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<!DOCTYPE html><!--*-js-indent-level:2;css-indent-offset:2-*-->
<!-- Copyright 2021–2022 by zrajm. Licenses: CC BY-SA for text, GPLv2 for code. -->
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1">
<title>Toki Pona Syllabics</title>
<link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="/toki-pona-syllabics/favicon.ico">
<link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="180x180" href="/toki-pona-syllabics/favicon/apple-touch.png">
<link rel="icon" type="image/png" sizes="32x32" href="/toki-pona-syllabics/favicon/32x32.png">
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<link rel="manifest" href="/toki-pona-syllabics/favicon/site.webmanifest">
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<style>
/* Mini-reset. */
html { box-sizing: border-box; }
*, :before, :after { box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0; margin: 0; text-indent: initial; }
/********************/
/* For regular Latin script. */
@font-face {
font-family: "Noto Sans";
src: url("font/noto_sans-regular.woff2");
font-display: swap;
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@font-face {
font-family: "Noto Sans";
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font-style: italic;
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/* For Canadian syllabics. */
@font-face {
font-family: "Noto Sans Canadian Aboriginal";
src: url("font/noto_sans_canadian_aboriginal-regular.woff2");
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.syllabic {
word-spacing: .125em;
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div.syllabic, p.syllabic {
line-height: 1.75;
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figure.basic {
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text-align: center;
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</style>
<div style="float:right;margin:0 1em .5em">
<a class="img" href="https://github.com/zrajm/toki-pona-syllabics"><img src="toki-pona-syllabics.svg" style="height:6em"></a>
</div>
<h1 id="top">Toki Pona Syllabics</h1>
<p>Here’s how to write <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toki_Pona">Toki
Pona</a> using <i><a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Aboriginal_syllabics">Canadian
Aboriginal syllabics</a>!</i> One of the world’s coolest writing
systems!<a href="#fn1">1</a> (The simplest way to refer to this writing system
in Toki Pona is to simply call it ᓯᑌᓐ ᕐᑲᓇᑕ <i>sitelen Kanata</i>.)
<p>When you’re done reading this, you might wanna practice your Toki Pona
syllabics reading skills with <a href="jan-pije/">jan Pijes lessons for Toki
Pona</a> (with all the Toki Pona written in syllabics), try
out <a href="dictionary/">my own little Toki Pona dictionary</a>, or learn the
writing with my <a href="https://app.memrise.com/course/5956950/"><i>Toki Pona
Syllabics</i> course</a> on Memrise!
<p>
<style>
.syllabics.inline { margin: 1rem auto -.5rem; }
.syllabics {
text-align: center;
max-width: 44rem; /* width of 5 mini-tables */
margin: 1.5rem auto;
}
.syllabics figcaption { margin: -.5rem; }
.syllabics table {
display: inline-table;
border-collapse: collapse;
margin: 0 .25rem 1.5rem;
}
.syllabics table.cardinal {
transform-origin: 4rem 2rem; /* (2*grid) (grid) */
transform: translate(.75em, .75em) rotate(45deg);
}
.syllabics td, .syllabics th {
height: 2rem; width: 2rem; /* (grid) */
}
.syllabics td { /* syllabics characters */
font-size: 25px;
text-align: center;
border: 2px solid #bbb;
}
/* Remove borders on <td> that are adjacent to other <td>s. */
.syllabics td + td { border-left: hidden; }
.syllabics tr + tr td { border-top: hidden; }
.syllabics th { /* Latin characters */
font-weight: inherit;
position: relative; /*HERE*/
}
.syllabics th:first-child { /* Latin characters, left side */
padding-right: .25rem;
text-align: right;
}
.syllabics th:last-child { /* Latin characters, right side */
padding-left: .25rem;
text-align: left;
}
.syllabics table u {
display: inline-block;
text-decoration: none;
transform: rotate(-45deg);
min-width: 1.5ex; /* for 'i' in 1st table to look okay */
text-align: center;
}
.syllabics table a {
position: absolute;
line-height: 1.25;
