Three Dollar Quill

In this post:

• What words I came up with.

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I've been grabbing fragmented bits of Toki Pona to convert into placeholders for my lexicon. Let's see what I've collected.

(I'll be honest, I forget what I meant when I wrote up last post's "next time", and the post itself isn't helping.)

• [ale (adj)] all
• [ale (n)] "everywhere"
• [ale (v)] to live
• [ale ala (adj)] some
• [anpa (v)] to travel down/below
• [ante (n)] "the other side"
• [awen (n)] visit
• [awen (v)] to wait/stay/visit/sit
• [en (conj)] and, between noun phrases
• [ike (adj)] Used for "too", could mean "to any unacceptable degree", more generally means "bad" or "complicated", really needs more specific glosses
• [ilo pi wawa ala (n)] "slow thing"
• [ilo pona (n)] good thing
• [ilo suno (n)] a bright thing (may be derive from [suno (adj)])
• [ilo wawa ala (n)] a slow thing, AND a quiet thing, which feels off.
• [jan (n)] person
• [jan lili (n)] baby/child
• [jan sama (n)] sibling/cousin?
• [jan tawa (n)] camper, traveler
• [jo (adj)] owned by
• [jo (v)] to have
• [jump (n)] jump. Toki Pona is hard sometimes.
• [kama (n)] the future
• [kama lili (n)] the near future, 'soon'
• [kama suli (v)] to grow (could probably have just glossed it suli, but also it doesn't matter)
• [kasi (n)] plants (flowers)
• [ken (v)] to be able to
• [kiwen jan (n)] ... doll
• [kon telo (n)] mist/cloud
• [lape (v)] to sleep
• [lili (adj)] little
• [lon (n)] here
• [lon (v)] to stand, to be located
• [lukin (v)] to look
• [lupa (n)] door
• [ma tomo lili (n)] village
• [mama (n)] parent
• [meli lili (n)] girl
• [mije lili (n)] boy
• [moku (v)] to eat
• [moku telo (v)] to drink
• [musi (v)] to play
• [mute (adj)] many/very
• [mute (v)] to do often
• [ni (adj)] this
• [o (v)] a verb of command
• [pali (v)] to work
• [pana (v)] to give
• [pilin pona (adj)] happy
• [pilin pona (n)] happiness
• [pimeja (n)] blackness
• [pini (n)] the past
• [poki (n)] glass (okay, container)
• [pona (adj)] good ("lovely") This one needs more work for sure
• [pona mute (adj)] very good/wonderful
• [pronoun] This is standing in for a more complicated idea that needs concultural support, but the grammatic behavior is presumed identical
• [run (n)] run
• [sama (v)] to be likely to, to seem/appear
• [seli (n)] fire
• [sewi (v)] to travel above/up
• [sike (n)] around. In context, it's translating "around". This may change.
• [sike (n)] ball. I am entirely aware this is on the list twice
• [sike (v)] to roll; this seems like the verb so far most likely to involve something like ergativity, so I probably don't fully have a handle on it. In fact, I just changed it so the relevant example sentence is in the passive form, and the destination is therefore dative instead of accusative.
• [sin (adj)] a
• [sin (v)] to do again
• [sitelen (v)] to write
• [sona (n)] knowledge
• [soweli (adj)] wild
• [soweli (n)] animal, including dog, cat
• [soweli lili (n)] kitten/puppy
• [suli (adj)] old/large/big
• [suno (adj)] bright
• [suno (n)] the sun
• [suno (v)] to shine
• [supa (n)] table
• [tawa (v)] to travel
• [tawa musi (v)] dance
• [telo (n)] water
• [telo sewi (n)] rain
• [telo tawa (n)] river
• [tenpo kama (n)] a specific part of the future
• [tenpo ni (n)] now
• [tenpo suno kama (n)] tomorrow
• [tenpo suno pini (n)] yesterday
• [toki (v)] to say, can be used to form yes-or-no questions
• [toki wawa (v)] to shout
• [tomo sona (n)] school
• [tomo suli (n)] "palace"
• [tu (adj)] two
• [tu (v)] to do twice (this must derive from the numerals somehow; probably the lower numbers have some "irregular" formulation, also shared by select higher numbers, like 40 or 108)
• [walk (n)] walk
• [wan (adj)] together
• [wan (n)] together
• [wan (v)] to be united/together/whole (in theory there should be a word for "once" that currently would gloss the same)
• [weka (n)] some other place, "away"
• [wile (v)] to want, to hope, should, this is probably overloaded

Ninety something words. That's certainly something. My hope is that I can turn that big list there into some smaller lists of words that should be related.

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Next time, I discuss the grammar.

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July 18

So, before I do the sentences, I want to take the person marking off all of the nouns, and collapse the "pronoun" placeholders into one. I also want to avoid using "kama" as a verb of motion. Instead use "tawa" more as "to journey".

Lovely flowers are growing everywhere.

[kama suli (v)].proximate.plural.imperfective [kasi (n)].plural.nominative [pona (adj)].plural.nominative [ale (n)].plural.inessive

We should eat more slowly.

