo li moku e tenpo mi sona mi wile e tenpo tan wile mi pona }} | style = text-align: center; }} {{-}}

==={{lang|tok|jan Sitata}} (excerpt)=== thumb|The opening lines of the novel ''Siddhartha'' by Hermann Hesse, translated by jan Kala, and written in Sitelen Pona by jan Majeka The opening lines of {{lang|tok|jan Sitata}} by {{langr|tok|jan Kala}},<ref group="†">{{cite book |last=Hesse |first=Hermann |author-link=Hermann Hesse |url=https://wikisource.org/wiki/Jan_Sitata/lipu_nanpa_wan/jan_lili_pi_jan_sona_sewi |title=jan Sitata |date=2022 |translator-last=jan Kala |chapter=jan lili pi jan sona sewi}}</ref> a 2022 Toki Pona translation of the novel ''Siddhartha'' by Hermann Hesse, follow below. The text uses interpuncts as markers for end of the sentence.

{{Blockquote |text={{lang|tok|jan Sitata li sama waso alasa li pona lukin li jan lili pi jan sona sewi · ona en jan sama Kowinta pi jan sona sewi ante li kama suli lon pimeja tomo, lon suno pi telo linja, lon poka pi tomo tawa telo, lon pimeja pi ma kasi Sawa, lon pimeja pi kasi kili · jan Sitata li lon telo la ona li pana sewi li telo e sijelo kepeken nasin sewi · suno li pimeja lili e selo walo ona · jan Sitata li lon ma kasi kili la kasi li pimeja e lukin ona · ona li musi li kute e kalama pi mama meli ona · ona li nasin sewi li kute e toki pi mama sona ona ·}} }}

Back-translation in English:

{{Blockquote |text=Siddhartha was like a bird of prey, handsome, and the child of a religious scholar. He and his fellow Govinda, who was from another religious scholar, grew up in the shade of the house, in the sun of the river, near the boats, in the shade of the Salwald forest, in the shade of the fruit tree. When Siddhartha was in the water, he gave sacred offerings and washed himself in the holy manner. The sun tanned his pale skin. When Siddhartha was in the fruit tree grove, the trees shaded his eyes. He played, and heard the song of his mother. He followed the sacred ways, and listened to the teachings of his learned father. }}

==See also== {{Portal|Constructed languages}}

* Engineered language * Sitelen Pona * List of Toki Pona words * List of constructed languages

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

===Primary sources=== {{Reflist|group=†}}

==Publications== {{Refbegin}}  * {{cite book |last=Lang |first=Sonja |author-link=Sonja Lang |title=Toki Pona: The Language of Good |publisher=Tawhid |year=2014 |isbn=978-0978292300 |oclc=921253340}} ** {{cite book |last=Lang |first=Sonja |title=Toki Pona : la langue du bien |publisher=Tawhid |year=2016 |isbn=978-0978292355 |language=fr |trans-title=Toki Pona: The Language of Good}} ** {{cite book |last=Lang |first=Sonja |url=https://www.amazon.de/s?k=sprache+des+guten+toki+pona&ref=nb_sb_noss |title=Toki Pona: Die Sprache des Guten |year=2021 |isbn=979-8770755251 |publication-date=2021-12-01 |language=de |translator-last=Strake |translator-first=Julius |trans-title=Toki Pona: The Language of Good |ref=none}} ** {{cite book |last=Lang |first=Sonja |title=Tokipono: La lingvo de bono |publisher=Tawhid |year=2022 |isbn=978-0978292355 |publication-date=2022-10-01 |language=eo |translator-last=van der Meulen |translator-first=Spencer |trans-title=Toki Pona: The Language of Good}} * {{cite book |last=Lang |first=Sonja |title=Toki Pona Dictionary |publisher=Tawhid |others=Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani |year=2021 |isbn=978-0978292362}} * {{cite book |last=Lang |first=Sonja |author-link=Sonja Lang |title=The Wonderful Wizard of Oz |date=2024 |publisher=Amazon Digital Services LLC - Kdp |isbn=978-0-9782923-7-9 |edition=Toki Pona}} * {{cite book |last=Cárdenas |first=Eliazar Parra |title=Toki pona en 76 ilustritaj lecionoj |publisher=Espero |year=2013 |isbn=978-80-89366-20-0 |location=Partizánske, Slovakia |language=eo |translator-last=Blahuš |translator-first=Marek |trans-title=Toki Pona in 76 illustrated lessons}} * {{cite book |title=Toki Pona Stories: akesi seli lili |year=2020 |isbn=979-8637271252 |trans-title=The Little Dragon}} * {{cite book |last=Samys |first=Ret |url=https://janketami.wordpress.com/2021/06/13/ma-pi-kulupu-tu-toki-pi-nasin-sina/2/ |title=ma pi kulupu tu |date=2021-09-06 |publisher=Holtzbrinck Publishing Group |isbn=9783754161654 |location=Berlin, Germany |language=de |trans-title=The Land of Two Peoples |access-date=2022-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627001747/https://janketami.wordpress.com/2021/06/13/ma-pi-kulupu-tu-toki-pi-nasin-sina/2/ |archive-date=2022-06-27 |url-status=live}} ** {{cite book |last=Samys |first=Ret |url=https://janketami.wordpress.com/2021/06/13/ma-pi-kulupu-tu-toki-pi-nasin-sina/ |title=ma pi kulupu tu |date=2021-09-06 |publisher=Holtzbrinck Publishing Group |isbn=9783754161647 |location=Berlin, Germany |language=en |trans-title=The Land of Two Peoples |access-date=2022-06-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627001751/https://janketami.wordpress.com/2021/06/13/ma-pi-kulupu-tu-toki-pi-nasin-sina/ |archive-date=2022-06-27 |url-status=live}} {{Refend}}

==External links== {{InterWiki|code=tok}} {{wikisourceWiki|toki pona}} {{Sister project auto|q=Toki Pona proverbs|s=Category:Toki Pona language|d=Q36846}} * [https://tokipona.net Primary community-run website] for the language * [https://sona.pona.la {{lang|tok|sona pona}}], a wiki about Toki Pona * [https://liputenpo.org {{lang|tok|lipu tenpo}}], a zine in Toki Pona

Category:Toki Pona Category:2001 introductions Category:Analytic languages Category:Artistic languages Category:Constructed languages Category:Canadian inventions Category:Constructed languages introduced in the 2000s Category:Engineered languages Category:Isolating languages Category:Logographic writing systems Category:Minimalism Category:Taoism in popular culture