Toki Pona
| Toki Pona | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Pronunciation | [toki pona] |
| Created by | Sonja Lang |
| Date | 2001 |
| Setting and usage | testing principles of minimalism, the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis and pidgins |
| Users | over 100 are said to be fluent (2007) Several dozen with internet chat ability |
| Purpose |
constructed language, combining elements of the subgenres personal language, international auxiliary language and philosophical language
|
| Sources | a posteriori language, with elements of English, Tok Pisin, Finnish, Georgian, Dutch, Acadian French, Esperanto, Croatian, Chinese |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Toki Pona is a constructed language, first published as draft on the web in 2001 and then as a complete book and e-book Toki Pona: The Language of Good in 2014. It was designed by translator and linguist Sonja Lang (formerly Sonja Elen Kisa) of Toronto.
Toki Pona is a minimal language. Like a pidgin, it focuses on simple concepts and elements that are relatively universal among cultures. Lang designed Toki Pona to express maximal meaning with minimal complexity. The language has 14 phonemes and 120 root words. It is not designed as an international auxiliary language but is instead inspired by Taoist philosophy, among other things.
The language is designed to shape the thought processes of its users, in the style of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, in Zen-like fashion.
Sonja Lang is a translator (English, French and Esperanto) and linguist living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition to designing Toki Pona, Lang has translated parts of the Tao Te Ching into English and Esperanto.
Lang officially uses letters of the Latin alphabet to represent the language, with the values they represent in the IPA: p, t, k, s, m, n, l, j, w, a, e, i, o, and u. (That is, j sounds like English y, and the vowels are like those of Spanish or German.)
Capital letters are only used for personal and place names (see below), not for the first word of a sentence. That is, they mark foreign words, never the 120 Toki Pona roots.
Toki Pona has nine consonants (/p, t, k, s, m, n, l, j, w/) and five vowels (/a, e, i, o, u/). The first syllable of a word is stressed. There are no diphthongs, long vowels, consonant clusters, or tones.
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