Toki Pona - Syntax

Syntax

Some basic features of Toki Pona's subject–verb–object syntax are: The word li separates the subject from the predicate; e precedes the direct object; direct object phrases precede prepositional phrases in the predicate; la separates complex adverbs or subclauses from the main sentence.

The language is simple enough that its syntax can be expressed in ten rules: enclose optional elements, and *asterisks mark elements which may be repeated.

Syntactic rules

1. A sentence may be

(a) an interjection

(b) of the form subject predicate

(c) of the form vocative predicate

(The interjection may be a, ala, ike, jaki, mu, o, pakala, pona, or toki.)

2. A sub-clause may be

(a) sentence la

(b) noun phrase la

("If/during sub-clause, then main-clause")

3. A is of the form

o

4. A subject is of the form

(a) mi or sina

(b) other noun phrase li

(mi mute and sina mute require li to form a predicate.)

5. A predicate may be

(a) simple noun phrase *, or

(b) verb phrase, or

(c) predicate conjunction predicate (that is, a compound predicate)

(The conjunction may be anu (or) or li (and). The latter is merely subject li predicate 1 li predicate 2 etc., with the first li dropping out if the subject is mi or sina)

6. A noun phrase may be

(a) noun *, or

(b) simple noun phrase pi (of) noun plus modifier* (if there is a modifier which only applies to the 2nd noun), or

(c) noun phrase conjunction noun phrase (that is, a compound noun phrase)

(The conjunction may be anu (or) or en (and). A 'simple' noun phrase is one which does not have a conjunction.)

7. A prepositional phrase is of the form

preposition noun phrase

8. A verb phrase may be

(a) verbal

(b) modal verbal

(c) verbal_x ala verbal_x (both verbals are the same)

(d) modal_x ala modal_x plus verbal (both modals are the same)

(The modal may be kama (coming/future tense), ken (can), or wile (wants to).)

9 A verbal may be

(a) verb * (this is an intransitive verb)

(b) verb * plus a direct object* (this is a transitive verb)

(c) lon or tawa plus a simple noun phrase

(Some roots may only function as transitive or intransitive verbs.)

10. A direct object is of the form

e simple noun phrase

Some roots are used for grammatical functions (such as those that take part in the rules above), while others have lexical meanings. The lexical roots do not fall into well defined parts of speech; rather, they may generally be used as nouns, verbs, or modifiers, depending on context or their position in a phrase. For example, ona li moku may mean "they ate" or "it is food".