top: -1.125rem; left: .125rem;
}
.syllabics .cardinal a {
transform-origin: left bottom;
transform: rotate(-45deg);
}
</style>
<figure class="syllabics">
<table class="cardinal">
<tr><th><u>e</u><td><u>ᐁ</u><td><u>ᐊ</u><th><u>a</u></tr>
<tr><th><u>o</u><td><u>ᐅ</u><td><u>ᐃ</u><th><u>i</u></tr>
<tr><th><u>u</u><td><u>ᐆ</u></tr>
</table>
<table class="cardinal">
<tr><th><u>pe</u><td><u>ᐯ</u><td><u>ᐸ</u><th><u>pa</u></tr>
<tr><th><u>po</u><td><u>ᐳ</u><td><u>ᐱ</u><th><u>pi</u></tr>
<tr><th><u>pu</u><td><u>ᐴ</u></tr>
</table>
<table class="cardinal">
<tr><th><u>te</u><td><u>ᑌ</u><td><u>ᑕ</u><th><u>ta</u></tr>
<tr><th><u>to</u><td><u>ᑐ</u><td class="gray"><u>ᑎ</u><th class="gray"><u>ti</u></tr>
<tr><th><u>tu</u><td><u>ᑑ</u></tr>
</table>
<table class="ordinal">
<tr><th>ke<td>ᑫ<td>ᑭ<th>ki</tr>
<tr><th>ko<td>ᑯ<td>ᑲ<th>ka</tr>
<tr><th>ku<td>ᑰ</tr>
</table>
<table class="ordinal">
<tr><th>me<td>ᒣ<td>ᒥ<th>mi</tr>
<tr><th>mo<td>ᒧ<td>ᒪ<th>ma</tr>
<tr><th>mu<td>ᒨ</tr>
</table>
<table class="ordinal">
<tr><th>ne<td>ᓀ<td>ᓂ<th>ni</tr>
<tr><th>no<td>ᓄ<td>ᓇ<th>na</tr>
<tr><th>nu<td>ᓅ</tr>
</table>
<table class="ordinal">
<tr><th>le<td>ᓓ<td>ᓕ<th><a href="#fn2">2</a>li</tr>
<tr><th>lo<td>ᓗ<td>ᓚ<th>la</tr>
<tr><th>lu<td>ᓘ</tr>
</table>
<table class="ordinal">
<tr><th>se<td>ᓭ<td>ᓯ<th>si</tr>
<tr><th>so<td>ᓱ<td>ᓴ<th>sa</tr>
<tr><th>su<td>ᓲ</tr>
</table>
<table class="ordinal">
<tr><th>je<td>ᔦ<td class="gray">ᔨ<th class="gray"><a href="#fn3">3</a>ji</tr>
<tr><th>jo<td>ᔪ<td>ᔭ<th>ja</tr>
<tr><th>ju<td>ᔫ</tr>
</table>
<table class="cardinal">
<tr><th><u>we</u><td><u>ᕓ</u><td><u>ᕙ</u><th><a href="#fn4">4</a><u>wa</u></tr>
<tr><th class="gray"><u>wo</u><td class="gray"><u>ᕗ</u><td><u>ᕕ</u><th><u>wi</u></tr>
<tr><th class="gray"><u>wu</u><td class="gray"><u>ᕘ</u></tr>
</table>
<figcaption>
Use ◌ᓐ for <i>n</i> at end of syllable (e.g.
ᑐᓐᓯ <nobr><i>tonsi</i>).<a href="#fn5">5</a></nobr>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li>An <i>overdot</i> (◌̇) is used to indicate that a syllable is pronounced
with <i>u</i> instead of <i>o.</i><a href="#fn7">7</a>
<li>The shaded syllables above (ᕗ <i>wo,</i> ᕘ <i>wu,</i> ᑎ <i>ti,</i> and
ᔨ <i>ji</i>) are not allowed in Toki Pona.
</ul>
<style>
#sorting table {
border-collapse: collapse;
}
#sorting table th {
font-weight: inherit;
}
#sorting table td {
font-size: 25px;
}
#sorting table td, #sorting table th {
height: 1.75rem;
width: 2rem;
border: 2px solid #bbb;
line-height: 1;
}
#sorting .tiny {
font-size: .6em;
line-height: 1.2;
}
#sorting {
float: right;
text-align: center;
margin-bottom: .5rem;
margin-left: 1rem;
}
</style>
<figure id="sorting">
<table>
<caption>Syllabics Sort Order<a href="#fn6">6</a></caption>
<tr><th><th>-e<th>-i<th>-o<th>-u<th>-a<th class="tiny">final</tr>
<tr><th class="tiny">vowel<br>only<td>ᐁ<td>ᐃ<td>ᐅ<td>ᐆ<td>ᐊ<th></tr>
<tr><th>p-<td>ᐯ<td>ᐱ<td>ᐳ<td>ᐴ<td>ᐸ<th></tr>
<tr><th>t-<td>ᑌ<td class="gray">ᑎ<td>ᑐ<td>ᑑ<td>ᑕ<th></tr>
<tr><th>k-<td>ᑫ<td>ᑭ<td>ᑯ<td>ᑰ<td>ᑲ<th></tr>
<tr><th>m-<td>ᒣ<td>ᒥ<td>ᒧ<td>ᒨ<td>ᒪ<th></tr>
<tr><th>n-<td>ᓀ<td>ᓂ<td>ᓄ<td>ᓅ<td>ᓇ<td>◌ᓐ</tr>
<tr><th>l-<td>ᓓ<td>ᓕ<td>ᓗ<td>ᓘ<td>ᓚ<th></tr>
<tr><th>s-<td>ᓭ<td>ᓯ<td>ᓱ<td>ᓲ<td>ᓴ<th></tr>
<tr><th>j-<td>ᔦ<td class="gray">ᔨ<td>ᔪ<td>ᔫ<td>ᔭ<th></tr>
<tr><th>w-<td>ᕓ<td>ᕕ<td class="gray">ᕗ<td class="gray">ᕘ<td>ᕙ<th></tr>
</table>
ᕐ◌ (naming mark) is ignored
</figure>
<p>Syllabics characters are categorized as either <i>symmetric,</i>
or <i>asymmetric,</i> depending on the way they are modified when the vowel
change. The symmetric shapes (ᐁ <i>e,</i> ᐯ <i>pe,</i> ᑌ <i>te,</i> and
ᕓ <i>we</i>) point in the four cardinal directions of the compass
(south/<wbr>north/<wbr>east/<wbr>west) and are rotated 90° between the vowels
(these are also called <i>cardinal</i>). The asymmetric shapes (ᑫ <i>ke,</i>
ᒣ <i>me,</i> ᓀ <i>ne,</i> ᓓ <i>le,</i> ᓭ <i>se,</i> and ᔦ <i>je</i>) are
flipped, not rotated, to get the different vowels (these are also
called <i>ordinal,</i> since they point in the ordinal directions of the
compass: <small>NW</small>, <small>NE</small>, <small>SW</small>,
<small>SE</small>).—When talking about the orientation of a character, the
word <i>rotation</i> is used, regardless of whether the specific character is
actually rotated or flipped.
