Have you ever wanted to say that someone made something? The easiest way to do that is with a direct object. In this lesson, we will learn about e, the Toki Pona direct object particle.
Direct Objects
A direct object in Toki Pona, and indeed in English, is a part of a sentence that describes the object to which the verb is being done. In Toki Pona we mark it with the particle e. Remember how the particle li comes between the subject and verb? E, in a similar fashion, comes between the verb and the direct object of the verb. Let us learn a few more words, then look at some example sentences.
Words
- e | e – direct object particle
- nimi | nimi – name, word
- jo | jo – own, possess, hold
- pali | pali – work, activity, build, create
- poki | poki – container: box, bag, bowl
- suli | suli – big, important, large, long, tall, wide
- lili | lili – little, small, young, few, part
- ma | ma – place, country, earth, land, outdoors
- musi | musi – fun, games, entertainment, art, silly
- ilo | ilo – tool, device, machine
- Bonus: a | a – oh, ha, em, oy, [adds extra emphasis or emotion]
Example Sentences
ma[kulupualenasaalatokia] li suli
ma Kanata li suli – Canada is big
jan[esunlukinalenasa] li pona e mi
jan Elan li pona e mi – Aaron improves me
ona li jo e poki musi
ona li jo e poki musi – He owns an Xbox (literally: [He/She/They] owns [an] entertainment container)
jan[alenasaa] li pali e sitelen suli
jan Ana li pali e sitelen suli – Anna is creating a large drawing
mi pali e kulupu toki
mi pali e kulupu toki – I am creating a language club
Names in Toki Pona
In this lesson, we taught the word nimi, which means word and also name. You may have noticed the proper names in the examples above and be wondering how to write your name in Toki Pona. Because of the language’s (rather limited) phonology, some sounds that are in your name might not exist in the language. Proper names in Toki Pona are “tokiponized,” matching the letters in your name to similar ones in Toki Pona. If you are using the Latin alphabet, that is all you do, just use it as a modifier to the named word. In sitelen pona, these transliterations are written inside a cartouche to show that it is a proper name. You then symbolize each letter in the proper name with a glyph that starts with that letter.
Conclusion
Now you know how to describe direct objects in Toki Pona, as well as how to write your name. In the next lesson, Lesson 3, we will look at how to give commands with the imperative case.