Edit: I fucked this post up and accidentally made it a copy of day 4; the record of the war between sun and moon is compromised
Welcome to day 3 of [x ~ 12] our collaborative effort to learn Toki Pona! Toki Pona is a constructed, minimalist language designed to be cute, fun, and very easy to learn. By learning it, we become a part of the broader, and rapidly growing, Toki Pona community.
There will be daily posts increasing in complexity as we progress.
I am not an experienced Toki Pona speaker. For the most part, I'm constructing these lessons to teach myself as much as any other participants.
We will be using two primary resources:
- jan Misali's son pi toki pona youtube playlist
- jan Elisa's Toki Pona in 76 illustrated lessons (also available in Spanish)
Personally, I am also using this set of flash cards on anki to help develop my vocabulary, though I won't be incorporating that into the lessons.
All of this is drawing on the fundamental source of the language: the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good by Sonja Lang.
tenpo pi kama sona li open!
Video: Adjectives
Illustrated Lessons:
compound words plurals compound sentences #1 examples more words
Based on the above video and written lessons, complete the assignments below and post your answers in the comments. (if you see any errors, please point them out; I'm still learning too!).
Translate (one possible correct translation is included in spoilers, but other translations could be equally valid):
jan pi mani mute li ike li wile moli
Capitalist are evil and must die.
jan musi li sona e musi ilo kalama e toki musi.
Musicians know how to play instruments and sing.
mi mute wile li jan mun tawa toki mi.
We want the moon people to speak to us.
kulupu pi jan pali li wile utala e kulupu pi jan mani.
The working class must fight the capitalist class.
ma sewi li jo e musi nasa e len lili.
High places have strange music and small clothes.
mi lili li telo e jan jaki.
My children do the laundry.
mije pi kulupu ni toki ike tawa meli.
Men of this community speak rudely to women.
I will teach you karate and community outreach.
mi pana sona e utala noka pi wan Wijuku e toki kulupu.
The beautiful people gave me moon paste and fixed my broken home.
jan pona lukin li pana mi e ko mun li pona e tomo pakala mi.
The book has little to say of our ancestor's hair washing.
lipu li jo e toki lili pi telo linja pi mama mi.
Your violence towards the people reveals the cruelty of heaven.
utala sina tawa jan li pana sona e ike sewi.
Converse In a thread under the labeled comment below, contribute at least two comments in only Toki Pona to a conversation with your fellow learners.
Toki Pona discord: Use it!
Translations looking solid! I like that you took pipi telo as 'crustacean', which is what I was originally going for.
tomo jaki ni li wile e telo.
You said 'ugly house', but ugly is squarely under ike. jaki is always related to uncleanliness somehow.
As far as doing this more after the two weeks are up: I plan to do a series on toki ma. If you're thinking a way to keep practicing toki pona specifically, I'd be happy to do something like that here as well. I also strongly encourage you to check out the toki pona discord, where you can have tons and tons of regular conversation and help with the language.
Thank you for pointing out all my mistakes! I did mean to say 'jan mun' and had a few misspellings. Your translations mostly look accurate to me.
Your more freeform translation with 'sona suli li pali e mi nasa li pakala mi lukin.' is exactly what I was going for.
The beautiful people gave me moon paste and fixed my broken home.
Your first 'li' is incorrect and should be removed; 'lukin pona' is modifying 'jan', it's not the verb.
toki lili ni li wile e pali mi
jan olin mi li moku e pili ko. ~ [kili?] my partner eats applesauce
ona mute li wile lukin e mun jan. ~ they want to see the moon populated
mun jan li pana sona e mi mute li utala e jan suna. ~ the populated moon teaches us and fights the sun people
sina toki e pipi telo li moku ona mute. ~ you talk to the water bugs, and eat a lot of them
sona suli li pali e mi nasa li pakala mi lukin. ~ big knowledge works on my stupidness and breaks my vision (?)
tomo jaki ni li wile e telo. ~ this building needs to be cleaned
These insects are multiplying and eating my good fruit. ~ pipi li pali e mute li moku e kili pona mi
That dirty child wants more mud. ~ jan lili jaki ni li wile e jaki mute
The beautiful people gave me moon paste and fixed my broken home. ~ jan pi lukin pona li pana e ko mun tawa mi li pona e tomo pakala mi
I must destroy the sun people and give the moon people their sun food. ~ mi wile pakala e jan suno li wile pana e moku suno ona tawa jan mun
ilo kalama mi li kali kalama suli. ~ [pali?] my instrument makes loud soundsNice work! And yup, I did mean to say 'jan mun', not 'mun jan' (as well as a few other mistakes you caught).
For this one:
sona suli li pali e mi nasa li pakala mi lukin.
'pali' here is being used to say 'make', not 'work'. If you make this just a bit less literal, you end up with what I was going for: Great knowledge makes me insane and ruins my eyes/blinds me.
And for this:
The beautiful people gave me moon paste and fixed my broken home.
You inserted an unnecessary 'pi'. 'jan lukin pona' is a single idea, so the 'pi' separator isn't required. I don't think it's necessarily incorrect ("people of beauty"), but it isn't necessary.
Thanks, and for
beautiful people
I would have thought jan lukin pona would mean 'people who see and are good' or something, so it felt like it needed a pi. I guess you would read it with enough interpretation that it would mean the same thing.
my answers
- jan olin mi li moku e pili [kili?] ko: My beloved eats soft fruit.
- ona mute li wile lukin e mun jan [jan mun?]: They all want to see the moon of people.
- mun jan li pana sona e mi mute [pana e sona tawa mi mute?] li utala e jan suna [suno?]: The moon of people teaches us and fights the sun people.
- sina toki e pipi telo li moku ona mute: You speak to the crabs and eat them.
- sona suli li pali e mi nasa li pakala mi lukin [pakala e lukin me?]: great wisdom makes me crazy and blinds me.
- tomo jaki ni li wile e telo: This dirty house needs water.
- These insects are multiplying and eating my good fruit: pipi ni li unpa li moku e kili pona mi.
- That dirty child wants more mud: jan lili jaki ni li wile e jaki mute.
- The beautiful people gave me moon paste and fixed my broken home: jan pona li pana e ko mun tawa mi li pona e tomo pakala mi.
- I must destroy the sun people and give the moon people their sun food: mi wile pakala e jan suno li pana moku suno ona e jan mun.
- ilo kalama mi li kali kalama suli [pali e kalama suli?]: My horn makes big noise.
I like the story you're telling here :)
I was a bit confused by jan Misali's explanation of when e isn't used. I think wile in "mi wile moku" is what the pu calls a "pre-verb" modifying moku, to eat. Also I think based on the pana examples in the book, to say "I give my friend food" you would use the preposition tawa -- mi pana e moku tawa jan pona mi.
I haven't grappled with tawa yet, so you may be right.
And, like all the other respondents, you correctly identified a few of my mistakes and missed intents. I did mean to say jan mun, not mun jan, as well as some missing particles and jumbled consonants. Your translations look great!
ona mute li wile lukin e mun jan
There's no ale here to mean all, so you're adding in a bit of extra information.
for some reason i forgot they is also a plural pronoun
