09 Sep 2026
I am a toki ponist of about six months. It's so cute! And I had a lot of fun learning it. Allow me to sketch out and meditate why bother learning a conlang, and not the biggest one (Esperanto) at that.
I have always been a language-minded person. I took Spanish in high school.
Many Americans say that they took Spanish in high school but everything beyond 'hola' and '¿dónde está el baño?' goes in one ear and out the other. So much so that when people ask me where I learned Spanish and I reply, "high school," they react viscerally.
"You paid attention in Spanish class?"
"Yeah! I got a lot out of it!"
I fell in love with Spanish in my senior year of high school. I took AP Spanish Literature, and seeing a whole different world of poems, of epics, of plays changed my view of culture. I attribute the path that I went down to having taken this course.
We had the option to take Latin for our language requirement in high school. I had (naturally) already fulfilled my credit in Spanish, but I said, "why not? It would interest me!" Religious reasons aside, learning Latin made me understand declined languages and helped me express myself better in English too.
In the same vein, I took a semester of Koine Greek and two of French for fun, too.
Naturally, in the time after college I had a yearning for languages, and my curiosity led me to find Sonja Lang's Toki Pona.
Toki Pona also inspires interest in me as a social phenomenon. Seeing a community grow from 1 person (jan Sonja) in 2000 to what it is today is fascinating, both personally and professionally. It's also insightful on the growth of in-culture within communities (in this case, ma Pona on Discord).
Gramatically I enjoy the challenge to express complex ideas within the simple framework of the language.
The point of rhetoric (in every language) is to say what you intend to and no more. I often told my students, 'say what you mean and mean what you say.' Toki Pona's philosophy of simplicity, the use of the least complexity to say what you mean, resonates with me.
This system also exists within amateur radio (I just got my license today!). You ought not transmit with more power than you need.
Within life, the less effort I use to express what I mean, the more effort I can spare with other things.
It's cool to be able to do something that others can't. When you speak English, (effectively) every one else can speak it too. When you speak Spanish in the US, a sizeable minority can speak it. When you speak Toki Pona, you either stand out as the only speaker in a room, or you make a new friend! I would consinder anyone who can speak Toki Pona a fast friend.
Sitelen pona rocks! It's cute too. And people who don't know think it's alien hieroglyphics.
--- lon toki pona ---
mi toki e toki pona lon tenpo mun luka. toki ni li pona a! kama sona li musi. mi alasa e ni: ona li kama sona e toki pi toki pona tawa seme? ona li wile kama sona e toki pi pali jan tawa seme?
toki li pona tawa mi. mi kama sona e toki Epanjo lon tenpo kama sona pini.
jan pi ma Mewika li tawa tomo sona pi toki Epanjo. taso ona li sona ala e nimi mute lon tenpo ni. ni tan seme? ona li toki e ni tawa mi: sina kama sona e toki Epanjo lon seme? mi toki e ni: lon tomo kama sona. ona li sona ala.
tenpo kama sona pi toki Epanjo li pona tawa sina?
pona a!
toki Epanjo li kama pona tawa mi lon sike tu tu pi tenpo kama sona. mi tawa tenpo kama sona sitelen pi toki Epanjo. mi lukin e ma ante lon toki ni. mi lukin e lipu suli e lipu lili e lipu pilin suli e lipu pilin lili. ona li ante e lukin mi pi kulupu jan. mi pana e ante ni tawa ni: mi kama tawa tenpo kama sona ni.
mi ken kama sona pi toki Lasina kin lon tenpo kama sona. mi kama sona e toki Epanjo. taso mi toki e ni tawa mi: sina kama ala sona e toki Lasina tan seme? ona li pona tawa mi! nasin mi li nasin Kasoliku. jan pi nasin Kasoliku li toki lon toki Lasina. taso kin toki ni li pona tawa mi. kama sona pi toki Lasina li pona tawa kama sona pi toki ante tawa kin toki lon toki Inli.
mi kama sona e toki Elada Kojine e toki Kanse lon nasin sama.
tenpo pi kama sona pini la mi wile kama sona e toki ante lon tenpo ni a
toki pona li pona tawa mi tawa kulupu jan. mi lukin e kulupu pi jan pona. ona li suli tan jan 1 tawa jan mute. ni li pona a! kulupu pi ma Pona lon lipu Siko li pona kin a.
mi jo e sona ike e sona mute lon lawa mi. mi wile toki e sona ni kepeken toki pona a! ni li pona mute a!
toki ale li tawa ni: o toki e wile sina. lon tenpo pini la mi toki e ni tawa jan lili mi: o toki e sina wile! o wile e sina toki!. nasin pona pi toki pona li pona tawa mi. o kepeken e toki lili.
nasin ni li lon kon wawa kin. mi ken toki kepeken kon wawa lon tenpo ni a! sina ken toki kepeken wawa lili la o toki ala kepeken wawa suli a.
toki kepeken wawa. mi ken toki kepeken wawa lili la mi ken kepeken wawa tawa ijo ante a.
jan wan taso li pona. jan mute li ken toki kepeken toki Inli. jan lili li ken toki kepeken Epanjo lon ma Mewika. jan lili lili a li ken toki e toki pona. jan pi toki pona li jan pona tawa mi a!
sitelen pona li pona mute a! ona li suwi a kin. jan pi sona ala toki ni li pilin e ni: sitelen pona li musi nasa kin.
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