The world's smallest language

toki a! I hope you enjoy my exploration of Toki Pona, the world's smallest language. With enormous help from a couple of Toki Pona speakers, I'll do my best to explain how a language can function with only around 120 words.

Thanks to jan Mimoku for the TOKI PONA SUBTITLES

🎶 jan Usawi's music 🎶
@janusawi8794

🎓 Toki Pona resources 🎓

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#tokipona #conlang #language

==CHAPTERS==
0:00 Introduction
0:31 Guests
1:15 What is Toki Pona?
1:48 How many words?
2:22 HOW??
3:40 Opera browser
4:52 Is Toki Pona' 'vague'?
8:52 Toki Pona music
11:20 Word origins
12:27 Alphabet
13:22 Tokiponized names
15:44 sitelen pona writing
17:45 Numbers
18:51 Who speaks it?

[MarkSheeres]

It’s like a jpg of language. You compress the thoughts, but then you kind of have to uncompress them in your head.

[shvarra]

Finally, a video about Toki Pona with proper research and that isn’t filled with mistakes and misinformation about the language! Well done!

[aeqeu]

Toki Pona seems to be inherently dependent on the ability to ask clarifying questions. Good for everyday use, but not suited for a technical specification document for standardized lab procedures. It definitely has a niche, and it's a really fun perspective on what it means to communicate, and what the role of a language even is.

This was very cool, thank you!

[vipnetworker]

Antlers Girl is EXACTLY the type of person I expected to speak Toki Pona.

[CCABPSacsach]

Toki Pona is the language that everyone wanted to come up with when in 4th grade.

[KarenSDR]

Well, you started something in my family. Three weeks ago I found this video and posted it on facebook. My adult son, who is a software engineer, fell in love with the idea, so we decided to study Toki Pona together. Since then we've read, books, watched instructional video series (I just today finished the 30 part series "o pilen e toki pona, ") and searched out songs.

I was able to read and understand "jan Osu pi wawa nasa" (The Wizard of Oz) after only a week, but we've both found the written glyphs of sitelen pona much easier than the spoken language. I've long a long way to go with that.

Anyway, thanks for starting us on this journey!

[rockhopper_penguin]

This is utterly fascinating. Thank you Rob & thank you to the Toki Pona community for being so welcoming

[midston]

Toki Pona is absolutely a great example of how popular the conlang community has become, only behind Esperanto.

[rabrojonel]

I learned about Toki Pona for the first time from this video, months ago when it first came out. The concept of this language was so intriguing to me that I dove in for a couple weeks before becoming too busy. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, I decided to pick it up again. I am enjoying it so much and can see daily my progress with understanding and putting my own sentences together.

I have also watched several other TP intro videos in this time, and yours is by far the best, most accurate, and comprehensive introduction I have seen. Thanks for covering this fascinating conlang!

[ancientremains]

You should also make a video about the Basque language (spoken in parts of Spain and France) which is one of the few isolated languages of the world (not related to any other known language). Absolutely fascinating!

[krjames]

I really like how the language encourages speakers to attend to the immediate context (which includes both the “things” in the environment and what the other person in the conversation is thinking about). It pulls speakers closer to the present, and to each other.
It’s not surprising to learn that Sonja Lang (the inventor of the language) is a linguist and translator — she knew exactly how to do the conlang thing right, and totally hit the bullseye.

[_Thorondor]

Toki pona is like the pixel art of language

[gregdand]

This is phenomenal video. In fact, it hits a lot of points for a script I've had in the works, including the delightful coincidence of you using the same example of fruit to explain the vagueness of Toki Pona terms!

Thank you for this. I hope this brings positive attention to our community. And I hope you keep speaking Toki Pona!

sina pona wawa tan pali ni. mi o lukin e pali ante sina. kin la, mi o pana e sitelen ni tawa jan sin mute! a a a.

[ijosakawi]

I'm in deep agreement with other tokiponists who've watched this: it's an amazing, informative, and correct video, something that's rare to see outside of the toki pona community. I especially applaud you for reaching out to people who've been involved with toki pona for a long time! I'm super excited for all the people who will watch this and who will finally see an interesting and accurate video about toki pona. Keep it up!

[fawziekefli]

From a military point of view, you _really_ have to differentiate between an undeground bunker and, say, the basement of a hospital. Some people have been known to differ on the context.

[ProximaCentauri]

ESKAYAN, a conlang used liturgically by a contribe in Bohol Island, Philippines could be the only conlang whose contribe were given certificate of ancestral domain claim, meaning the Philippine government recognizes them as indigenous when they are basically Visayans who use Visayan language that was heavily relexified with invented words. Eskayan also has its own script which the group claimed to be inspired by the human anatomy.

[Matzu-Music]

Toki Pona: A linguistic linear algebra problem in a 120 word trenchcoat.

[FrithonaHrududu]

You are absolutely my favorite channel right now. Theres plenty of people that have the information but you're one of the few that can get it across in such an enjoyable and retainable way.

[jansepulon]

Wow. Congratulations, you did a lot of research and gave a fair description of our beloved language! And yes, everybody should absolutely check out jan Usawi's music even if they have no interest in the language!

sina pali pona a. olin en pona tawa sina. mi wile e ni: jan mute li lukin e ni, li kute e kalama musi pi jan Usawi, li kama sona e toki pona, li kama lon ma pona pi toki pona...

[alis.b.]

7:10 "Person of earth knowledge" is how we say geologist in Turkish too!
Yerbilimci, geologist, literally means "earth knowledge-er."

(yer = 'ground/earth/place'
bilim = science, literally 'knowledge/knowing'
-ci = -er)