<p>The word <i>series</i> is often used to group characters with, either the
same consonant (a line in the <a href="#sorting">sort table</a>), or vowel (a
column). The t-series thus includes all rotations of the character ᑌ <i>te,</i>
while the e-series include the characters with a rotation that corresponds to
the vowel <i>e</i>: ᐁ <i>e,</i> ᐯ <i>pe,</i> ᑌ <i>te,</i> ᑫ <i>ke,</i>
ᒣ <i>me,</i> etc.
<p>When sorting Toki Pona syllabics (<a href="#sorting">see table</a>), the
Eastern Cree/<wbr>Inuktitut order is used, except for the naming mark (ᕐ◌),
which is ignored (and does not affect the sort order).<a href="#fn6">6</a>
<h2 id="punct">Punctuation</h2>
<ul>
<li>Use either Latin punctuation <i>or</i> small a cross (᙮) after each
sentence.
<li>Hyphen is a double line (᐀).
<li>Put <i>naming mark</i> (ᕐ◌) before names (unofficial words).
</ul>
<p>Many texts use only space between words and a small cross (᙮) at the end of
sentences as punctuation—other texts instead use a full set of Latin
punctuation marks (including the Latin period). Syllabics uses a double
horizontal line (᐀) as a hyphen, this is to avoid confusion with the syllable
final <i>c</i> (◌ᐨ) used in Western Cree.
<p id="capitals">Syllabics does not have upper and lower case, and so names
(that is, unofficial words) can’t be marked with capitalization. Instead, to
mark these words, put a <i>naming mark</i> ᕐ in front of it: ᑐᑭ ᕐᓯᓇᓐ <i>toki
Sinan</i> (the Klingon language), ᔭᓐ ᕐᓱᓐᔭ <i>jan Sonja,</i> and ᒪ ᕐᑲᓇᑕ <i>ma
Kanata</i> (Canada).<a href="#fn8">8</a>
<h2 id="sample">Sample Text</h2>
<style>
table.star {
margin: 1em 0 1em 1em;
border-collapse: collapse;
text-align: center;
padding: -1em;
border: 2px solid #bbb;
caption-side: bottom;
font-size: 25px;
}
table.star td {
text-align: center;
position: relative;
width: .6em;
height: .6em;
}
table.star div {
position: absolute;
display: inline;
transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
}
table.star div.raised { transform: translate(-50%, -55%); }
table.star .horiz {
letter-spacing: .2em;
white-space: nowrap;
padding-left: .25em;
}
table.star .horiz .spacer {
width: 2.25em;
display: inline-block;
}
table.star .vert {
line-height: 1em;
padding-bottom: .05em;
}
table.star .vert .spacer {
height: 2.25em;
display: inline-block;
}
table.star caption {
font-size: 1rem;
}
</style>
<table class="star" style="float:right">
<tr><td rowspan=15 style="width:1.21em"><td colspan=13 style="height:1.75em"><td rowspan=15 style="width:1.19em"></tr>
<tr><td><div>ᑭ</div><td colspan=11><td><div>ᑫ</div></tr>
<tr><td><td><div>ᓯ</div><td colspan=9><td><div>ᓭ</div><td></tr>
<tr><td colspan=2><td><div class="gray">ᔨ</div><td colspan=7><td><div>ᔦ</div><td colspan=2></tr>
<tr><td colspan=3><td><div>ᓕ</div><td colspan=5><td><div>ᓓ</div><td colspan=3></tr>
<tr><td colspan=4><td><div>ᓂ</div><td colspan=3><td><div>ᓀ</div><td colspan=4></tr>
<tr><td colspan=5><td><div>ᒥ</div><td><td><div>ᒣ</div><td colspan=5></tr>
<tr><td colspan=6><td>
<div class="horiz">ᑕᐸᕙᐊ<span class="spacer"></span>ᐅ<span class="gray">ᕗ</span>ᐳᑐ</div>
<div class="vert"><span class="gray">ᑎ</span><br>ᐱ<br>ᕕ<br>ᐃ<br><span class="spacer"></span><br>ᐁ<br>ᕓ<br>ᐯ<br>ᑌ</div>
<td colspan=6></tr>
<tr><td colspan=5><td><div>ᒪ</div><td><td><div>ᒧ</div><td colspan=5></tr>
<tr><td colspan=4><td><div>ᓇ</div><td colspan=3><td><div>ᓄ</div><td colspan=4></tr>
<tr><td colspan=3><td><div class="raised">ᓚ</div><td colspan=5><td><div class="raised">ᓗ</div><td colspan=3></tr>
<tr><td colspan=2><td><div>ᔭ</div><td colspan=7><td><div>ᔪ</div><td colspan=2></tr>
<tr><td><td><div>ᓴ</div><td colspan=9><td><div>ᓱ</div><td></tr>
<tr><td><div>ᑲ</div><td colspan=11><td><div>ᑯ</div></tr>
<tr><td colspan=13 style="height:1.75em"></tr>
<caption>A Toki Pona syllabics star chart.</caption>
</table>
<!--
<p>mi jan Sajen. mi lon ma tomo Upala. ma tomo Upala li lon ma Wensa.
