Contionary:Toki Pona/monsuta

Toki Pona

tok ("sitelen pona") → [[Contionary:{{{3}}}|{{{3}}}]] ("{{{4}}}"): A zigzag for a row of sharp teeth.

scary creature or entity, monster, demon, predator, beast
- 2021 February 25, kulupu Aponi, “nasin kulupu li seme?”, in lipu kule‎^[4], archived from the original on 15 October 2021:
  musi la, sitelen la, jan kulupu li monsuta, li jo e jan monsuta lon lawa ona
  In art, in movies, people experiencing multiplicity are [depicted as] monsters, and have scary people inside their heads
- 2021 May 7, jan Tekinowi, “monsuta lon ma pi kasi suli”, in lipu tenpo‎^[5], number 4, →ISSN, page 12:
  jan li pilin e ni: monsuta li jan mun. jan ante li pilin e ni: monsuta li waso li wile awen e sike mama ona.
  Some people thought the monster was an alien. Others thought the monster was a bird who wanted to protect its eggs.
- 2021 September 27, jan Juli, “nanpa open”, in kalama sin‎^[6], episode 1:
  tenpo pini la jan ni li lon ma ni li utala e monsuta.
  In the past these people were in this land and fought a monster.
something scary, a source of fear; a danger or threat; horror
- 2021 October 31, jan Sonatan, lipu tenpo‎^[7], number 9, →ISSN, page 1:
  monsuta li ike tawa sina la o lukin e toki ante e ma Sinkapo.
  If you don't like scary things, take a look at [the section about] other languages and [the article about] Singapore.
(rare) fear, dread
Synonym: pilin monsuta

(intransitive) to be scary or monstrous; to be a monster
- 2022 October 6, kulupu lintukamakaki, “kasi kiki”, in mun monsuta‎^[8], archived from the original on 7 October 2022, page 30:
  kalama ni en pimeja li monsuta lili tawa waso Ki.
  This sound and the darkness were a little scary to Ki the bird.
- 2021 February 25, kulupu Aponi, “nasin kulupu li seme?”, in lipu kule‎^[9], archived from the original on 15 October 2021:
  musi la, sitelen la, jan kulupu li monsuta, li jo e jan monsuta lon lawa ona
  In art, in movies, people experiencing multiplicity are monsters, and have scary people inside their heads
(transitive) to turn something or someone scary or monstrous; to turn something or someone into a monster or an object of fear
(transitive) to scare
(transitive) to fear

This word was created by Sonja Lang before the publication of her book Toki Pona: The Language of Good (2014) and not included in it. It has since been recognized as essential vocabulary (nimi ku suli) by Lang in her 2021 publication The Toki Pona Dictionary.

monsuta is not commonly used as a transitive verb, and its meaning when used transitively is not very stable or well-defined.

monsuta being used for both "to scare" and "to fear" has inspired the "monsutatesu" thesis, which posits that various Toki Pona words are autoantonyms when used as verbs. Other examples include tok ("kalama") → [[Contionary:{{{3}}}|{{{3}}}]] ("{{{4}}}"), tok ("lawa") → [[Contionary:{{{3}}}|{{{3}}}]] ("{{{4}}}"), tok ("mama") → [[Contionary:{{{3}}}|{{{3}}}]] ("{{{4}}}"), and tok ("moku") → [[Contionary:{{{3}}}|{{{3}}}]] ("{{{4}}}").