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These last two weeks I've been learning toki pona. It's a constructed language intended to be minimalist and subsequently easy to learn, with a vocabulary of 140-ish words, limited phenomes, and simple and consistent pronunciation and construction. (This Langfocus video is a nice introduction.) The language is highly contextual and referential. ( For example... )
thus the limited vocabulary with interconnected/connotative meanings means that a lot is conveyed through context. toki pona is inspired by Taoist philosophy and intended to promote simple, positive thinking; not gonna lie, I picked it up because someone in a discord server mentioned that Sonja Lang/jan Sonja created toki pona as a coping mechanism when dealing with depression. Because, like, mood.
I love autumn a lot, I'm grateful that my dad died in autumn because it's the right time to process death each year—and because the season offers joy and distractions when the processing is too difficult. But the processing-death hit early and hard this year, probably because of my cousin's passing & recent memorial. So I need all the mindfulness or distraction I can muster, and this is both.
And it works! mostly in the sense of "actively learning a thing which is relatively simple and shows swift, obvious improvement engages my brain & makes me feel like I'm achieving something, as only a Not Sad Person™ could do," but also because it's at least not harmful to focus on simplifying and contextualizing language; to enter that focused-but-flow state of teasing out the connotative/contextual meaning of a word while still being willing to skim a confusing sentence because, it's fine, I'm still learning.
Also toki pona is intended to be and does sound cute. I feel bad = mi pilin ike. With the excuse of language practice I've been narrating a lot of stream of consciousness, mi pilin ike tan ni: mama meli mi li moli. tenpo pini la insa ona li pakala. Things which are hard to talk about, so big and yet so small, rendered into lilting almost-babytalk sentences where they are so big and small, simple little words but everything is context. Talking to my cats, mi pilin pona tan ni: sina pona tawa mi—just as cute, simple, silly, little/big, contextual.
I'm really enjoying it.
⁂
Anyway here's how I've been learning toki pona, recorded because troubleshooting the how of learning has been almost as rewarding the thing itself, and in case anyone reads this and goes, woah, sign me up for whatever this is!
( Read more. )
Ideally "talk to other actual people in the language" should be my next priority, but I'm doing this to cope with mental health issues, not to create them, so I give myself time and grace. taso sina toki ala toki e toki pona? mi wile toki e sina a! If you speak toki pona, hit me up. If you want to learn, I encourage it.
thus the limited vocabulary with interconnected/connotative meanings means that a lot is conveyed through context. toki pona is inspired by Taoist philosophy and intended to promote simple, positive thinking; not gonna lie, I picked it up because someone in a discord server mentioned that Sonja Lang/jan Sonja created toki pona as a coping mechanism when dealing with depression. Because, like, mood.
I love autumn a lot, I'm grateful that my dad died in autumn because it's the right time to process death each year—and because the season offers joy and distractions when the processing is too difficult. But the processing-death hit early and hard this year, probably because of my cousin's passing & recent memorial. So I need all the mindfulness or distraction I can muster, and this is both.
And it works! mostly in the sense of "actively learning a thing which is relatively simple and shows swift, obvious improvement engages my brain & makes me feel like I'm achieving something, as only a Not Sad Person™ could do," but also because it's at least not harmful to focus on simplifying and contextualizing language; to enter that focused-but-flow state of teasing out the connotative/contextual meaning of a word while still being willing to skim a confusing sentence because, it's fine, I'm still learning.
Also toki pona is intended to be and does sound cute. I feel bad = mi pilin ike. With the excuse of language practice I've been narrating a lot of stream of consciousness, mi pilin ike tan ni: mama meli mi li moli. tenpo pini la insa ona li pakala. Things which are hard to talk about, so big and yet so small, rendered into lilting almost-babytalk sentences where they are so big and small, simple little words but everything is context. Talking to my cats, mi pilin pona tan ni: sina pona tawa mi—just as cute, simple, silly, little/big, contextual.
I'm really enjoying it.
⁂
Anyway here's how I've been learning toki pona, recorded because troubleshooting the how of learning has been almost as rewarding the thing itself, and in case anyone reads this and goes, woah, sign me up for whatever this is!
( Read more. )
Ideally "talk to other actual people in the language" should be my next priority, but I'm doing this to cope with mental health issues, not to create them, so I give myself time and grace. taso sina toki ala toki e toki pona? mi wile toki e sina a! If you speak toki pona, hit me up. If you want to learn, I encourage it.
