Poki pona
okam wepon tokowa pokijoponokowa.
- poki pona** is my one-night attempt to bring cases into toki pona.
roots
poki pona has a set of word roots that are used as a basis for building words. By default, every poki pona root is a toki pona word, minus any vowel on the end.
for example ---|--- toki|tok jan|jan kala|kal ma|m ni|n pu|p
| toki | tok | ||
In order to prevent ambiguity, some exceptions exist. ---|--- mi|mis sina|sins poki|pokik pan|panul seli|selik mije|mijek tu|tow ala|alaw
nouns
A noun is built from root + case suffix
prep|case|suffix|example (kasi)
|----|------|--------------
en|accusative|-i|kasi e|nominative|-e|kase alu|conditional|-ula|kasula o|vocative|-ijo|kasijo lon|locative|-ono|kasono tawa|dative|-owa|kasowa tan|ablative|-ana|kasana kepeken|instrumental|-eke|kaseke sama|similaritive|-ama|kasama |genitive|-ok-|kasoki (kas-GEN-ACC)
Every noun ends with a vowel.
verbs
A verb is built from conjugation prefix + root
person/role/mood|prefix|example (pana) mi|mi-|mipan sina|si-|sipan ona|li-|lipan after preverb|ta-|tapan adverb|wi-|wipan connective|we-|wepan o (IMP,should)|o-|opan o (should)|-o-|mijopan ala (NEG)|-ala-|lialapan
prepositional verbs
toki pona allows you to use a preposition as the head word of a predicate, e.g. jan li tawa telo "People go to the water." mi tawa tomo "I go to the building." sina lon ma pi kiwen suli "You'rde in a land of big rocks." mi tawa "I'm going", "goodbye"
poki pona transforms every preposition into a case marking on a noun. tawa telo -> telowa tawa tomo -> tomowa ma pi kiwen suli -> mowa kiwokowa sulokokowa.
When a preposition is used as the head word of the predicate, the head word of its object is inflected with the corresponding case, and used as the head word of the predicate, in verb form. jan li tawa telo -> jani litelou mi tawa tomo -> mitomou sina lon ma pi kiwen suli -> simon kiwokon sulokokon mi tawa -> mijou
The genitive subcase
The genitive affix -ok- may be applied to create a modifier to a noun. Both the head noun and the modifier take the case suffix of the head noun.
e.g. soweli suwi li lukin e mi - soweli suwoki lilukin mise mi wile moku e kala mute - miwil tamok kale mutoke
Compound words
poki pona also allows compounding words via -o-. toki pona -> tokoponi; toki ponoki
Alternatively, -ok- affixes may be stacked. jan pi pilin pona -> jani pilinoponoki; jani pilinoki ponokoki
Examples
from : https://tokipona.org/toki_lili_27_poems_in_toki_pona.pdf
sinsi olukin olukin mise misi sinsi liwan ~ janana Epenokana
mipilin ne:
misi ki likonon.
mijalajo kone.
mijawen wejawen. tawi likam. misula siwek
~ janana Esiokana
muni pimejoni
lisun wiwal
lipon wipilin wijan
moli limison wela pilin wijik lijanon pokokon misokokon
kijetesanta- kali tonsoki lilanpan soke misoke
~ janana Jonatanokana
noki liwau
wisul wikalam
akesi lijawen
~ janana Kolokana
nenon towokon.
mesula mijon.
miken tason towe.
sewi pimejoki, jaki iloki, lilil sune munoke.
seli lilijoni leti sulijoni nasin tenpoki lin.
~ janoMelonana
mi noki lilet
sewula nenokula
milukin sune.
~ janoNusana (note: mi = ma-ACC, noki = ni-GEN-ACC) (noki also means noka-ACC, so "mi noki" can be "ma ni" or "ma en noka") ("ma ni" can also be expressed as "moni")
pimejon. silukin wela muni mutoki likam.
~ Ojokana janana
seli lipin.
moli likam.
owalamonsut.
tenpula kamokula, sijolin wisin. mi towi lipakal.
nimi lisul! poki lilil! kijetesantaka...
~ janoPolijanana
owesun ne:
lene janoliloke.
oni aloki lisin.
~ janana Simimanana
semi lijon wikin?
semi liwau?
ali liken tapon!
milukin me miwil tawek wetas - mijalaken.
oson ne: ali lipon olukin one!
~ janana Simonana
awenula mawonula,
lukinula wasokula,
poni likam tawon.
suni sinsi, lisel wipon, sinpine lawomisoke.
sunula openokula, sewi likul; teli wawoki lijon.
~ janana Siwenana
kiweni lijawen
koni wawoki lijon
leni lijalau wikiwen.
~ janana sonalana
kalami suloki
jani mutoki lijon
ali likalam
~ janosunana
...nana: tenpi
lijou liwek
wela misinsou
~ lonana Jawinana
a a a a a a a a a a a a "yupekosi"
(kili)