Dictionary

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• a •

a

particle: yes-no question marker, interrogative particle.

a usu pe sosa tata, “Are you a mother?”

Etymology Arabic ’a, interrogative particle.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic kalan, “speech” above the phonetic anpa, “protrusion”.

aka

noun: difference, distinction, contrast, change, variance, conversion. adjective: different, distinct, other, another, altered, change. transitive verb: to change, to adjust, to amend, to modify, to alter, to convert.

Arabic ’ākhar, “other, another”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic yata, “hand” (with which one separates and distinguishes items) above the phonetic anpa, “protrusion”.

alawan

noun: color, hue. adjective: colorful, colored. transitive verb: to color, to hue.

Arabic ’alwān, “colors”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic wisa, “face” (of which there are many colors) above the phonetic anpa, “protrusion.”

ali

noun: height, tallness, altitude. adjective: high, tall. transitive verb: to heighten.

Arabic ‘ālī, ‘alī, “high”.

Pictographic representation of a hand with its index finger pointing up.

an

particle: subordinate clause marker.

ye pe la awa, an usu isi pe Susan lon, “I didn’t know that your name was Susan.”

Arabic ’an, subordinate clause marker.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic kalan, “speech” to the left of the phonetic anto, “long”.

anpa

noun: protrusion, bump, button, spike.

Arabic ’anf, “nose”.

Pictographic representation of a protrusion.

anto

noun: length, span, broadness, width, thickness. adjective: long, broad, wide, thick. transitive verb: to lengthen, to broaden, to widen, to thicken.

Spanish ancho, “wide”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic kete, “thread” above the phonetic anpa, “protrusion.”

asi

noun: sourness, acidity. adjective: sour, acidic. transitive verb: to sour, to acidify.

Spanish ácido, “acidic, sour”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic pusu, “mouth” above the phonetic anpa, “protrusion.”

ata

noun: event, arrival, occurance, coming, emergence, advent. adjective: coming, occurring, arising, emerging, future. transitive verb: to cause, to trigger, to induce. intransitive verb: to come, to arrive, to become, to arise, to emerge.

Arabic ’atā, “he came”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic lawa, “move” above the phonetic anpa, “protrusion.”

atolo

noun: embarrassment, shame, humiliation, guilt, stigma, disgrace. adjective: embarrassing, shameful, humiliating, stigmatizing, disgraceful. transitive verb: to embarrass, to shame, to humiliate, to guilt, to stigmatize, to disgrace.

Spanish acholo, “shame”.

Pictographic representation of isolation, with a pusu, “mouth” (here representing things) being separated from two other pusu by a barrier. Borrowed from sitelen pona.

• e •

e

particle: addressee marker, vocative particle.

Mimi lon e, ye pe tan hata, “I’m here, Mimi.” Atola lon e, tu mete olo, “Be like him, Abdullah.”

French hé, “hey”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic kalan, “speech” above the phonetic eten, “ear”.

ekala

noun: choice, decision, election, selection. adjective: decisive, elective, selective. transitive verb: to choose, to decide, to elect, to select.

Arabic ’ikhtāra, “he chose”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic yata, “hand” above the phonetic eten, “ear”.

emuse

noun: dullness, smoothness. adjective: dull, smooth. transitive verb: to dullen, to smoothen.

French émoussé, “dull, dulled”.

Phono-semantic compound of the semantic wala, “water” above the phonetic eten, “ear”.

en

noun: whole, unity, combination, union, solitude, individual. adjective: one, singular, whole, united, combined, mixed, blended, alone, certain, particular, only, sole. transitive verb: ro unify, to combine, to blend, to mix.

French un, “one”.

Ideographic representation of a pusu, “mouth”, encapsulating a single diagonal stroke.

epi

noun: adornment, spice, extra, embellishment. adjective: extra, additional, superfluous. transitive verb: to make superfluous.

French épice, “spice”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic pusu, “mouth” above the phonetic eten, “ear”.

eten

noun: ear, hearing, obedience, obiessance, heed, attention. adjective: auditory, auricular. transitive verb: to hear, to listen to to, to heed, to take heed of, to obey, to pay obiessance to, to pay attention to.

Arabic ’idhn, “ear, permission”.

Pictographic representation of the right ear.

• h •

hamama

noun: bird, flying animal, flying thing. adjective: avian, flying. transitive verb: to avianize, to birdify.

Arabic ḥamāmah, “dove, pidgeon”.

Pictographic representation of a passerine bird.

hasa

noun: stone, something hard or durable. adjective: hard, durable, stone, stiff, rigid. transitive verb: to harden, to stiffen.

Arabic ḥajar, “hey”.

Pictographic representation of a bottom-heavy stone.

hata

noun: this, this one, this thing. adjective: this, this here.