<p>tenpo mute pini la jan Wikin lon, lon ma mi. ona li jan utala li tawa,
tawa ma suli Elopa ale. ona li pakala e ma tomo mute, li moli e jan mute.
ona li jan ike. taso ona li pali kin e kiwen suli. ona li sitelen e sitelen
pi jan Wikin, lon kiwen ni. kiwen ni mute lon, lon ma tomo mi. kiwen ni
lili lon taso, lon ma ante. sitelen ni li pona, tawa mi!
-->
<div class="syllabic">
<p>ᒥ ᔭᓐ ᕐᓴᔦᓐ. ᒥ ᓗᓐ ᒪ ᑐᒧ ᕐᐆᐸᓚ. ᒪ ᑐᒧ ᕐᐆᐸᓚ ᓕ ᓗᓐ ᒪ ᕓᓐᓴ.
<p>ᑌᓐᐳ ᒨᑌ ᐱᓂ ᓚ ᔭᓐ ᕐᕕᑭᓐ ᓗᓐ, ᓗᓐ ᒪ ᒥ. ᐅᓇ ᓕ ᔭᓐ ᐆᑕᓚ ᓕ ᑕᕙ, ᑕᕙ ᒪ ᓲᓕ ᐁᓗᐸ ᐊᓓ. ᐅᓇ ᓕ ᐸᑲᓚ
ᐁ ᒪ ᑐᒧ ᒨᑌ, ᓕ ᒧᓕ ᐁ ᔭᓐ ᒨᑌ. ᐅᓇ ᓕ ᔭᓐ ᐃᑫ. ᑕᓱ ᐅᓇ ᓕ ᐸᓕ ᑭᓐ ᐁ ᑭᕓᓐ ᓲᓕ. ᐅᓇ ᓕ ᓯᑌᓓᓐ ᐁ ᓯᑌᓓᓐ
ᐱ ᔭᓐ ᕐᕕᑭᓐ, ᓗᓐ ᑭᕓᓐ ᓂ. ᑭᕓᓐ ᓂ ᒨᑌ ᓗᓐ, ᓗᓐ ᒪ ᑐᒧ ᒥ. ᑭᕓᓐ ᓂ ᓕᓕ ᓗᓐ ᑕᓱ, ᓗᓐ ᒪ ᐊᓐᑌ. ᓯᑌᓓᓐ ᓂ
ᓕ ᐳᓇ, ᑕᕙ ᒥ !
</div>
<table class="glossary" style="clear:both">
<tr><td class="syllabic">ᔭᓐ ᕐᓴᔦᓐ<td>jan Sajen<td>Zrajm (me)</tr>
<tr><td class="syllabic">ᒪ ᑐᒧ ᕐᐆᐸᓚ<td>ma tomo Upala<td>Uppsala (a city)</tr>
<tr><td class="syllabic">ᔭᓐ ᕐᕕᑭᓐ<td>jan Wikin<td>the Vikings</tr>
</table>
<h2 id="pointing">Pointing</h2>
<p>Syllabics can be written either <i>pointed,</i> or <i>unpointed,</i>
referring to the dots (or <i>points</i>) above the characters. Text written in
syllabics is very often unpointed (fluent speakers have no problem recognizing
the words, even without vowel length markings). In the few cases where
ambiguity may rear its ugly head, one may either rely on context to clear it
up, or add dots to clarify only as needed (this is known as <i>strategic
pointing</i>).<a href="#fn9">9</a>
<p>Unpointed syllabics are very common, even on road signs, inscriptions, and
other quite formal contexts.
