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Concept
Toki Pona
Summary
Toki Pona (rendered as toki pona and often translated as 'the language of good'; ˈtoki ˈpona ; ˈtoʊki_ˈpoʊnə) is a philosophical artistic constructed language (philosophical artlang) known for its small vocabulary, simplicity, and ease of acquisition. It was created by Sonja Lang, a Canadian linguist and translator, to simplify thoughts and communication. The first drafts were published online in 2001, while the complete form was published in the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good in 2014. Lang also released a supplementary dictionary, the Toki Pona Dictionary, in July 2021, based on community usage.
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 number of less-used ones. 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 and combinations of words 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 were a few organized in-person meetings during the 2000s and 2010s.
The name of the language has two parts – toki ('language'), derived from Tok Pisin tok, which itself comes from English talk; and pona ('good/simple'), from Esperanto bona, from Latin bonus. The name toki pona therefore means both 'good language' and 'simple language', emphasising that the language encourages speakers to find joy in simplicity.
Official source
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