20 minutes

From Toki Pona

On August 30, 2007, the French and Swiss newspaper 20 minutes published the story Le toki pona est la nouvelle langue à la mode sur le net.

Toki Pona is latest trendy language on Internet

English translation of article by Sonja Elen Kisa

A student has invented a 120-word language that is all the rage on the Internet among fans of Lord of the Rings.

Practiced in the blogs of Tolkien fans that are accustomed to the language of the Elves, Toki Pona has turned into a real fad and identity symbol within a community. Toki Pona, which translates as "good, beautiful, positive" and "language", consists of the bare minimum of words essential to communication. Nevertheless, these are sufficient to compose songs, write poems, and of course, chat online. "It's an easy and universal language," explains the inventor of the language, Sonja Elen Kisa, to the Los Angeles Times.

The 28-year-old Canadian wanted to have a language that focuses solely on positive thinking. "It's the result of a bout of depression and my fascination for the world of Tolkien, and for Zen and Taoist cultures," further explains Sonja Elen Kisa. Toki Pona joins other new languages in full growth. The website Langmaker.com counts over a thousand of them. Some languages have also become popular thanks to movies, for example the "African" language spoken in The Interpreter with Nicole Kidman. If you take up Toki Pona, ale li pona (all will be well).

Yellow journalism

Commentary by Sonja Elen Kisa

The article contains several factual errors and even falsified quotations of me. They seem to be confusing Tolkien fandom with constructed languages.