Hello, Toki Pona

Toki Pona 1

Chapter 1 · Hello, Toki Pona

👋 Hello, Toki Pona — toki! pona!

Toki Pona is a very small language. It has about 120 core words, fourteen sounds and a handful of grammar rules, and you can learn enough in a few weeks to hold a real conversation. It was made by the Canadian linguist and translator Sonja Lang, who first published it online in 2001 and wrote the official book, Toki Pona: The Language of Good (known as pu), in 2014. The name means "good language" or "simple language": toki is "language" or "talk", and pona is "good" or "simple". You met it briefly in Constructed Languages 4; this course teaches you to use it. By the end of this chapter you will know how to say and spell the sounds, greet someone, say that you are well, say yes and no, and admit that you do not know.

The Big Idea — Few Words, Broad Meanings Toki Pona does not try to name everything. Each word covers a wide area, and context narrows it down. pona means good, simple, friendly, fixed, positive; toki means language, talk, say, hello. To say something precise you combine words: "talk good" or "good talk". The aim, as its creator describes it, is to think simply and to look for the good in things. Expect to pause and decide what you mean, rather than to look up a word.

🔤 Sounds and Spelling — kalama

The language has nine consonants and five vowels. Every letter has exactly one sound, so you can read any word the moment you know the table.

Letters	Sound	Like English
a	ah	"a" in father
e	eh	"e" in bed
i	ee	"ee" in see
o	oh	"o" in go, without the glide
u	oo	"oo" in moon
p t k s m n l		as in English
j	y	"y" in yes
w	w	"w" in water

A syllable is a consonant (optional), a vowel, and an n (optional): to-ki, po-na, jan, a. So there are no clusters like "str" and no silent letters. A few sound combinations are not used (for example ji, wu, wo, ti), and an n at the end of a syllable never sits before another m or n. Stress always falls on the first syllable: TO-ki, PO-na, SO-na.

Say It Out Loud Say toki pona slowly: TO-ki PO-na. Then jan (yan), mute (MOO-te), ala (A-la), wile (WEE-le). Remember that j is an English "y", so jan starts like "yawn" or "yarn". Compare Esperanto, where stress falls on the next-to-last syllable (Constructed Languages 8).

💬 Five Short Dialogs

Every sentence uses only words from this chapter. Toki Pona has no ending for plural or tense, so the same short sentence covers many meanings; the English line shows the most natural one.

① Hello — toki!

A: toki! Hello!

B: toki! mi jan Mali. Hello! I am Mali. (literally "I person Mali")

A: mi jan Teku. I am Teku.

② How Are You — sina pona ala pona?

A: sina pona ala pona? Are you well? (literally "you good not good?")

B: mi pona. I am well.

B: sina pona ala pona? And are you well?

A: mi pona. I am well.

③ Thanks — pona!

A: sina pona! You are kind! (you are good)

B: pona! Thanks! (or "good!")

A: pona! Good!

④ I Know, I Don't Know — mi sona

A: sina sona ala sona? Do you know? (literally "you know not know?")

B: mi sona ala. I don't know.

B: mi wile sona. I want to know.

⑤ Goodbye — tawa pona

A: mi tawa. I'm going.

B: tawa pona! Go well! (to the one who leaves)

A: lon pona! Stay well! (to the one who stays)

🗝️ Key Phrases — nimi pona

Toki Pona has no formal and informal "you", so there is no formal column. Questions like "sina pona ala pona?" use a pattern you will build yourself in Chapter 5; for now learn them as whole phrases.