<h3 id="unpointed">Toki Pona Unpointed!</h3>
<ul>
<li>You can write official Toki Pona words <i>unpointed.</i>
<li>With names and non-pu words, use <i>strategic pointing.</i>
</ul>
<p>The word ᑰᓘᐴ <i>kulupu,</i> if written unpointed becomes ᑯᓗᐳ <i>kolopo</i>.
Since the word ᑯᓗᐳ <i>kolopo</i> does not exist in the Toki Pona lexicon, any
reader fluent enough in the language would thus quickly realize that
ᑯᓗᐳ <i>kolopo</i> could not be the intended word and that ᑰᓘᐴ <i>kulupu</i> is
the only possible substitute!
<p>A closer look at pu<a href="#fn10">10</a> reveals that, even if you
replace <i>all</i> occurrences of <i>u</i> in the official dictionary
with <i>o,</i> this doesn’t lead to any ambiguities! Sure, words like
ᑯᓗᐳ <i>kolopo</i> and ᒧᑯ <i>moko</i> may <i>sound</i> funny, but they don’t
cause any confusion, since none of these words overlap with any existing words
containing <i>o!</i><a href="#fn11">11</a>
<p>There are a couple of cases where strategic pointing might be especially
useful:
<p>First, with names (capitalized words in the Latin orthography), whether you
need to point them depends on your reader. Are they likely to know the name?
With a famous, and easily recognized name like ᒪ ᑐᒧ ᕐᓅᔪᑲ <i>ma tomo Nujoka</i>
(New York City) you can probably get away with dropping the dot from the start,
but if I were to talk about my friend ᔭᓐ ᑕᑐ, how could you possibly tell
whether I’m talking about someone named <i>jan Tato,</i> or <i>jan
Tatu</i>?—I’m probably better off referring to them as ᔭᓐ ᑕᑑ <i>jan Tatu,</i>
at least the first time I mention their name.
<p>The second case is the official word ᑑ <i>tu,</i> which can be confused with
the (post-pu) word ᑐ <i>to</i> (used to delimit quotes with
ᑌ … ᑐ <i>te … to</i>).<a href="#fn12">12</a> So, if you find yourself quoting
passages in which ᑑ <i>tu</i> appear, a strategically placed dot might be in
order.
<h2 id="comparison">Compared to Other Toki Pona Syllabics</h2>
<p>As I started to researching how to write Toki Pona with Canadian Aboriginal
syllabics, I figured I couldn’t be the first person to try this, so I did some
googles. I did a lot of googles, actually, but all my efforts came up empty.
Naturally enough, <i>after</i> having written this article, I stumbled across
some earlier Toki Pona syllabics (one hidden in a video, the others inside
walled gardens). So I thought I’d take a moment to talk about them here.
<h3 id="misali">By jan Misali (2017)</h3>
<p>The first version I stumbled upon was the following table of all possible
Toki Pona syllables, written in Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, and displayed
for a few seconds in one of jan Misali’s videos on YouTube:
<figure class="basic">
<a class="img" href="conlang-critic.png"><img src="conlang-critic.png"></a>
<figcaption>
Screenshot of table from
video <a href="https://youtu.be/eLn6LC1RpAo?t=229"><i>Conlang Critic
Episode Twelve: Toki Pona</i> (03:49)</a> by jan Misali (23 February 2017).
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The video is a review of Toki Pona and the above table is shown for only a
few seconds, in the midst of a stream of similar tables, each showing the
syllables of Toki Pona written with different writing systems.—Looking at the
table more carefully, it seems as if it was quite quickly thrown together (to
be expected, given the amount of screen time it gets) but most of it makes
perfect sense. The first row contains a couple accidentally doubled characters,
but since the columns below are consistent in their use of the overdot (◌̇) the
intent is easy enough to see. (Also, a long vowel is written with an overdot
when using syllabics, but in Latin transcriptions it is written by doubling the
vowel.) Below I will simply assume ᐃᐃ was intended as ᐄ, and ᐅᐅ as ᐆ.
<p><b>e:</b> The writing of <i>e</i> is just <i>odd!</i>—I figure jan Misali
can only ever have been looking at the Inuktitut vowels (ᐁ <i>ai,</i>
ᐃ <i>i,</i> ᐅ <i>u,</i> ᐊ <i>a,</i> but lacking <i>e</i>) and worked his way
from there without ever seeing (the, to Toki Pona, much better fitting) the
Cree vowels (ᐁ <i>e,</i> ᐃ <i>i,</i> ᐅ <i>o,</i> ᐊ <i>a</i>). This lead to the
counter-intuitive use of ᐃ for <i>e</i> (it means <i>i</i> in <i>all</i> other
languages) while not making use of the rotation ᐁ (<i>e</i> in Cree). Not using
all the possible rotation also means that, in any given text, there are more
characters with overdots, possibly impacting legibility.
