Talk:What is Toki Pona?

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Streamline your thoughts

Streamline your thoughts

Inspirations

Values

many Toki Pona fan sites can be found on the Internet, developped by enthusiasts from around the world.

As Person said, nothing is truly new. inspired


Origins of humanity 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-primitivists

ancient history


History of Toki Pona

Toki Pona was created by Sonja Elen Kisa. As a language enthusiast, world traveller, intercultural communicator, explorer of spirituality and consciousness, queer woman, and survivor of depression and anxiety, Sonja was naturally inclined to unify her unique life experiences and perspective into a creative project she could share. The idea of a simple pidgin-like language based on universal human experience slowly evolved in her mind.

Since Toki Pona was first published online in 2001, it has experienced a surprising growth of interest and popularity. Today,


the quest for meaning in life big questions.

How was it made?

How to make a Toki Pona

The language was designed by Sonja Elen Kisa in 2001. The grammar and word meanings were engineered from scratch.



simple living

inspiration


ask the big questions

have always been very curious about life

incredibly curious about the universe around me, my relationship with it

explain the unexplainable has captivated scientists, mystics, philosophers, etc.

some have used the language of science, the language of religion, etc. my thing happens to be the language of langauge



Toki Pona is a simple language that lets us organize, understand and communicate our thoughts and ideas.


transcend beyond the bias of our times caputer the human experience regardless of culture or millenium or whatever connect us to our distant past and future


can be used in very different contexts and still hold true

underlying principle or pattern of the life and the universe

deeper or true meaning


The meaning of life


only one of infinite possible interpretation of life but it's self-coherent and fits in x words

Grok life

make the complex familiar can relate to on some fundamental level

Making Sense of the World

reconnect to true meaning?

for example, you receive a letter

cease and desist yadda yadda client

actually means

" stop giving away the text written/owned by the guy who's giving me money" Stop giving this text. You're not allowed to. It belongs to the guy who is giving me money.


conceptual primitives


especially our complex modern world is very far removed from the the way our Stone Age brains want to think In moderation, a healthy dose of Toki Pona helps bridge and balance things out.

A lot of life wisdom has been �built-in� inside Toki Pona. Training your mind to think in Toki Pona can lead to many deeper insights. They say that most of life�s problems we create ourselves. Toki Pona eliminates this excess jargon and fluff and instead points to the centre and nature of things. Many of these principles were inspired by Taoism, which values a simple, honest life and non-interference with the natural flow of things.

Take for example the concept of a �bad friend�. The Toki Pona word for friend is jan pona, or literally �good person�. You quickly realize that a bad friend is a contradiction in itself: perhaps it is time to help this friend come back to a positive and constructive life path, or maybe it is time to let go of this negative person in your life.

A classic example of this can be seen when translating governmental and corporate doublespeak to plain language. English is full of these:

�downsizing� mass firing of employees �collateral damage� civilian deaths �preemptive war� invasion of a foreign country

A lot of life wisdom has been "built into" Toki Pona. Training your mind to think in Toki Pona can lead to many deeper insights about yourself or the world around you. In our modern times, we seem to make life so complicated, and it is easy to lose touch with our basic origins. Indeed, they say that most of life's problems we create ourselves, e.g. in our frenetic and always accelerating quest for "progress". When you break down a complex situation to its fundamental Toki Pona words, it can often become more clear, and you can check if are in a good direction.

Take for example the concept of a "bad friend". The Toki Pona word for friend is jan pona, or literally "good person". You quickly realize that a bad friend is a contradiction in itself. If this person is truly bad to you, perhaps it is time to help him come back to a positive and constructive life path, or maybe it is time to let go of this negative person in your life.

Purging thoughts that clutter or mislead

A classic example of this can be seen when translating the doublespeak used by governments and corporations to plain English:

"downsizing" mass firing of employees "collateral damage" civilian deaths "preemptive war" invasion of a foreign country

Toki Pona eliminates this excess jargon or fluff and instead points to the centre and nature of things. It can become a sort of "yoga for the mind". Instead of getting caught in negative thoughts and anxiety, you learn to relax, meditate and explore your relationship to life itself.

