Vocabulary
The 120-root vocabulary is designed around the principles of living a simple life without the complications of modern civilization.
Because of the small number of roots in Toki Pona, words from other languages are often translated using a collocation of two or more roots, e.g. "to teach" by pana e sona, which literally means "to give knowledge". Although Toki Pona is generally said to have only 115, 118 or 120 "words", this is inaccurate, as there are many compound words and set phrases which, as idiomatic expressions, constitute independent lexical entries or lexemes and therefore must be memorized independently.
On the word list on the official website there are 123 roots including those not present in the vocabulary.
Read more about this topic: Toki Pona
Famous quotes containing the word vocabulary:
“Institutional psychiatry is a continuation of the Inquisition. All that has really changed is the vocabulary and the social style. The vocabulary conforms to the intellectual expectations of our age: it is a pseudo-medical jargon that parodies the concepts of science. The social style conforms to the political expectations of our age: it is a pseudo-liberal social movement that parodies the ideals of freedom and rationality.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)
“My vocabulary dwells deep in my mind and needs paper to wriggle out into the physical zone. Spontaneous eloquence seems to me a miracle. I have rewritten—often several times—every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“The vocabulary of pleasure depends on the imagery of pain.”
—Marina Warner (b. 1946)