The Logic behind Toki Pona
How does a tiny language work?

Artistic Center
Talk by jan Tamalu

Popularity

  • It's the second most popular constructed language after Esperanto
    ~14% of Esperanto speakers speak Toki Pona).
Second most popular constructed language after Esperanto

Book

  • In 2014 first official book was published: A save point for how Toki Pona works.
pu (2014) book cover

Second book

  • Toki Pona grew during the pandemic and evolved a bit since then.
  • A small revision and community usage was recorded in a second book in 2021.
ku (2021) book cover

Community - Where

Fallback: open the map

Toki Pona++: Writing systems

sitelen pona
sitelen sitelen

Toki Pona++: A sign language

luka pona: A Toki Pona inspired sign language

Fallback: open on YouTube

How does Toki Pona work?

(~70% of all Toki Pona rules)
(But you must know: there are no rules!)

Types of words

Content Words
  • moku: eat, drink, food
  • ike: bad, evil
  • toki: to talk, language, hello
  • mi: I, we, my, our...
  • jan: person
  • tawa: to move
Grammar particles
  • li: Introduces predicate
  • e: Introduces direct object
  • en: Separates sentence subjects
  • anu: or
  • la: Marks end of context
  • o: Calling someone, commands, or wishes.

Meanings

mi suli meaning example

Noun Phrases

poki moku noun phrase

Noun Phrases

ilo kalama suli example
ilo pi kalama suli example

Noun Phrases

pi visual explanation

Noun Phrases

telo soweli suli example