Toki Pona is also an introspective language, in that many idioms focus on the self, experiencing the world around it. For example, a statement like meli li pona, literally "women are good", always recognizes the speaker's values first, i.e. "In my experience, woman are good." This could equally be translated as "I like women". Wisdom and deeper meaning

Toki Pona could be described as an exercise in human thought, a sort of yoga for the mind or an . When you pattern your ideas around the principles of simplicity and positivity, it can help you understand and communicate your thoughts more clearly and often sheds light on the true meaning of something.

For example, if somebody is constantly a bad friend to you, literally jan pona ike or �a bad good-person� in Toki Pona, then the contradiction becomes more obvious,

some people like the logical way toki pona fathoms all the meanings in life in a simple usable way, atntracted to it in logical way, and are not interested in any spiritual or wellness or philosophical applications of toki pona. that's fine, toki pona can do that too. but don't be disappointed when you can't do this or that in the language. as an author i'm never sure if i should cater to the needs of this demographic of TOki Pona users and feed their delusion that we can understand everything and have words for every minute detail, or if I should just gently guide them back to pona or simple beneficial reality. I'm really surprised at the manner in which some of this posts take on. It is certanly not "talk good" ;P see also chapter on ineffable


in english, we're often guilty of bogging down language

like "cease and desist" "trials and tribulations" these double expressions that repeat the same idea twine or don't add any more clarity


Welcome


developed for a specific purpose

not designed as an international communication on par with languages like English,

explore within


not designed to eradicate or go against modern complexity, but to complement it


the harder we work, the harder we need to play

supercomputers need superfans and cooling systems

toki pona is a language of unwinding for the human mind

it's the dynamic process of doing and undoing, thinking and not-thinking, doing and not-doing, increasing and simplifying,


pona mute! sina pu. Congratulations. You have the official Toki Pona book.


What is Toki Pona?

Toki Pona is a minimalist language created by myself, Sonja Elen Kisa. Toki Pona. I designed Toki Pona as a way to express relatively complex human ideas using only a handful of simple words. The entire language has only 120??? words and 14 basic sounds. The grammar, although different from English, is quite regular and very easy to learn.

is a constructed language with a total vocabulary of 120 words and a clever compounding system. This allows the speaker to freely make conversation on everyday occurrences but effectively hinders jargon or euphemisms. This script makes random names based on the language's pronunciation rules.


Toki Pona is a "maximally minimal" language. It was constructed with only 120 words and with only the simplest to pronounce sounds. Toki Pona tries to follow the Taoist philosophy that "simple is good." In order to lead a simple life, one needs a simple language; or perhaps a simple language will lead to a simpler life.


Whether you enjoy the philosophy or not, Toki Pona is fun to speak.


WRITING GUIDE: -give many examples -subheaders of benefits, why would somebody want this? --clear thinking --simplify your thoughts -- -useful words: distill, zero in on, streamline, simplify, reduce to elements, purify, unclutter, clear up, get to the core of, fundamental things and experiences -sometimes flies in the face of conventional wisdom

home -what is toki pona?: basic idea, help you think more clearly, understand the world around you etc. -plain language: talk about clear language etc -medical benefits / therapeutic value: explain and have link to quotes -media coverage: toki pona has gained a lot of attention link to more


-communicate better -relax and have fun -holistic thinking -living in the now -universality (opening your mind, become aware of deeper thruths) -simplify and streamline your thoughts, understand the big picture 



Toki Of pona - planned language, developed of Sonia to the change of sex) - one of the most bright representatives of my generation - by talented, intelligent, good person with improbable charisma. It follows philosophy “less - this is more”, its purposes include the partition of concepts into the smaller parts, the exception of excess synonyms, installation to the good, pleasant for the ear sounding. This analytical and, at the same time, [oligosinteticheskiy] language; it reaches the essential degree of expression, having lexical reserve into 125 words; this is “contextual language” - in each specific case it distinguishes only those things, which have critical value for the understanding.