Situation	Toki Pona	Say it	Note
Hello	toki!	TO-ki	the usual greeting; toki also means "talk"
I am well	mi pona.	mi PO-na	"I (am) good"; there is no verb "to be" here
Are you well?	sina pona ala pona?	SI-na PO-na A-la PO-na	the "X not X" question, explained in Chapter 5
Thanks / good	pona!	PO-na	used as thanks by the community; pona also just means "good"
You are kind	sina pona.	SI-na PO-na	"you (are) good"
I am (a person called) Mali	mi jan Mali.	mi yan MA-li	jan "person" + name; names start with a capital letter
I know	mi sona.	mi SO-na
I don't know	mi sona ala.	mi SO-na A-la	ala after the word means "not"
I'm going	mi tawa.	mi TA-wa
Go well (to one leaving)	tawa pona!	TA-wa PO-na
Stay well (to one staying)	lon pona!	lon PO-na	lon "be present"
Yes	lon.	lon	"true, so"
No	ala.	A-la

Watch Out — Different Roles, Same Word toki is "hello", "talk" and "language" depending on how you use it; pona is "good", "kind" and "thanks"; tawa is "go", "to" and "move". Beginners often try to find the one correct English translation. Do not. Read the whole sentence, decide the role, and accept that a good-enough answer is a good answer in Toki Pona.

Why No Plurals, No Tenses? jan means one person or many; mi tawa means "I go", "I went" or "I will go". Time and number are added only when they matter, with words you will meet in later chapters. This is the isolating style described in Constructed Languages 4: words never change, and small words do the work.

📖 Vocabulary — nimi

20 words from the official 120. Most can play several roles; the Type column gives the main one for this chapter.

#	Toki Pona	Say it	Meaning	Type
1	toki	TO-ki	language, talk, hello	noun / verb
2	pona	PO-na	good, simple, kind, thanks	adj
3	ike	I-ke	bad, complicated	adj
4	mi	mi	I, me, we	pron
5	sina	SI-na	you	pron
6	ona	O-na	he, she, it, they	pron
7	jan	yan	person, people	noun
8	ala	A-la	no, not, nothing	particle
9	lon	lon	be present, true, yes	verb
10	sona	SO-na	know, knowledge	verb
11	wile	WI-le	want, need	verb
12	tawa	TA-wa	go, move; to	verb
13	kama	KA-ma	come, become	verb
14	pilin	PI-lin	feel, feeling	verb
15	nimi	NI-mi	word, name	noun
16	ijo	I-yo	thing	noun
17	tomo	TO-mo	house, room, building	noun
18	mute	MU-te	many, much	adj
19	suli	SU-li	big, important	adj
20	ale	A-le	all, everything (also written ali)	adj

Real Toki Pona Tip — The Name of the Language toki pona is itself a phrase: "language" + "good". Since describing words follow the word they describe, the order is "talk good", the opposite of English "good talk". You will use this ordering in every chapter, so notice it now: jan pona is "good person", i.e. "friend"; jan ike is "bad person".

📜 Reading — lukin

A short text using only words you know.

toki! mi jan Mali. mi pona. mi wile sona. mi sona ala. tawa pona! Hello! I am Mali. I am well. I want to know. I don't know. Go well!

True or false? (a) The speaker is called Mali. (b) The speaker is unwell. (c) The speaker knows everything. (d) The text ends with a farewell.

Show answers

(a) True: mi jan Mali. (b) False: mi pona. (c) False: mi sona ala. (d) True: tawa pona! is a farewell.

✍️ Try It Yourself — pali

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. Say hello, then say that you are called Mali.

Show answer

toki! · mi jan Mali.

2. Ask someone how they are, and answer that you are well.

Show answer

sina pona ala pona? · mi pona.

3. Which of these fit the sound rules, and which do not: kasi, tlan, jinu, mama, wuka?

Show answer

kasi and mama fit the sound rules. tlan has a consonant cluster. jinu uses ji, and wuka uses wu, both unused syllables. (Whether a possible word has a meaning is a separate question.)

4. Say "I don't know" and "I want to know".

Show answer

mi sona ala. · mi wile sona.

5. You are leaving and your friend is staying. Say "I'm going", then wish your friend well, and imagine their reply.

Show answer

mi tawa. · lon pona! (their reply to you: tawa pona!)

6. Which syllable is stressed in toki, pilin, ijo? What does jan pona mean?

Show answer

The first syllable of each: TO-ki, PI-lin, I-yo. jan pona means "friend" (literally "good person").

Coming Up in Chapter 2 First sentences in full: the pronouns mi, sina, ona, the particle li that joins other subjects to what they do, and how to say things like "the person is good" and "the house is big".