<p><b>w:</b> I fell in love with how jan Misali write <i>w</i>!—In the Canadian
syllabics languages that use <i>w,</i> the sound is added to the beginning of a
syllable by putting a dot, either before (ᐧ◌), or after (◌ᐧ), the syllabic
character (the dot position depends on the language). However, rather than
using a dot for <i>w,</i> jan Misali opted to spell ‘w’ as ‘v’ using the
v-series of characters (ᕓ <i>we,</i> ᕕ <i>wi,</i> ᕗ <i>wo,</i> ᕙ <i>wa</i>).
While this is not <i>technically</i> correct it leads to no conflict since Toki
Pona does <i>not have</i> a <i>v</i> sound. Also the v-series shapes are much
prettier than adding dots! (Though, here, too, I suspect that jan Misali only
ever looked at Inuktitut, since that is one of the few languages which use
Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, but which do not have a <i>w</i> sound.)
<p><p><b>Conclusion:</b> It is quite clear that this is just a throwaway
suggestion, created, not to be the final word in Toki Pona syllabics, but as
window-dressing for a couple of frames in a video. It is also quite obvious
that jan Misali’s syllabics only draw from the Inuktitut usage of the script,
ignoring Cree (which is a shame, since Cree’s vowel mapping is a much better
fit for Toki Pona). Despite this is jan Misali’s syllabics pretty good (the
only major mistake being the vowels). The (however accidental) idea to use the
v-series for Toki Pona <i>w</i> (ᕓ <i>we,</i> ᕕ <i>wi,</i> ᕗ <i>wo,</i>
ᕙ <i>wa</i>) is a good one, as it cuts down on dot clutter, and increases
cuteness. (I just love those loopy ᕓᕕᕗᕙ characters!)
<p><b>Update, 13 March 2021:</b> I originally wrote <i>w</i> in the Eastern
Cree style (ᐎ <i>wi,</i> ᐌ <i>we,</i> ᐗ <i>wa,</i> ᐒ <i>wo</i>), but I have
since changed my mind, and now use the Inuktitut v-series (ᕓ <i>we,</i>
ᕕ <i>wi,</i> ᕗ <i>wo,</i> ᕙ <i>wa</i>) instead. This is partly on jan Misali’s
(and <a href="#katelin">jan Katelin’s</a>) suggestions, and partly because I,
in practice, have found it easier to read.<a href="#fn4">4</a>
<h3 id="king">By David King (2018)</h3>
<p>I found King’s take on syllabics for Toki Pona in a posting to the <i>toki
pona</i> Facebook group. It is based on a single Canadian Aboriginal syllabics
star chart, which, at the time, had been doing the rounds on Twitter for a
while.
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<figure class="fb-quote">
<table>
<tr>
<td class="fb-image" width="45%"><a class="img"
href="king-syllabics.png"><img src="king-syllabics.png"></a></td>
<td class="fb-message">
<img class="fb-portrait" src="king-portrait.jpg" height="72"
width="72"> <big><b>David King</b></big>
<br><small class="fb-date"><a
href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1838184312962672"
title="Wednesday, 29 August 2018 at 21:45">29 August 2018</a>
· <span class="fb-sharing" title="Public group"></span></small>
<p>I recently found this chart, by Matt Baker (<a
href="https://twitter.com/usefulcharts/status/866363656568619008"
>https://<wbr>twitter<wbr>.com/<wbr>useful<wbr>charts/<wbr>status/<wbr
>866<wbr>363<wbr>656<wbr>568<wbr>619<wbr>008</a>) concerning Canadian
Aboriginal Syllabics (<a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Aboriginal_syllabics"
>https://<wbr>en.<wbr>wikipedia<wbr>.org/<wbr>wiki/<wbr
>Canadian_<wbr>Aboriginal_<wbr>syllabics</a>).
<p>Except for some awkwardness about u / oo, it seems like an easily
learned system that would adapt well for toki pona.
<p>I’m thinking a umlaut over syllables with u? Maybe an appended
character if you don’t have an accented syllable in your typeset. Pu
would be ᐵ…</td>
</table>
<figcaption>
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1838184312962672">Facebook
posting</a> by David King in the <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/sitelen"><i>toki pona</i> group</a>
(29 August 2018).
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I have not been able to determine with absolute certainty which language
this set of characters is used for, but the r-series (<i>re, ri, ro, ra</i> in
the image above) are unique to the <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missionary_Oblates_of_Mary_Immaculate">Western
Oblate missionary</a> style of syllabics,<a href="#fn13">13</a> which I presume
is used for Western Cree. (This r-series is not even included
in <a href="https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1400.pdf">Unicode</a>!)
<p><b>w:</b> King writes <i>w</i> as a dot <i>after</i> the syllabic character
(ᐍ <i>we,</i> ᐏ <i>wi,</i> ᐓ <i>wo,</i> ᐘ <i>wa</i>) in the Western Cree style.
