* Toki Pona

Toki Pona is a minimalist, constructed language made by Sonja Lang. The language
is based on a small vocabulary of roughly 137 words which can take on different
meanings depending on the context they are used in. Expressing more complex
concepts is done by breaking it down and explaining it in simpler terms. For
example, {programming} is "toki ilo", or "machine talk".

** Syntax

It is easier to understand sentence structure once one has understood compound
words. In Toki Pona, a noun or verb is modified by adding more words at the
end. Toki Pona itself is a phrase meaning "language good/simple", which
translates to "good/simple language". Almost every word can act as a modifier
this way, which means the typical distinction between verbs, nouns, and
adjectives is not applicable.

Instead, Toki Pona uses two particles to distinguish the subject from the verb
from the object in a sentence, li and e (the language also uses SVO word order):

===
ona li toki e toki pona.|(Third person pronoun) speak(s) Toki Pona.
===

Omitting the e particle makes li mean 'to be':

===
soweli li lon tomo.|The animal is in the house.
nasin li linja.|The path is long.
===

** Writing system

Toki Pona is typically written with the Latin alphabet, but there is also an
official set of logograms. Moreover, a slew of other writing systems have been {https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZPpSo9jOMjHi9HeBbPY56J7SPPP8rTULBPZ3GvApqW4
created by the community}, most notable of which is perhaps the "sitelen
sitelen" writing system.

{../resources/img/tp-hieroglyphs.png Logograms for the first 120 words}
{https://tokipona.org The official website}