List of Toki Pona words
This is a list of words in Toki Pona, a constructed language with very few words.[1][2] The language uses a small number of words so people need to combine words together to say more complicated things.
The words can act as nouns or verbs or any other part of speech. Speakers figure things out from context.[3]
In Toki Pona there are 120-137 main words called nimi pu, there are some rare words called nimi ku.[a] While there are many other words in the language, they are mostly old and outdated and not many people use them.
| Toki Pona word | English meaning | sitelen pona | sitelen sitelen |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | interjection | 
|
|
| akesi | lizard or reptile | 
|
|
| ala | no, not, zero | 
|
|
| alasa | hunt | 
|
|
| ale | all, 100 | 
|
|
| ali | |||
| anpa | down, lowly | 
|
|
| ante | different, other | 
|
|
| anu | or | 
|
|
| apeja | (uncommon) shame, guilt | 
|
|
| awen | enduring, wait, continue | 
|
|
| e | direct object marker | 
|
|
| en | and (only used between multiple subjects) | 
|
|
| epiku | (humorous) epic | 
|
|
| esun | market, trade | 
|
|
| ijo | thing, object, matter | 
|
|
| ike | bad, superfluous | 
|
|
| iki | (archaic, obscure) he, she, it, they[source?] | ||
| ilo | tool, device | 
|
|
| insa | inside, stomach | 
|
|
| jaki | dirty, disgusting | 
|
|
| jalan | (uncommon) walk | ||
| jan | person, human | 
|
|
| jasima | (uncommon) reflection, mirror | 
|
|
| jelo | yellow, light green | 
|
|
| jo | have, hold | 
|
|
| kala | fish, sea creature | 
|
|
| kalama | sound, noise, recite | 
|
|
| kama | come, become | 
|
|
| kan | (archaic, obscure) with, together | ||
| kapa | (archaic, obscure) bump, hill[source?] | ||
| kapesi | (rare) brown, grey | ||
| kasi | plant | 
|
|
| ken | can, possible | 
|
|
| kepeken | using | 
|
|
| kijetesantakalu | raccoon | 
|
|
| kili | fruit, vegetable | 
|
|
| kin | also, too | 
|
|
| kipisi | cut, divide, part | 
|
|
| kiwen | hard, solid, stone | 
|
|
| ko | paste, powder | 
|
|
| kokosila | (uncommon, humorous) speak another language when Toki Pona would be more appropriate | 
|
|
| kon | air, spirit | 
|
|
| ku | relating to Toki Pona Dictionary | 
|
|
| kule | color, painted | 
|
|
| kulupu | group, community | 
|
|
| kute | ear, hear, listen, obey | 
|
|
| la | (context phrase marker) | 
|
|
| lanpan | grab, seize, steal | 
|
|
| lape | sleep, rest | 
|
|
| laso | blue, green | 
|
|
| lawa | head, mind, control, lead | 
|
|
| leko | block, square | 
|
|
| len | cloth, clothing, cover, privacy | 
|
|
| lete | cold, cool, raw | 
|
|
| li | (predicate marker) | 
|
|
| lili | small, little, young | 
|
|
| linja | line, string, hair | 
|
|
| lipu | flat object, paper, document | 
|
|
| loje | red | 
|
|
| lon | at, in, on, real, true, exist | 
|
|
| luka | hand, arm, five | 
|
|
| lukin | eye, see, look at, try | 
|
|
| lupa | hole, door, orifice, window | 
|
|
| ma | land, earth, country | 
|
|
| majuna | (uncommon) old, ancient | 
|
|
|
|||
| mama | parent, ancestor, creator, caretaker | 
|
|
| |||
| mani | money, wealth, cattle | 
|
|
| meli | woman, female, feminine, wife | 
|
|
| meso | average, medium | 
|
|
| mi | I, me, we, us | 
|
|
| mije | man, male, masculine, husband | 
|
|
| misikeke | medicine, cure | 
|
|
| moku | eat, consume, food | 
|
|
| moli | dead, die, death, kill | 
|
|
| monsi | back, rear | 
|
|
| monsuta | monster, fear, danger, scary | 
|
|
| mu | animal onomotopeia (moo, meow, etc.) | 
|
|
| mun | moon, night sky object | 
|
|
| musi | fun, playing, game, recreation, art, entertainment | 
|
|
| mute | many, very, much, several, a lot, abundant, numerous, more | 
|
|
| n | um, hmm | 
|
|
| namako | extra, additional, spice, season, embellish | 
|
|
| |||
| |||
| nanpa | number, ordinal indicator | 
|
|
| nasa | strange, silly, drunk, (nonstandard, proscribed) foolish, crazy | 
|
|
| nasin | way, manner, custom, road, path, doctrine, system, method | 
|
|
| nena | bump, hill, mountain, button, nose | 
|
|
| ni | this, that | 
|
|
| nimi | word, name | 
|
|
| noka | leg, foot, organ of locomotion; base | 
|
|
| o | O! (vocative or imperative) | 
|
|
| oko | eye | 
|
|
| olin | love, respect | 
|
|
| ona | he, she, it, they | 
|
|
| open | open, begin | 
|
|
| pakala | blunder, accident, mistake, destruction, damage, break | 
