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==Introduction==
{{wp|Toki Pona}}

The aim of this page is to explain the norms used in Toki Pona entries. It is intended to complement, not supersede, [[WT:CFI]] and [[WT:ELE]].

==Entries==

===Layout===
* (<code>===Alternative forms===</code>)
* [[#Glyph origin|<code style="color:inherit;">===Glyph origin===</code>]]
* <code>===Etymology===</code>
* <code style="display:inline-block;vertical-align:top;">===Pronunciation=== {{template|tok-IPA}}</code>
* [[#Definitions|Definitions]]
* ([[Project:Entry layout#Headings after the definitions|<code style="color:inherit;">===Usage notes===</code> … <code style="color:inherit;">===Anagrams===</code>]])

Any <code>===Production===</code> sections should be removed. The manually coded form (Signed Toki Pona, ''{{l|tok|toki pona luka}}'') is effectively deprecated and unused [[wikisource:Notes on lipu pu#p. 92–103|as of ''Toki Pona Dictionary'']]. Its successor, ''{{l|tok|luka pona}}'', is its own separately constructed sign language rather than a modality of Toki Pona.

===Glyph origin===
A <code>===Glyph origin===</code> section should show any widely accepted ''{{l|tok|sitelen pona}}'' and ''{{l|tok|sitelen sitelen}}'' glyphs using {{template|tok-sitelen}}.

A word that is well attested in its own right may not have a widely accepted or standardized glyph, especially in ''sitelen sitelen''. Typically, glyphs in wide use have several images on Wikimedia Commons, including one that can be considered canonical, with most other instances of the glyph being based on that instance.

A few words have multiple recognized ''sitelen pona'' glyphs. Some, like ''{{l|tok|namako}}'', are in free variation. Others are specific to certain senses of a word.

There should then be a bullet point for each glyph, describing it in the same form as an etymology.

Community-made glyphs often have additional information of note, such as the designer, development of the design, previous glyphs that influenced this one, and first inclusion in a font.

Descriptions may also include lists of glyphs with shared features, sometimes called "radicals" among speakers.

<pre>
===Glyph origin===
{{tok-sitelen}}
* ''{{l|tok|sitelen pona}}'':
* ''{{l|tok|sitelen sitelen}}'':
</pre>

(If and when Sitelen Pona gets encoded in Unicode, the descriptions of the glyph should be moved to the article about the glyph itself.)

=== Definitions ===
Many Toki Pona dictionaries define words by listing various examples of potential meanings. However, this may be misinterpreted as [[polysemic]] distinctions, instead of a broad underlying [[monosemy]]. (Multiple more recent projects have emphasized describing the range of words' {{w|semantic space}}s in detailed prose.)

Using ''{{l|tok|telo}}'' as an example, rather than this format which suggests four distinct senses:

<pre>
===Noun===
# water
# liquid, fluid
# wet substance
# beverage
</pre>

…something like this might be preferred:

<pre>
===Noun===
# Liquid or fluid, especially water or a beverage.
</pre>

===Part of speech===
Any non-particle word may include <code>===Adjective===</code>, <code>===Noun===</code>, and <code>===Verb===</code> sections, as all such words can be used freely in any of these grammatical roles. (Words with other parts of speech are a [[closed class]].)

Of these, the first part of speech should be the one given in the [[wikisource:Official Toki Pona Dictionary|dictionary section of ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'']],<ref group="note">The English edition lists ''{{l|tok|seli}}'' as "adjective [''[[recte]]'' noun] fire…", which is corrected in later editions.</ref> as senses in the other two parts of speech follow mostly regularly from that one:
*<code>===Adjective===</code>: Of or relating to [''primary sense''].
*<code>===Noun===</code>
**That which is [''adjective sense, or past participle of verb sense''].
**The act of [''gerund of verb sense''].
*<code>===Verb===</code>: To be<ref group="note">May also be labeled as stative</ref> or make<ref group="note">"cause to be" or "turn (into)", if "make" is unclear or misleading</ref> [''primary sense''].

Of course, if there is a [[pithy]] English [[back-translation]] for any of these senses, it can be listed at the end of the definition.

Occasionally, a word is derived into other parts of speech multiple times and returns to its original part of speech with a sense transposed in meaning. For example, ''{{l|tok|moku}}'' can go from a verb "to consume", to a noun "something consumed; food", back to a verb "to be food; to be consumed". However, relatively few words are said to exhibit this phenomenon. Look up ''monsutatesu'' for more information.

An idiosyncratic part-of-speech analysis, [[wikisource:Notes on lipu pu#p._17|mentioned in ''Toki Pona Dictionary'']], classifies most words only as [[content word]]s and does not draw a distinction between the aforementioned three parts of speech. Under this analysis, a word may take a head, modifier, or predicate position in the syntax, but it usually has a single definition that is constant between all of these roles. There may be discussion on whether to switch to this system. Using a <code>===Content word===</code> header is not mentioned on [[WT:POS]], for one potential challenge.

==Multiword terms==
Because Toki Pona is based on mindfulness of context, meditation on the personal significance of things, and creative description, many speakers try to prevent multiword phrases from becoming [[lexicalize]]d. As a result, even many common phrases are [[WT:SOP|sum-of-parts]] and do not warrant entries.

Acceptable [[:Category:Toki Pona multiword terms|multiword terms]] include:
* Phrases that pass the [[WT:FRIED|''fried egg'' test]] (often with a specific referent, thus equivalent to a [[proper noun]]): ''{{l|tok|toki pona}}'', ''{{l|tok|sitelen sitelen}}'', ''{{l|tok|nimi sin}}''
* Place and language names suggested in ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'', and any alternative or additional names derived from [[endonym]]s that can be attested: ''{{l|tok|ma Antasika}}'', ''{{l|tok|toki luka Kepeka}}'', ''{{l|tok|ma Juwese}}''
* Entries in the "Phrase Book" section of ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'', as the closest fit to the [[WT:PB|Wiktionary phrasebook guidelines]]: ''{{l|tok|mi tawa}}'', ''{{l|tok|ale li pona}}'', ''{{l|tok|sina pilin seme?}}''

==Resources==
* Sonja Lang's books
** ''Toki Pona: The Language of Good'' (''lipu pu'')
** ''Toki Pona Dictionary'' (''lipu ku'')
* [https://liputenpo.org/ lipu tenpo] - a [[zine]] written in Toki Pona

==Letters==
Toki Pona uses these letters:
* (''Latin script letters'') [[a]], [[e]], [[i]], [[j]], [[k]], [[l]], [[m]], [[n]], [[o]], [[p]], [[s]], [[t]], [[u]], [[w]].
The letters have no widely accepted names in Toki Pona.

==Notes==
<references group="note" />
[[Category:Wiktionary language considerations]]
[[Category:Toki Pona language|*]]

Contionary:Toki Pona entry guidelines - Revision history

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