Updated jan Pije's lessons/Lesson 18 New Words
Vocabulary
alasa - hunt / gather
esun - marketplace, store
namako - spice, something extra; alternatively, interchangeable with sin
pan - barley, maize, rice, etc. or foods made from such plants
pu - to read the official Toki Pona book
New Words
Since this o kama sona e toki pona! course was first published circa 2003, Toki Pona has undergone several changes, including the addition of several new vocabulary words. I've opted to segregate those new words into this one lesson. Below I will teach each new word one at a time.
Please be aware that I will only be covering new words that appear in Sonja Lang's official Toki Pona book, Toki Pona: The Language of Good, which was published in 2014. Although a few other words were proposed (and are still being actively used by some Toki Ponans), I will not name or teach those words here.
alasa
alasa describes hunting or foraging for food and other resources. Two examples:
- tenpo pini la jan ali li alasa e soweli e kili. -- In the past, everybody hunted/gathered buffalo and fruit.
- jan alasa pona li wawa li sona pona e ma ona li pona tawa meli mute. -- A good hunter is strong, understands his land well, and is liked by many women.
esun
esun is a marketplace. It can also be used as a verb to refer to trade, meaning both "buy" or "sell" depending on context.
- mi pali lon esun suli. -- I work at a supermarket.
- jan mute li esun e ijo lon esun mije. -- Many people buy/sell things in the man's shop.
namako
When namako was first proposed as a new word, it was defined as:
- n food additive, accessory, something extra
- vt season, embellish, stimulate
By the time Sonja published the official book, however, she had changed namako to be merely an alternate form of the word sin, which (as you learned in lesson 10) means new, another, fresh, etc.
In actual use, Toki Ponans tend to use namako according to the original definition, not as a mere alternate of sin.
pan
pan seems to describe many of the edible plants from the Poaceae family or foods based on those plants.
The official book defines pan as "cereal, grain; barley, corn, oat, rice, wheat; bread, pasta."
pu
pu basically means to read the official Toki Pona book.
- mi wile pu lon tomo telo. -- I want to read the official Toki Pona book in the bathroom.
Practice
Try changing these sentences from English into Toki Pona.
This pasta is unappetizing. Give me some spice.
When I read the official Toki Pona book at the dinner table, the pages get dirty.
I want to buy cumin from the Colombian woman.
Tell the lady in the liquor store that everything's okay, and come home.
A lion mauled the American hunter.
And now try changing these sentences from Toki Pona into English:
jan alasa li wile ala e pan tan esun.
jan moku Palata li sona namako e moku.
tenpo ni la mi ken ala pu. mi wile e pan li wile tawa esun.
Answers
pan ni li ike moku. o pana e namako tawa mi.
mi pu lon supa moku la lipu li kama jaki.
mi wile esun e namako tan meli Kolonpija.
o toki e ni tawa meli lon esun pi telo nasa: ali li pona. o kama tawa tomo.
soweli li pakala e jan alasa Mewika.
Hunters don't want bread from a store.
The Indian chef knew how to spice the food.
I can't read the Toki Pona book right now. I need bread and have to go to the store.