added lots of explanations to 4,5,9 and index

pages/tokipona/4.md

@@ -31,6 +31,36 @@ This page will only cover the ten new words and a few small concepts.
 
 > ma tomo mi li suli. - My city ("housed land") is big.
 
+## Topics of conversation
+
+> %warning%
+> There is no consensus on which of these ways is more correct, but
+> each has its own positives and negatives. Everything in this entire heading is
+> one big "dialectal difference", and the author's opinions on the differences
+> will follow.
+
+There are two commonly used ways to specify the topic of conversation when using
+the word "toki".
+
+The one used in "o kama sona e toki pona!" is to specify the topic as an
+adjective:
+
+> ona li toki meli. -- They talk about women.
+
+However, it introduces uncertainty when actual adjectives that apply to "toki"
+are introduced. Does "toki ike" mean "speak badly" or "talk about evil"?
+
+Another way, also commonly used in the toki pona community, is to use the topic
+as an object:
+
+> sina toki e kala. -- You talk about fish.
+
+While this is considered a rather unconventional use of the particle "e" for
+some, it is less ambiguous and more flexible. For clarity's sake, this option
+will be used throughout the course.
+
+## Example sentences
+
 And here's some sentences that use interesting phrases.
 
 > jan pali li toki utala e tomo mi. - The worker criticizes ("talks in a

pages/tokipona/5.md

@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ The word "en" lets one combine several subjects in one sentence:
 
 > mi en sina li moku. -- You and I are eating.
 
-Note that it is _not_ used to combine several verbs or objects.
+Note that it is _not_ used to combine several verbs or objects -- the way to do
+that was explained on [page 4](4.html).
 
 The word "mute" allows to specify whether the subject (or object) is singular or
 plural.
@@ -37,8 +38,6 @@ Here are some example sentences:
 
 > jan lili mute li lape. -- The children are sleeping.
 
-> kulupu ni li pona mute. -- This community is very good.
-
 > kiwen suli li pakala e tomo lipu. -- A big rock damaged the library ("house of
 > books").
 
@@ -46,11 +45,23 @@ Here are some example sentences:
 
 > ilo sina li kalama mute ike. -- Your instrument is making lots of bad noise.
 
-The word "ni" is also used to create more complex sentences. It can be used to
-talk about what other people say (or even quote them, depending on context):
+## The word "ni"
+
+The simplest use of the word "ni" is to mean "this" or "that":
+
+> kulupu ni li pona mute. -- This community is very good.
+
+However, it is much more powerful than that. The word "ni" can also be used to
+create more complex sentences.
+
+It can be used to talk about what other people say (or even quote them,
+depending on context):
 
 > jan lili li toki e ni: sina pona. -- The child said that you're good.
 
+> ona li toki e ni: "toki! sina pona lukin." -- They said: "Hello! You look
+> good."
+
 Or it can be used to provide even more detailed descriptions of subjects or
 objects.
 
@@ -65,9 +76,9 @@ objects.
 > explaining certain ideas.
 
 There doesn't seem to be an agreement whether or not "en" can be used within
-phrases that use the particle "pi" (will be explained later). In addition, Sonja
-Lang herself said that using "en" to combine several objects is "not completely
-wrong", but rather stylistically inelegant.
+phrases that use the particle "pi" (will be explained in [page 9](9.html)). In
+addition, Sonja Lang herself said that using "en" to combine several objects is
+"not completely wrong", but rather stylistically inelegant.
 
 ## Exercises
 

pages/tokipona/9.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ The vocabulary for this page:
 
 | word  | meaning                          |
 |-------|----------------------------------|
-| pi    | "of" (groups adjectives)         |
+| pi    | "of" (regroups adjectives/adverbs)|
 | la    | "if/when" (introduces context)   |
 | luka  | hand, arm                        |
 | linja | long flexible object, hair       |
@@ -21,10 +21,8 @@ Time to introduce two another particles in this language: "pi" and "la".
 
 ## pi
 
-The word "pi" works by grouping several adjectives together. Normally, all
-adjectives in a phrase apply to the first word.
-
-For example:
+The word "pi" works by grouping several adjectives or adverbs together.
+Normally, all modifiers in a phrase apply to the first word. For example:
 
 > jan wawa -- strong person
 
@@ -35,11 +33,37 @@ That's where "pi" comes in handy:
 
 > jan pi wawa ala -- weak person/people ("of no strength")
 
-It is also useful for phrases that use unofficial words.
+This also goes with other words:
+
+> jan wawa mute -- many strong people
+
+> jan pi wawa mute -- very strong person/people
+
+It is also useful for using common phrases:
+
+> jan toki utala -- a speaker warrior 
+
+> jan pi toki utala -- a critic
+
+> %info%
+> If you prefer using the "toki [adjective]" structure for describing topics of
+> conversation (see [page 4](4.html) for that), then "pi" would also be used for
+> specifying topics that use several words:
+>
+> > sina toki pi ma tomo mama sina. -- You talk about your hometown.
+>
+
+Including phrases that use unofficial words.
 
 > ma tomo Wasintan li ma tomo lawa pi ma Mewika. -- (the city of) Washington is
 > the capital ("main city") of the United States.
 
+> %warning%
+> While "pi" is often defined as similar to the English word "of", its usage is
+> different. It is only necessary when you're grouping several words together.
+> So, for example, "the language of good" is still "toki pona", rather than
+> "toki pi pona".
+
 ## la
 
 The word "la" allows to combine two sentences to form conditions and introduce
@@ -80,12 +104,18 @@ Or be used to link multiple sentences:
 
 > ni la... -- In the context of all this, ...
 
+> %info%
+> The usage of "la" is very flexible, and some people use it for cases other
+> than those described before. Since toki pona is a very context-sensitive
+> language, the most important rule is just "try to get your point across".
+
 ## Dialectal differences
 
 > %info%
 > This part of the document describes how certain toki pona courses differ in
 > explaining certain ideas, or how communities differ in using them.
 
+
 The official book, the "o kama sona e toki pona!" course and my personal style
 differ on how to place punctuation in sentences that use "la".
 

pages/tokipona/index.md

@@ -22,6 +22,13 @@ Expressing many concepts and ideas in toki pona will require one to come up with
 their own phrases or rephrase them completely (which, as mentioned before, is
 part of the language's idea).
 
+Speaking of context, toki pona is a very context-sensitive language. Different
+people may describe the same basic ideas or things in completely different ways.
+This is also part of the language's idea. Even some of the rules of the language
+are also interpreted differently by different people, whether depending on what
+their native language is or their opinions on what's the best way to communicate
+something.
+
 In addition, toki pona is also designed to be easy to use regardless of one's
 native language. The sounds and syllable structure used in toki pona are
 distinct from one another and common across many languages, whereas the
@@ -44,10 +51,13 @@ their bigoted content, but it's also a well-made course.
 My goal here is to try and present a version that tries to account for the
 different ways people speak and write toki pona and the way it is being used
 now. Some pages will include "Dialectal differences" sections, in which these
-differences will be covered.
+differences will be covered. Some of the larger differences will be described
+right away. I will provide my personal opinions on some of these differences, so
+while this course does try to be exhaustive, it is not impartial.
 
 The page numbered zero will provide basic info on the language's spelling and
-pronunciation, and each page past that will introduce 10 new words.
+pronunciation, and each page past that will introduce 10 words from the
+language's 120 word dictionary.
 
 ## Table of Contents