The vocabulary for this page:
| word | meaning |
|---|---|
| kule | color, colorful |
| jelo | yellow (and its shades) |
| laso | blue, green (and its shades) |
| loje | red (and its shades) |
| pimeja | black, dark |
| walo | white, bright/light |
| nasa | unusual, strange, crazy, drunk |
| jaki | dirty, disgusting, toxic |
| moli | death, dying |
| unpa | sexual (or marital) relations |
In toki pona, there are five basic color terms: loje (red), jelo (yellow), laso (blue and green), pimeja (black) and walo (white).
These terms can be combined with each other, or words referring to natural things, to form other shades:
laso sewi – blue (“sky green/blue”)
laso kasi – green (“plant green/blue”)
loje jelo – orange (“yellowish red”)
jelo pimeja – brown (“dark yellow”)
walo pimeja – gray (“dark white”)
loje walo – pink (“light red”)
kili loje lili li pona tawa mi. – I like small red fruits (strawberries/raspberries?).
jan lili li pana e ko jaki tan monsi ona. – The kid pooped himself.
jan [_sona_insa_mute_utala] o, mije li moli. – He’s dead, Jim.
tomo ni li jo e jaki mute. ni li ike tawa mi a! – This room is covered in gross materials. I don’t like it!
mije mi li unpa ala e jan ante. – My husband is faithful (“doesn’t have sex with other people”).
While there are words in toki pona for “good” or “bad”, there is no “better” or “worse”. While there are words for “lots” and “little”, there’s no “more” or “less”.
To make a comparative statement, you instead split it into two sentences:
mi wawa. sina wawa lili. – I am stronger than you. (I am strong. You are slightly strong.)
Of course, the degree of comparison can be adjusted by changing the difference between the adjectives.
mi wawa mute. sina wawa ala. – I am way stronger than you. (I am very strong. You are weak.)
Now, try to figure out the meaning of these sentences.
And try to translate the following sentences into toki pona.