<p><b>l:</b> Curiously, the l-series of characters found in King’s chart
differs from the Western Oblate style. Between the two styles, all characters,
except ᕊ <i>lo,</i> are mirrored along center line of the U-shape (so that
little serif-like line, that juts out from one of the tines in the U-shape,
sticks out in the opposite direction). Compare: ᕂᕃ <i>le,</i> ᕄᕆ <i>li,</i>
ᕊᕊ <i>lo,</i> and ᕋᕍ <i>la</i> (in each pair, the first character is in King’s
style, and the second is in the Western Oblate style).<a href="#fn14">14</a>
<p><b>j:</b> The “j-series” of characters chosen by King (which are more
commonly written with <i>c</i> in the Latin script; ᒉ <i>ce,</i> ᒋ <i>ci,</i>
ᒍ <i>co,</i> ᒐ <i>ca</i>) are, in Western Cree, pronounced with [t͡s] or
[t͡ʃ].—The Toki Pona <i>j</i> is softer, and its pronunciation is much closer to
the Cree <i>y</i> sound, so a better fit would have been the y-series of
characters (ᔦ <i>ye,</i> ᔨ <i>yi,</i> ᔪ <i>yo,</i> ᔭ <i>ya</i>) which are also
present in the star chart.
<p><b>n:</b> King uses a Western Cree form of the syllable-final <i>n:</i> ◌ᐣ.
<p><b>u:</b> King suggests adding an umlaut or double overdot (◌̈) to the
o-series of characters in order to write a syllable with <i>u</i> (ᐇ <i>u,</i>
ᐵ <i>pu,</i> ᑒ <i>tu,</i> ᑱ <i>ku,</i> ᒩ <i>mu,</i> ᓆ <i>nu,</i> ᓙ <i>lu,</i>
ᓳ <i>su,</i> ᔬ <i>ju,</i> ᕗ̈ <i>wu</i>).—I (having independently come up with
the same idea) can do nothing but approve of the fact that he writes syllables
with <i>u</i> by modifying the o-series. Though I personally think a single
overdot (◌̇) is a better fit, since the single overdot is used (to mark that a
vowel is long) in all styles of syllabics, while the doubled overdot is only
rarely used. (Presumably King did not know of the prevalence of the single
overdot in Canadian Aboriginal syllabics, since this information is not
included in the star chart he used.)
<p><p><b>Conclusion:</b> It is clear that King based his Toki Pona syllabics
off of that single star chart of Western Oblate syllabics, meaning that his
style also inadvertently inherited all the idiosyncrasies of that particular
chart (like the odd <i>j/c</i> mix-up, and the mirrored characters of the
l-series). With that in mind, I like his take on it, and the fact that both
King and I independently decided to write <i>u</i> in a similar way strengthens
my belief in that idea.
<p><p><b>Epilogue:</b> As it turns out, King’s star chart did not originate
with Matt Baker (who never claimed to have created it himself—he only tweeted
about it, but neglected to give a source). A reverse image search instead
revealed the source to be the web page of University Blue Quills, of Blue
Quills First Nation in Alberta, Canada. (Unfortunately I could find no
information about what language the chart is intended for.) In addition to
the <a href="https://www.bluequills.ca/elders-2/syllabics-chart-with-sounds/"
>chart used by King</a>, their web page also feature a different star chart,
with more common characters (with characters that <i>are</i> all found in
Unicode). For completeness, I’ll include it here.
<figure class="basic">
<a class="img" href="blue-quills-syllabics.png"><img
src="blue-quills-syllabics.png"></a>
<figcaption>
A different <a href="https://www.bluequills.ca/elders-2/rescent01/"
>Canadian Aboriginal syllabics star chart</a> published by <a
href="https://www.bluequills.ca/">University Blue Quills</a>
(13 July 2015).
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h3 id="katelin">By jan Katelin (2021)</h3>
<p>I found jan Katelin’s syllabics when searching the Toki Pona Discord server
for all things related to Canadian Aboriginal syllabics. She describes her
syllabics style in the following messages to the <i>#toki-pona</i> channel.