Toki Of pona 

   * it does not have the connected with it culture, history, this is not the language “of figment” (as [tolkienovskie] languages or [klingonskiy], for example);
   * this is the auxiliary language of international contact;
   * this, is faster, [daosskiy] language;
   * it changes your viewpoint, when you think on it, [daet] you the completely new vision of peace;
   * there always exists in the present moment and in this context;


Its purpose 

   * amusement;
   * the understanding by our universe;
   * life in the present, the deep realization of each moment;
   * simplification in our life.

In proportion to we attempt to think to Toki Of pona, to transfer on it our thoughts and feelings, Toki Of pona becomes our viewpoint… … by a simple modest way of life… of the happy life

In other words, this is - ideological language. The [cheloveskoe] society in 2003 of our era became excessively complex: some people want to kill other people, so that to protect themselves, you must improve your technology; your malicious neighbors as the answer [uluchayut] their own technology, and, without having had time to realize, you obtain the arms race, which is turned havoc on the spiral. Since the way of contemporary human society is such. However, possible to stop violence and to return to a simple way of life. Like “[novoyaz]” Of [oruella], Toki Of pona (name of which can be transferred as “good speech”, “the language of good”, “simple language”) it has its ideological agenda and as Lo ** an (consideration of which on the forum is counted [movetonom]:) it is developed for the purpose of the manifestation of [Sapira]- Whorf effect in the consciousness of that managing this language. But, in contrast to [novoyaza], whose purpose is subordination and control, Toki Of pona tells us: “hey, give! give to live simply, to live now, to live happy!”



back cover What is the meaning of life? Simple.




what does that mean? Explaining life in Simple and Universal Human Concepts



You are one of the priviledged few to hold a copy of this hand-made book. As the author, I have put much time and work to make it a unique little gem for you with new and original content. (For this reason, I kindly ask that you please not copy or distribute any of the content of this book or the accompanying CD in any way, online or otherwise.) 


at a more complicated language, like English, which has many ways of saying basically the same thing. The English words language, speak, talk, say, tell, communication and chat are very related in meaning. In Toki Pona, these words are lumped together and distilled down to a single overarching word, toki, which



even health is a state of change, getting sick, getting healthy mental health too getting challenged, standing back up again, �up and down is the rhythm of life that flexes our "alive" muscles, both literal and proverbial, (habits) anybody who is only up will not know how to get back up on the day (and it will come) where he is down.



??can’t tqell the diff between , and the point is it doesn’t matter

a form of meditation to simplify your thoughts


Many of these principles were inspired by Taoism, which values a simple, honest life and non-interference with the natural flow of things, as well as other spiritual paths. Focusing on the good Living in the now

state of mind

Returning to a simpler time

Some of the fantasy of Toki Pona is to return to a simpler time when things are less complicated and are more primal. A return to the archetypes that empower us and provide meaning to the world around us.





so many applications


shrink


streamlined

simple


writer and language designer



kribri kaj senbalastigi la lingvon



I see toki pona as mostly a literary, a poetic, language dipped in elements philosophy and comedy, though it is supposed to have practical application (such as being usable in day to day conversation) as well. I am in the favor of agreeing on a system of names for base numbers, then perhaps a system on combining them into large numbers, but I also think that the non-descriptive definitions of wan, tu, mute, and ala should (and would) be the preferred mode of expressing size or number (when mathematics isn't necessary).

I don't see anything wrong with a toki nanpa, and I don't see why it can't be a part of toki pona, especially considering that the speakers of toki pona refuse to eliminate numbers from the language.


system for streamlining your thoughts




Universal Building Blocks

Historically, when people from different cultures and languages met, they sometimes developed a basic pidgin language. They would find common ground,



Cute Sounds

Many Toki Pona words rhyme and have cute rhythms:

ma mama homeland (“mother land”) ona li pona she/he/it is good telo jelo urine (“yellow water”) waso laso blue bird

Some people have compared the simple phonetics of Toki Pona to Polynesian languages or Japanese.




.


