lipu-sona/pages/tokipona/dictionary.md

% toki pona dictionary % /dev/urandom % july 2020

This is a list of all official words in toki pona as described on the pages from 1 to 12, arranged alphabetically. Each word is listed with different meanings depending on which parts of speech it can be used as.

The "adjective" definition applies to both adjectives and adverbs, as the only difference between the two in toki pona is if they apply to nouns or verbs.

A noun word can always be used as an adjective with the meaning "of [noun]". For example, "moku soweli" can mean "animal food" or "meat", depending on context.

%note% This is not a copy of the dictionary as defined in the official book or any other course. Some words may be used as parts of speech other than those listed here. It also lists some unconventional uses of words, some of which are only useful in combination with other words.

In toki pona, you're welcome to come up with your own phrases and alternative meanings of words depending on context. The most important rule is to make yourself understood.

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a

• particle: (emotional interjection, emphasis or confirmation)

akesi

• noun: "non-cute" animal, lizard

ala

• noun: nothing
• adjective: not, no, empty
• number: zero

alasa

• verb: to hunt, to gather
• verb (unconventional): to search, to look for

ale/ali

• noun: everything, universe
• adjective: every, all, abundant
• number: all/infinite (simple system), 100 (complex system)

anpa

• noun (old/non-pu): lower part
• adjective: bowing down, downward, lowly, humble, dependent
• verb w/o obj: to bow down
• verb w/ obj: to conquer, to defeat

ante

• noun: difference, change, (unconventional) version
• adjective: different, other, changed
• verb: to change

anu

• particle: or

awen

• noun (unconventional): stability, safety, wait
• adjective: kept, safe, enduring, resilient, waiting, staying
• verb: keep, stay, endure, protect
• pre-verb: continue (doing something)

e

• particle: (specifies an object)

en

• particle: and (combines subjects)

esun

• noun: trade, transaction, exchange
• adjective: trade/exchange-related, commercial
• verb: to trade, to exchange

ijo

• noun: thing, object, matter
• adjective: material, physical

ike

• noun: evil
• adjective: bad, evil, complex, unnecessary
• verb (unconventional): make smth worse

ilo

• noun: tool, machine, device
• adjective: useful, (unconventional) electronic, metallic

insa

• noun: insides, contents, center, stomach
• adjective: central, inside, between

jaki

• noun: dirt, waste
• adjective: dirty, disgusting, toxic, unclean, unsanitary
• verb: to make something dirty

jan

• noun: person, people, humanity, somebody
• adjective: human-like, personal

jelo

• noun/adjective: (the color) yellow (and its shades)
• verb: to color smth yellow

jo

• noun: (unconventional) possessions, property
• verb: to have/carry/contain/hold

kala

• noun: fish, marine animal, sea creature

kalama

• noun: sound, noise
• adjective: loud, noisy, sound-making
• verb: to make noise, to recite, to play (an instrument)

kama

• noun: event, arrival
• adjective: arriving, coming, future, summoned
• pre-verb: to become, to be in the process of (doing smth), to manage to, to succeed in

kasi

• noun: plant, grass, herb, leaf

ken

• noun: ability, possibility, (unconventional) right, liberty
• adjective (unconventional): able, possible
• pre-verb: can (do smth), may (do smth)

kepeken

• noun: use, (unconventional) practice
• verb w/ obj: to use smth
• preposition: (do smth) using, with the help of

kili

• noun: fruit, vegetable, mushroom

kiwen

• noun: hard object, metal, stone, solid
• adjective: hard, metallic, solid

ko

• noun: powder, clay, paste, semi-solid

kon

• noun: air, essence, spirit, (unconventional) gas
• adjective: invisible, ephemeral, (unconventional) gaseous

kule

• noun: color, (rare) gender
• adjective: colorful, painted
• verb: to paint smth a color

kulupu

• noun: group, community, company, society, nation, tribe
• adjective: communal, social

kute

• noun: ear, hearing
• adjective: ...-sounding
• verb: to hear, to listen, to obey

la

• particle: "if/when" (introduces context)

lape

• noun: sleep, rest
• adjective: sleeping, restful
• verb: to sleep, to rest

laso

• noun/adjective: (the color) blue, green (and its shades)
• verb: to color something blue/green

lawa

• noun: head, mind
• adjective: main, primary, controlling, ruling
• verb: to head, to control, to direct, to guide, to lead, to own, to rule

len

• noun: cloth, clothes, fabric, layer of privacy
• adjective: clothed, made of cloth/fabric
• verb: to clothe, to provide a layer of privacy

lete

• noun: cold
• adjective: cold, cool, raw, uncooked
• verb: to cool down

li

• particle: (between subj. and verb/adj.)