<style>
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<figure class="discord">
<div>
<div>
<span class=img><img src="jan-katelin.png"></span>
<div class="nick">ᔭᓐ ᕐᑲᑏᓕᓐ (jan Katelin)
<small title="Saturday, 9 January 2021 04:18">09/01/2021</small>
</div>
<table><tr><td><td>a<td>i<td>u<td>e<td>o</tr>
<tr><td>p<td>ᐸ<td>ᐱ<td>ᐳ<td>ᐲ<td>ᐴ</tr>
<tr><td>t<td>ᑕ<td>-<td>ᑐ<td>ᑏ<td>ᑑ</tr>
<tr><td>k<td>ᑲ<td>ᑭ<td>ᑯ<td>ᑮ<td>ᑰ</tr>
<tr><td>l<td>ᓚ<td>ᓕ<td>ᓗ<td>ᓖ<td>ᓘ</tr>
<tr><td>w<td>ᕙ<td>ᕕ<td>-<td>ᕖ<td>-</tr>
<tr><td>j<td>ᔭ<td>-<td>ᔪ<td>ᔩ<td>ᔫ</tr>
<tr><td>s<td>ᓴ<td>ᓯ<td>ᓱ<td>ᓰ<td>ᓲ</tr>
<tr><td>m<td>ᒪ<td>ᒥ<td>ᒧ<td>ᒦ<td>ᒨ</tr>
<tr><td>n<td>ᓇ<td>ᓂ<td>ᓄ<td>ᓃ<td>ᓅ<td><small
datetime="2021-01-09T03:18:53.554Z"
title="Saturday, 9 January 2021 04:18">(edited)</small></tr>
</table>
</div>
<div>
<time hidden title="Saturday, 9 January 2021 04:19">04:19</time> the
biggest change is that I made overdot mean a more open vowel (ie <nobr>i
-> e,</nobr> <nobr>u -> o)</nobr> instead of a long vowel
</div>
<div>
<time hidden title="Saturday, 9 January 2021 04:19">04:19</time> oh and
no consonant is just ᐊ ᐃ ᐅ ᐄ ᐆ
</div>
<div>
<time hidden title="Saturday, 9 January 2021 04:20">04:20</time> trailing
ᓐ is “n”, leading ᕐ serves the same purpose as capitals in latinized tp
</div>
</div>
<figcaption style="text-align:center">
<a href="https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/301377942062366741/797303337824682004"
>Discord message</a> by jan Katelin to <a
href="https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/301377942062366741"
>#toki-pona</a> on the <a
href="https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741"
><i>ma pona pi toki pona</i> server</a> (9 January 2021).
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast to the others, jan Katelin seemed to have spent quite some time
with her syllabics. She mentioned in <i>#toki-pona</i> that she’d learned the
use of it while she was learning the Toki Pona language.—She later verified
this in private conversation, also mentioning that her starting point had
been <a href="#misali">the table of syllabics in jan Misali’s video</a> (above)
but that she’d regularized, and expanded upon it where she’d found a need for
it.
<style>
table.vowels {
border-collapse: collapse;
margin: 0 0 1em 2em;
float: right;
text-align: center;
}
table.vowels td, table.vowels th { padding: 0 .5em; }
table.vowels td {
border: 2px solid #bbb;
font-size: 25px;
}
table.vowels th {
font-weight: inherit;
padding-left: 0;
}
table.vowels th:first-child { text-align: right; }
table.vowels i {
display: inline-block;
font-style: inherit;
font-size: 1rem;
width: 1em;
}
</style>
<table class="vowels">
<tr><th><th>Front<th>Back</tr>
<tr><th>Close<td>ᐃ<i>i</i><td>ᐅ<i>u</i></tr>
<tr><th>Mid<td>ᐄ<i>e</i><td>ᐆ<i>o</i></tr>
<tr><th>Open<td colspan="2">ᐊ<i>a</i></tr>
</table>
<p class="indented"><b>Vowels:</b> This syllabics style pays homage to its
Inuktitut roots by keeping the vowels that are used in the Inuktitut language
(<i>a, i,</i> and <i>u</i>) unpointed, while marking the vowels that do not
occur in Inuktitut (<i>e</i> and <i>o</i>) with an overdot. This also means
that the overdot can be thought of as a diacritic to indicate a “more open”
vowel (turning ᐃ <i>i</i> into ᐄ <i>e,</i> and ᐅ <i>u</i> into ᐆ <i>o</i>).—The
drawback of this vowel system is that it adds (a little bit of) needless
graphical complexity by preferring points over using all available glyph
rotations. This, in turn, causes some words to become indistinguishable
homographs when writing in an <a href="#unpointed">unpointed style</a> (though
this actually only affects ᑮᓐ <i>ken</i> and ᑭᓐ <i>kin</i>).
<p><b>Names:</b> Where the Latin orthography of Toki Pona uses capitalization
to indicate names/<wbr>unofficial words, jan Katelin instead marks names by
putting the Inuktitut <i>uvularization</i> character (ᕐ◌)<a href="#fn15">15</a>
in front of the word.<nobr>—This</nobr> is neat! Originally my own syllabics
did not include a naming mark like this, but in part inspired by jan Katelin, I
later added one.
<p><p><b>Conclusion:</b> The syllabics style of jan Katelin is an improvement
on jan Misali’s, and both her additions are good ones. Her addition of
a <i>naming mark</i> (ᕐ◌) is an especially good idea and is original to her
system.
<p><b>Update, 21 March 2021:</b> I originally used the Western Cree final
ᑊ <i>p</i> as a naming mark, but, after seeing the symbol that jan Katelin
chose, and thinking about it for a bit, I adopted jan Katelin’s
symbol.<a href="#fn16">16</a>
<h2 id="footnotes">Footnotes</h2>
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<ul class="hanging">
<li id="fn1">1. Of course, <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Aboriginal_syllabics"
>Canadian Aboriginal syllabics</a> is under fierce competition for the
title of “coolest writing system” from other nifty scripts such
as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangul">Hangul</a>
and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASLwrite">ASLwrite</a>.
<li id="fn2">2. I opted to use the l-series from Eastern Cree (also used by
Inuktitut), simply because that set of glyphs respects the symmetry of the