[wile (v)].first.plural.imperfective [moku (v)].first.plural.imperfective [pronoun].first.plural.nominative [ilo pi wawa ala (n)].plural.comparative [mute (adj)].plural.comparative

You have come too soon.

[tawa (v)].second.singular.cessative [pronoun].second.singular.nominative [kama lili (n)].plural.inessive [ike (adj)].plural.inessive

You must write more neatly.

[wile (v)].second.singular.imperfective [sitelen (v)].second.singular.imperfective [pronoun].second.singular.nominative [ilo pona (n)].plural.comparative

Directly opposite stands a wonderful palace.

[lon (v)].proximate.singular.imperfective [tomo suli (n)].singular.nominative [pona mute (adj)].singular.nominative [sin (adj)].singular.nominative [ante (n)].singular.inessive [mute (adj)].singular.inessive

Henry's dog is lost.

[tawa (v)].proximate.singular.imperfective [soweli (n)].singular.nominative [jan Enwi (name)].obviative.singular.genitive'[jo (adj)].singular.nominative [sona (n)].plural.privative

I don't know if I'll actually go with privative case, but I like it for now. Another way would be to represent "lose" as the cessative of "have". "To lose one's way"

My cat is black.

[sama (v)].proximate.singular.imperfective [soweli (n)].singular.nominative [pronoun].first.singular.genitive'[jo (adj)].singular.nominative [pimeja (n)].plural.accusative

The little girl's doll is broken.

[wan (v)].proximate.singular.cessative [kiwen jan (n)].singular.nominative [lili (adj)].singular.genitive [meli lili (n)].singular.genitive'[jo (adj)].singular.nominative

The head of a phrase in genitive moves to the end.

I usually sleep soundly.

[mute (v)].first.singular.imperfective [lape (v)].first.singular.imperfective [pronoun].first.singular.nominative [ilo wawa ala (n)].plural.comparative

I'm using the same gloss for "quiet" and "slow". I need to decide what to do about that. (Also "cat" and "dog", but whatever.)

The children ran after Jack.

[tawa (v)].proximate.plural.imperfective [jan lili (n)].plural.nominative [jan Sa (name)].obviative.singular.accusative [run (n)].plural.instrumental [pini (n)].plural.inessive

July 19

I can play after school.

[ken (v)].first.singular.inchoative [musi (v)].first.singular.inchoative [pronoun].first.singular.nominative [tenpo kama (n)].singular.inessive [tomo sona (n)].singular.genitive'[jo (adj)].singular.inessive

We went to the village for a visit.

[tawa (v)].first.plural.perfective [pronoun].first.plural.nominative [ma tomo lili (n)].singular.accusative [awen (n)].singular.dative ([sin (adj)].singular.dative) [pini (n)].plural.inessive

Dative for benefactive

We arrived at the river.

[tawa (v)].first.plural.cessative [pronoun].first.plural.nominative [telo tawa (n)].singular.accusative [pini (n)].plural.inessive

I have been waiting for you.

[awen (v)].first.singular.perfective [pronoun].first.singular.nominative [pronoun].second.singular.accusative

I'm confused.

The campers sat around the fire.

[awen (v)].proximate.plural.perfective [jan tawa (n)].plural.nominative [pini (n)].plural.inessive. [lon (v)].obviative.singular.perfective [seli (n)].singular.nominative [pronoun].proximate.plural.inessive

I figured "traveler" and "camper" were close enough.

A little girl with a kitten sat near me.

[awen (v)].proximate.singular.perfective [meli lili (n)].singular.nominative [lili (adj)].singular.nominative [sin (adj)].singular.nominative [soweli lili (n)].singular.genitive'[wan (adj)].singular.nominative [pronoun].first.singular.adessive [pini (n)].plural.inessive

I've decided that genitive can glom onto other adjectives, like "together"

The child waited at the door for her father.

[awen (v)].proximate.singular.perfective [jan lili (n)].singular.nominative [mama (n)].singular.accusative [pronoun].proximate.singular.genitive'[jo (adj)].singular.accusative [lupa (n)].singular.adessive [pini (n)].plural.inessive

Yesterday the oldest girl in the village lost her kitten.

[jo (v)].proximate.singular.cessative [meli lili (n)].singular.nominative [ma tomo lili (n)].singular.genitive'[suli (adj)].singular.nominative (oldest) [soweli lili (n)].singular.accusative [pronoun].proximate.singular.genitive'[jo (adj)].singular.accusative [tenpo suno pini (n)].singular.inessive

I don't know if I want to do it like this. Basically, for adjectives that can be used normally, I guess the genitive sets up a superlative, with the genitive noun describing the set with respect to which the described noun is superlative, and the adjective the way in which it is superlative.

Were you born in this village?

[toki (v)].second.singular.inchoative [ale (v)].second.singular.inchoative [pronoun].second.singular.nominative [ma tomo lili (n)].singular.inessive [ni (adj)].singular.inessive

Can your brother dance well?

[toki (v)].second.singular.inchoative [ken (v)].second.singular.perfective [tawa musi (v)].second.singular.perfective [jan sama (n)].singular.nominative [pronoun].second.singular.genitive'[jo (adj)].singular.nominative [ilo pona (n)].plural.comparative