|
|
| pake | (uncommon) stop, cease | 
|
|
| pali | make, activity, work, deed, project | 
|
|
| palisa | long hard object (e.g. rod, stick, branch) | 
|
|
| pan | grain, cereal; bread, pasta | 
|
|
| pana | give, put, send, place, release, emit | 
|
|
| pasila | (archaic, obscure) easy[source?] | ||
| pata | (archaic, obscure) sibling | 
| |
| peta | (archaic, obscure) green[7][8] | 
| |
| pi | (modifier phrase marker) | 
|
|
| pilin | feelings, emotion, heart | 
|
|
| pimeja | black, dark, shadow | 
|
|
| pini | end, finish, stop, past | 
|
|
| pipi | bug, insect | 
|
|
| po | (archaic, obscure) four | 
| |
| poka | side, hip, next to, vicinity | 
|
|
| poki | container, box, bowl | 
|
|
| pona | good, simple, useful | 
|
|
| powe | (uncommon) false, fake, deceptive | ||
| pu | relating to Toki Pona: The Language of Good | 
|
|
| sama | same, similar, equal, like | 
|
|
| seli | fire, warmth, heat | 
|
|
| selo | outside, surface, skin, boundary | 
|
|
| seme | what, which | 
|
|
| sewi | high, up, above, sacred | 
|
|
| |||
| sijelo | body, physical state, torso | 
|
|
| sike | circle, wheel, ball, year | 
|
|
| san | (archaic, unofficial) three, especially in senary base | 
| |
| sin | new, fresh, another | 
|
|
| sina | you | 
|
|
| sinpin | front, wall, chest, face | 
|
|
| sitelen | picture, image, write, draw | 
|
|
| soko | mushroom, fungus | 
|
|
| sona | know, information, wisdom | 
|
|
| soweli | animal, (especially) land mammal | 
|
|
| suli | big, tall, long, important, adult | 
|
|
| suno | sun, light | 
|
|
| supa | horizontal supporting surface, platform, furniture, table, chair | 
|
|
| suwi | sweet, cute, sugar | 
|
|
| tan | from, because of, cause | 
|
|
| taso | but, only | 
|
|
| tawa | to, for, move, go | 
|
|
| telo | water, liquid, wet, wash, beverage | 
|
|
| tenpo | time, moment, period, situation | 
|
|
| toki | say, speech, language | 
|
|
| tomo | house, building, room | 
|
|
| tonsi | non-binary | 
|
|
| tu | two, halve | 
|
|
| tuli | (archaic, obscure) three |
| |
| unpa | sex, sexual | 
|
|
| unu | (rare) purple | ||
| uta | mouth, lips, jaw, oral | 
|
|
| utala | conflict, battle, fight, compete | 
|
|
| walo | white, light-colored | 
|
|
| wan | one, unique, unite | 
|
|
| waso | bird, winged animal | 
|
|
| wawa | strong, power, energy | 
|
|
| weka | away, absent, missing | 
|
|
| wile | want, need, desire, must | 
|
|
Notes[change | change source]
- ↑ Prior to the publication of Toki Pona: The Language of Good, the language grew to 118 words.[4] Between then and the publication of Toki Pona Dictionary, varying counts were given for the number of words in the former (nimi pu, lit. "words of Toki Pona: The Language of Good"), ranging between 120 and 125.[1] The Toki Pona Dictionary added 16 new "essential" words (nimi ku suli, lit. "important Dictionary words"),[5] and states on its back cover that there are a total of 137.[6] It also includes several less-used words (nimi ku pi suli ala, lit. "non-important Dictionary words").[5]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Blahuš, Marek (November 2011). Fiedler, Sabine (ed.). "Toki Pona: eine minimalistische Plansprache" [Toki Pona: A Minimalistic Planned Language] (PDF). Interlinguistische Informationen (in German). 18. Berlin: 51–55. ISSN 1432-3567. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
- ↑ Rogers, Steven D. (2011). "Part I: Made-Up Languages – Toki pona". A Dictionary of Made-Up Languages. United States of America: Adams Media. ISBN 978-1440528170.
- ↑ Tomaszewski, Zach (2012-12-11). "A Formal Grammar for Toki Pona" (PDF). University of Hawai‘i. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-11-01. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
- ↑ "Classic Word List (Improved!)". tokipona.net. Archived from the original on 2018-10-30. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lang 2021, p. 22–23.
- ↑ Lang 2021, back cover.
- ↑ "Lexicon (English)". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
- ↑ "Dictionnaire étymologique [Découvrir et approfondir le toki pona]". tokipona.fr. Retrieved 2024-04-10.
Sources[change | change source]
- Lang, Sonja (2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362.
- Toki Pona Stories: akesi seli lili [The Little Dragon]. 2020. ISBN 979-8637271252.