Ali Çağan Kaya

toki pona (never capitalized) is a constructed language created by linguist and translator Sonja Lang, officially established in 2014 with the publishing of the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good. It is a constructed language designed in a very minimalistic manner, having only 120 to 137 words and a very simple grammar. Yet, it has many speakers who use it on a daily basis. Hockett’s Design Features are a set of features that define human language and set it apart from marginally less developed communication systems like animal communication. In this article we will be having a look at how many of the Hockett’s Design Features does toki pona fulfill.

tok: toki! mi li jan Çağan. tenpo ni la mi mute li kama sona e ni: toki pona li toki pona ala?"

gloss: hello! I am person Çağan. time this [FOC] we many [FOC] come learn O this: toki pona [FOC] language good not?

en: Hello! I am Çağan. Today, we will decide if toki pona is a real language or not.

P.S. The writing with the logograms on the featured image of this post literally translates to: “Is toki pona (language good) language?”. At least I hope it does! I’m quite new to this as well.

What is toki pona?

toki pona is a constructed language rooted in minimalism; its philosophy suggests that simplifying your thoughts and behaviors can lead to a happier life, and simplifying language is a significant aspect of this endeavor. It has a very limited lexicon consisting of 120 to 137 lexemes that can combine in various ways to express different ideas. Similarly, its grammar is straightforward, devoid of grammatical gender, tense, or conjugations. Within constructed languages, it is a philosophical and artistic one, distinct from international auxiliary languages like Esperanto or Ido, as it was not primarily intended for daily communication but rather to serve as a proof-of-concept.

At first glance, using a language like toki pona in everyday life might seem impossible, especially for English speakers. However, there exists a thriving community of speakers from diverse backgrounds worldwide, and even a journal called lipu tenpo!

Nevertheless, many features that seem essential for an English speaker may not be found in many world languages. For instance, languages like Mandarin or Bahasa Indonesia often lack conjugations, while others, like Swahili, have minimal to no tense distinctions and depend heavily on context.

An Example: Tenses in English and Swahili

eg. In Swahili, the verb “anakula” (eats) remains the same regardless of the tense. The tense is indicated by other elements in the sentence, such as time markers like “kila siku” (every day).

English: “She eats rice every day.”

Swahili: “Anakula wali kila siku.”

Hockett’s Design Features

Hockett’s Design Features, proposed by Charles F. Hockett, is a framework for analyzing and understanding the characteristics of human language. These features are considered essential components that distinguish human language from other forms of communication. According to Hockett, there are some commonalities in all human languages and though some kinds of animal communication systems carry some of those features, they cannot be classified as a human language unless all are present.

toki pona and Hockett’s Design Features

Let’s explore how toki pona aligns with these design features:

Feature	Explanation	toki pona	Present?
Arbitrariness	Human language relies on arbitrary relationships between linguistic signs (words) and their meanings.	In toki pona, this feature is evident as words lack direct correlations to specific concepts just like in any language.	Fully
Discreteness	Discreteness refers to the discrete units of sound and meaning in human language.	toki pona exhibits discreteness through its lexicon of approximately 120 to 137 unbound morphemes, each representing a distinct concept or meaning. Most lexical categories are closed.	Fully
Displacement	Displacement refers to the ability of human language to discuss abstract and distant topics.	While toki pona may seem limited due to its minimalist lexicon, speakers can still express abstract ideas by combining words creatively or relying on context.	Fully
Productivity	Productivity refers to the capacity of human language to generate infinite new utterances using finite linguistic resources.	Despite its limited lexicon, toki pona demonstrates productivity through its flexible grammar, allowing speakers to create novel phrases and express diverse ideas.	Fully
Duality of patterning	Duality of patterning refers to the hierarchical structure of human language, where meaningful units (morphemes) are combined to form larger units (words and sentences).	toki pona shows duality of patterning through its simple grammar rules, which allow for the combination of lexemes to form meaningful utterances.	Fully
Reflexiveness	Reflexiveness refers to the ability of language to refer to itself.	While toki pona may not have explicit linguistic mechanisms for self-reference, speakers can still discuss language-related topics within the constraints of its lexicon and grammar.	Partially
Learnability	Learnability refers to the ease with which individuals can acquire and use a language.	toki pona is designed to be relatively easy to learn due to its minimalist lexicon and straightforward grammar, making it accessible to speakers from diverse linguistic backgrounds.	Fully
Cultural transmission	Cultural transmission refers to the passing down of language from one generation to the next.	While toki pona may not have a long history of cultural transmission compared to natural languages, its growing community of speakers and resources like the journal lipu tenpo, YouTube channels and an active community indicate ongoing efforts to preserve and disseminate the language.	Fully

Overall, while toki pona may not fully align with all aspects of Hockett’s Design Features due to its minimalistic nature, it nonetheless exhibits many fundamental characteristics of human language, making it a fascinating subject for linguistic analysis.

Final Thoughts

As a linguist I feel like I’m in a sandbox while pondering about conlangs. There are limitless possibilities and toki pona is perhaps one of the best examples of simplifying human communication to a minimal degree while still being able to make up for all the features of natural human languages. I honestly find it crazy how you can theoretically talk about anything using such a small vocabulary and such simple grammar.

When we define human communication, we often use terms like ‘simple’ and ‘basic’, however, ‘basic’ doesn’t always necessarily mean ‘primitive’ or ‘inadequate’. toki pona is a simple yet powerful constructed language that should be studied more extensively linguistically.

This is merely a personal opinion, but I firmly believe that descriptive studies in linguistics are necessary, however, ‘creative‘ studies like playing around with conlangs are also very important and honestly, a whole lot of fun.