lili

• noun: smallness
• adjective: small, few, young
• verb: to shrink

linja

• noun: long flexible object, string, rope, hair

lipu

• noun: flat object, book, document, paper, page, record, website
• adjective: flat, used as lipu, lipu-like, of lipu

loje

• noun/adjective: (the color) red (and its shades)
• verb: to color smth red

lon

• noun: truth, life, existence
• adjective: real, true, present, existing
• verb w/o object: is true, exists
• preposition: in, at, on

luka

• noun: hand, arm
• number: 5 (complex system)

lukin+

• noun: eye, vision
• adjective: ...-looking, visual
• verb: to look, to see, to read
• pre-verb: to seek (to do something)

lupa

• noun: hole, door, orifice, window

ma

• noun: earth, land, outdoors, territory, country

mama

• noun: parent, ancestor, creator, origin, caretaker
• verb: to create, to parent, to take care of

mani

• noun: money, large domesticated animal
• adjective: (unconventional) wealthy

meli

• noun: woman, female, wife
• adjective: feminine

mi

• noun: i, me, we, us
• adjective: my, our

mije

• noun: man, male, husband
• adjective: masculine

moku

• noun: food
• adjective: edible, of food
• verb: to eat, to drink, to swallow

moli

• noun: death
• adjective: dead, dying
• verb: to kill

monsi

• noun: back, behind, rear, butt
• adjective: back, rear

mu

• (any animal sound)

mun

• noun: moon, star, night sky object
• adjective: lunar, stellar

musi

• noun: game, art
• adjective: entertaining, artistic, amusing
• verb: to amuse, to play, to have fun

mute

• noun: quantity
• adjective: many, more
• number: 3 or more (simple system), 20 (complex system)

nanpa

• noun: number
• adjective: -th (ordinal indicator), mathematical, numeric, (unconventional) digital

nasa

• adjective: weird, unusual, strange, crazy, drunk

nasin

• noun: path, road, street, directive, way, custom
• adjective: street-, true to the directive/way/custom
• verb (unconventional): to guide, to show the path

nena

• noun: hill, mountain, button, bump, nose
• adjective: hilly, mountainous, bumpy

ni

• noun/adjective: this, that

nimi

• noun: word, name

noka

• noun: foot, leg, bottom, lower part, under (smth)

o

• particle: (addressing people, commands)

olin

• noun: love, compassion, affection, respect
• adjective: loved, favorite, respected
• verb: to love, to respect

ona

• noun: he, she, they, it
• adjective: his, her, their, its

open

• noun: start, beginning
• adjective: initial, starting
• verb: to start, to open, to turn on
• pre-verb: to begin (doing something)

pakala

• noun: damage, mistake
• adjective: broken, wrong
• verb: to break, to make mistakes
• particle: (generic curse)

pali

• noun: work, labor
• adjective: working
• verb: to work (on), to make

palisa

• noun: long solid object, branch, stick, (unconventional) length
• adjective: long

pan

• noun: bread, grain, corn, rice, pizza

pana

• adjective: (unconventional) given, sent, released
• verb: to give, to send, to emit, to release

pi

• particle: "of" (regroups two or more modifiers)

pilin

• noun: heart, feeling, touch, sense
• adjective: feeling, touch-based
• verb: to touch, to think, to feel

pimeja

• noun: (the color) black (and its shades), shadow
• adjective: black, dark
• verb: to color smth black, to cast a shadow

pini

• noun: end, finish
• adjective: final, completed, finished, past (with tenpo)
• verb: to end, to finish, to close
• pre-verb: to end/stop doing something

pipi

• noun: insect, bug

poka

• noun: hip, side, nearby area
• adjective: neighboring, nearby, at one's side

poki

• noun: box, container, bowl, cup, drawer
• verb (unconventional): to put in a box

pona

• noun: good, simplicity
• adjective: good, simple, friendly, peaceful
• verb: to improve, to fix

pu

• noun: the official toki pona book
• adjective: as told in the official toki pona book
• verb: interacting with the official toki pona book

