Welcome to day 2 of [x ~ 12] our collaborative effort to learn Toki Pona! For those not in the know, Toki Pona is a constructed, minimalist language designed to be cute, fun, and very easy to learn. It was created about twenty years ago by Sonja Lang (jan Sonja), who remains active in the community. By her stated intent, Toki Pona belongs to its speakers, not her, and be engaging in learning we become a part of the broader, and rapidly growing, Toki Pona community.
There will be daily posts increasing in complexity as we progress.
I am not an experienced Toki Pona speaker. For the most part, I'm constructing these lessons to teach myself as much as any other participants.
We will be using two primary resources:
- jan Misali's son pi toki pona youtube playlist
- jan Elisa's Toki Pona in 76 illustrated lessons (also available in Spanish)
Personally, I am also using this set of flash cards on anki to help develop my vocabulary, though I won't be incorporating that into the lessons.
All of this is drawing on the fundamental source of the language: the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good by Sonja Lang. You aren't required to buy the book, but it would certainly help!
With all that out of the way, let's get started!
Video: Sentence Structure
Illustrated Lessons:
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- adjectives and adverbs
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- a poem
- 'li' and 'e' interlude
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- tense
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- possessives
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- more words
Based on the above video and written lessons, complete the assignments below and post your answers in the comments. (if you see any errors, please point them out; I'm still learning too!).
Translate (one possible correct translation is included in spoilers, but other translations could be equally valid):
pipi moli li ike.
The dead bug is bad.
sina jo e telo mi.
You have my water.
jan li moku lili e telo nasa mi.
Someone sipped my booze.
suno suno li pona.
The sunlight is nice.
jan lili li jo e ilo utala!
The kid has a gun!
jan ike mi li jan nasa.
My enemies are dumbasses.
I broke this.
mi pakala e ni.
Your friend is good at sex.
jan pona tu li unpa pona.
Deep water is dangerous.
telo suli li ike.
Your war is killing people.
utala sina li moli e jan.
Tall people have strange children.
jan suli li jo e jan lili nasa.
Toki Pona discord: Use it!
Today
Bonus advanced translation:
tenpo pi musi nasa sina la mi kama sona e nasin pi palisa utala
While you were partying, I was studying the blade.
This is neat. It'd be cool to see a fantasy world using this language.
I've been thinking the same thing though it wouldn't fit in what I'm currently writing.
Learn it with us!
alright actually posting my answers now
- pipi moli li ike: The dead bug was bad.
- suni jo e telo mi: suni has my water. (I think you meant sina here)
- jan moku lili e telo nasa mi: (I think this should be "jan li moku lili e telo nasa mi")
- suno suno li pona: The shining sun is good.
- jan lili li yo [jo?] e ilo utala!: The child has a weapon.
- jan ike li jan nasa: The motherfucker's a :sicko-blur:. (I think "my enemies" would require mi, e.g. "jan ike mi li jan nasa")
- I broke this: mi pakala e ijo ni.
- Your friend is good at sex: jan pona sina li unpa pona. (Not sure what the structure is for saying someone is good at something so I went with something like "they're a good lay.")
- Deep water is dangerous: telo suli li moli.
- Your war is killing people: utala sina li moli e jan mute.
- Tall people have strange children: jan suli li jo e jan lili nasa.
and a number of other corrections, thank you, I'll edit the above
Hey! Im planning to catch up on these once I finish moving and work settles down. I really appreciate all the work you've done to make this easy to learn and im impressed by all the resources you've found I somehow overlooked over the years. :)
toki! There are tons of resources out there and the amount is growing constantly. I'm not sure why exactly, but the language appears to be in a period of rapid growth right now.
My answers
pipi moli li ike. ~ the death bug is bad
sina jo e telo mi. ~ you have my water
jan li moku lili e telo nasa mi. ~ people drink some of my alcohol
suno suno li pona. ~ sunlight is good
jan lili li jo e ilo utala! ~ the kid has a gun!
jan ike mi li jan nasa. ~ my enemy is a weird person
I broke this. ~ mi pakala e ni
Your friend is good at sex. ~ jan pona sina li unpa pona
Deep water is dangerous. ~ ken la telo suli li moli e sina
Your war is killing people. ~ utala sina li moli e jan
Tall people have strange children. ~ jan suli li jo e jan lili nasa
tenpo pi musi nasa sina la mi kama sona e nasin pi palisa utala ~ during your weird art, I gained knowledge of the way of the spearGreat work! Nice use of "ken", which is ahead of our current lessons. My only correction, which is minor, would be on
jan li moku lili e telo nasa mi.
Your answer said "some of my alcohol", but lili is specifically modifying moku; it is a small drink, or a sip, or a taste.
Looks great! pali pona a
My only correction, which is minor, would be on
jan li moku lili e telo nasa mi.
Your answer said "a little of my alcohol", but lili is specifically modifying moku; it is a small drink, or a sip, or a taste.
toki pona pona! sina sona e nimi mute.
My only correction, which is minor, would be on
jan li moku lili e telo nasa mi.
Your answer said "a little of my alcohol", but lili is specifically modifying moku; it is a small drink, or a sip, or a taste.