Inner Peace

state of consciousness





Today

Since Sonja published her language online in 2001, it has experienced a surprising burst of popularity.

language lovers and philosophers alike

students fan sites


focus not so much on a language that is the most practical but more as a reflection tool to understand the origin and meaning and purpose of rthings





way of focusing on your ideas and filtering/distilling them to a clearer format, to their essence



ancient truths





krestomatio = anthology


If English is a rich, epic poem, then Toki Pona is a haiku. If English has centuries of history (both good and bad), then Toki Pona is just a glimse into a single given moment that is connected to all other moments of infinity.


less than 120 words > fewer than 120

i developed toki pona because i have a basic need to understand the world around me


holism


reductionism or holism: can it be both?


a different way of thinking


(flexibility) whether you're in it for the philosophy and "new agey" stuff or the pure logical grammar

> 11. What do you think about Sepir-Whorf hypothesis? Do you think this would > be useful (in any way) for children to learn toki pona as a first language?

If parents want to teach TOki Pona to their kids, I welcome them... curious to hear the experince and of the child (more so than the parents) kids are able to learn many languages at once , so it's not going to stop them from learning other languages used in its environment


mysteries of life can be overwhelming/daunting

lets you embrace the mystery, but still navigate through it


holistic, see the big picture deeper active constantly flowing world instead of focusing on specific fixed states


lukin e ale, lukin suli = big picture?

Language and the narrowing of consciousness

[...] It may seem as though language which narrows mental horizons is applicable only to totalitarian purposes, but this is by no means true. In 2001 Sonja Kisa, on the basis of Taoist philosophy, worked out a language called Toki Pona, whose name translates as ‘good language’. As in Orwellian Newspeak, the vocabulary of Toki Pona is limited. However, in contrast to Newspeak, whose goal was subjugation and control, Toki Pona has set itself a different task. It follows the philosophy Less is more. Its goals include the breaking down of concepts into their component parts, excluding superfluous synonyms, an emphasis on the ‘good’, a sound pleasant to the ear. This rather primitive language is called upon to liberate thinking from unnecessary words, make humanity wiser and teach it a simpler approach to life.

It hasn’t taken long for Toki Pona to achieve extraordinary popularity. Literary works are being translated into it, and poetry is being written in it. There is even a variant of the universal encyclopedia Wikipedia in Toki Pona (tokipona.wikipedia.org).

Ellochka Shchukina [a.k.a. Ellochka the Cannibal, a character in Ilja Ilf and Evgenij Petrov’s 1928 novel The Twelve Chairs] easily got by in life knowing only thirty words. Well, Toki Pona has no more than 118 (you can find a list of these on the language’s official site at www.tokipona.org/nimi.html). As this is only four times larger than Ellochka the Cannibal’s vocabulary, some ambiguity is unavoidable. This isn’t always a bad thing, however. When speaking Toni Pona, a person concentrates just on the basic features of things, not getting involved in unnecessary details. Toki Pona is a ‘contextual language’ — i.e., in any given specific situation it distinguishes only those things which are critically important to understanding. For example, a duck in Toki Pona is literally translated as water bird, but if there is a critical need to show exactly what water bird is being talked about, one can refer to a duck, for example, as a stupid water bird.

Just as one can reduce the fraction 37/148 to 1/4, so in Toki Pona one has to break down semantic constructions to simple and indivisible units of meaning. Instead of saying, for example, I’m hungry, you say I want to eat. Instead of teach it’s give knowledge; instead of health — a good body; instead of happiness — feeling good and so on.

Toki Pona enthusiasts maintain that in speaking this language, we discover for ourselves the deep meaning of things otherwise hidden behind the intricate constructions of traditional language. You can learn Toki Pona in four hours, but once it is learnt, you can never forget it your whole life. Speakers of the language maintain that learning it has given them a whole new outlook on the world — a more philosophical outlook.

I must admit that I did not take the time to learn Toki Pona myself, and so it’s hard for me to say whether it actually changes one’s consciousness or not. It is safe to say, however, that the author of Toki Pona, Sonja Kisa, is a real free-thinking person, free from any kind of prejudice. [...]

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