%note% The official toki pona book only defines the verb meaning of the word "pu". Some people in the toki pona community prefer to only use it in the verb meaning, while others use it in others as well.

sama

• noun: similarity, (someone's) sibling
• adjective: similar, like, sibling
• preposition: as, like

seli

• noun: heat, warmth, chemical reaction, heat source
• adjective: warm, hot
• verb: to heat

selo

• noun: outer form, outer layer, shell, skin, boundary
• adjective: outer

seme

• particle: what? which? (for questions)

sewi

• noun: area above, top, highest part, sky, god
• adjective: high, above, divine, sacred

sijelo

• noun: body, physical state, torso
• adjective: physical, of sijelo

sike

• noun: circle, ball, cycle, wheel, (with tenpo) year
• adjective: round, circular, spherical, of one year
• verb: to make a circle around

sin

• noun: novelty, addition, (unconventional) update, spice
• adjective: new, additional, fresh, extra
• verb: to add, to update

sina

• noun: you
• adjective: your

sinpin

• noun: face, foremost part, front, wall
• adjective: of face, foremost

sitelen

• noun: symbol, image, writing
• adjective: symbolic, written, recorded
• verb: to write, to draw, to record

sona

• noun: knowledge, information
• adjective: known
• verb: to know
• pre-verb: to know (how to do something)

soweli

• noun: land mammal, animal

suli

• noun: size, greatness
• adjective: big, heavy, tall, great, important, adult
• verb: to grow

suno

• noun: sun, light, brightness, light source
• adjective: solar, bright
• verb: to light, to shine

supa

• noun: horizontal surface

suwi

• noun: (unconventional) sweets, fragrances
• adjective: sweet, fragrant, cute, adorable

tan

• noun: cause, reason, origin
• adjective: original
• verb w/ object (unconventional): to cause
• preposition: from, because of

taso

• particle (at beginning of sentence): but, however
• adjective: only

tawa

• noun: movement
• adjective: moving
• verb: to move
• preposition: to, for, from perspective of

telo

• noun/adjective: water, fluid, liquid
• adjective: wet, fluid, liquid
• verb: to water, to clean

tenpo

• noun: time, moment, occasion
• adjective: temporal

toki

• noun: speech, conversation, language
• adjective: verbal, conversational
• verb: to speak, to talk, to use language, to think

tomo

• noun: home, building, structure, indoor space, room
• adjective: indoor

tu

• number: 2
• noun: divide
• adjective: divided
• verb: to divide

%warning% Using "tu" at the end of a noun phrase is generally associated with the number 2. The meaning "divided" is usually specified by using a "li" particle:

kulupu tu -- two communities

kulupu li tu. -- the community is divided.

unpa

• noun: sex
• adjective: sexual
• verb: to have sex with

uta

• noun: mouth, lips
• adjective: oral

utala

• noun: fight, battle, challenge, war
• adjective: aggressive, warlike
• verb: to fight, to battle, to challenge

walo

• noun: the color white (and its shades)
• adjective: white, bright/light
• verb: to color something white

wan

• number: 1
• noun: part (of smth)
• adjective: united, married
• verb: to unite, to marry

%warning% Using "wan" at the end of a noun phrase is generally associated with the number 1. The meaning "united" is usually specified by using a "li" particle:

kulupu wan -- one community

kulupu li wan. -- the community is united.

kulupu mute wan -- 21 communities (complex numbering system)

kulupu mute li wan -- many (or 20) communities are united.

waso

• noun: bird, flying creature

wawa

• noun: strength, power, energy
• adjective: strong, powerful, energetic

weka

• noun: absence, remoteness
• adjective: absent, away, remote
• verb: remove, get rid of

wile

• noun: want, need, desire
• adjective: desired, needed, required
• verb: to want smth
• pre-verb: to want to do smth

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