Arabic hādhā, “this”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic yata, “hand”, to the left of the phonetic hamama, “bird”.

hese

noun: feeling, emotion, sensation, sense. adjective: sensory. transitive verb: to choose, to decide, to elect, to select.

Arabic ḥiss, “feeling”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic pilin, “center” above the phonetic hewan, “animal”.

hewan

noun: feeling, emotion, sensation, sense. adjective: sensory. transitive verb: to choose, to decide, to elect, to select.

Arabic ḥiss, “feeling”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic pilin, “center” above the phonetic hewan, “animal”.

hisi

noun: group, party, collection, community. adjective: communal, collective. transitive verb: to group, to collect, to gather. intransitive verb: to meet, to convene, to commune.

Arabic ḥizb, “party”.

Pictographic representation of three pusu (here representing things) in a group. Borrowed from sitelen pona.

hopo

noun: love, affection, tenderness, care, respect, reverence, veneration. adjective: amatory. transitive verb: to love, to be affectionate with, to be tender with, to respect, to revere, to venerate.

Arabic ḥubb, “love”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic pilin, “center”, above the phonetic holu, “writing”.

husu

noun: peace, calm, still, tranquility, serenity. adjective: peaceful, calm, still, tranquil, serene. transitive verb: to pacify, to calm, to tranquilize.

Turkish huzur, “party”.

Ideographic representation of titi, “small”, under meson, “structure”, representing a child in the safety of a home.

• i •

isi

noun: name, title, word, epiphet, appelation. adjective: nominal.

Arabic ism, “name”.

Phono-semantic compound of the semantic kalan, “speech”, above the phonetic iwi.

iwi

noun: strangeness, oddity. adjective: strange, odd, weird, unusual, silly.

rench ivre, “drunken”.

Ideographic compound of lekele, “head”, to the left of sali, “bad”, indicating a compromised mind, such as from neurosis, psychosis or intoxication.

• k •

kahe

noun: absence, distance, lack. adjective: absent, gone, far, distant. transitive verb: to distance, to remove, to disappear.

Arabic ghā’ib, “powerful”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic papa, “opening”. encapsulating the phonetic kapi, “large”.

kalan

noun: speech, talk, language, communication. adjective: spoken, oral, linguistic. transitive verb: to say, to tell, to speak, to communicate.

Arabic kalām, “speech”.

Ideographic representation of a mouth with emitters above it. Borrowed from sitelen pona.

kalila

noun: ruin, destruction. adjective: broken, damaged, ruined. transitive verb: to ruin, to destroy, to crash, to smash, to break. intransitive verb: to misbehave.

Black Vernacular English cut it up, “misbehave, do well”.

Pictographic representation of a cracked pusu, “mouth” (here representing a thing).

kan

noun: scarcity, paucity, rarity. adjective: scarce, rare, few. adverb: little. transitive verb: to dwindle.

Farsi kam, “few”.

Ideographic compound of titi, “small”, above nulo, “number”.

kansa

noun: the number five. adjective: five.

Arabic khamsah, “five”.

Ideographic representation of a pusu encapsulating two horizontal strokes with a diagonal stroke above them.

kapa

noun: back, behind, rear, buttocks, the time after. adjective: rear, following, subsequent, next.

Arabic khalfa, “behind”.

Phono-semantic compound of the semantic sisimi, “body” above the phonetic kapi, “big” .

kapi

noun: largeness, grandness, grandeur, majesty, importance. adjective: big, large, grand, majestic, important, augmented, aggrandized, fat. transitive verb: to enlarge, to augment, to aggrandize, to fatten.

Arabic kabīr, “large”.

Pictographic representation of a person stretching their arms out wide.

kasa

noun: back, behind, rear, buttocks, the time after. adjective: rear, following, subsequent, next.

Arabic khalfa, “behind”.

Phono-semantic compound of the semantic sisimi, “body” above the phonetic kapi, “big”.

kasi

noun: shortness, thinness. adjective: short, thin, skinny. transitive verb: to shorten, to thinnen.

Arabic qaṣīr, “short”.

Pictographic representation of a person with their arms to their sides.

katen

noun: circle, ring, disk, cycle, area around, environ, vicinity. adjective: circular, round, cyclical. transitive verb: to rounden. intransitive verb: to surround.

Arabic khātim, “ring”.

Pictographic representation of a pusu, “mouth”, within a pusu to illustrate a ring.

kati

noun: abundance, plenty. adjective: many, abundant, plenty. adverb: much. transitive verb: to proliferate.

Arabic kathīr, “many”.

Ideographic compound of kapi, “big”, above nulo, “number”.

katimi

noun: oldness, antiquity. adjective: old, ancient, antique, vintage, aged. transitive verb: to age.

Arabic qadīm, “aging”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic lon, “person”, to the left of the phonetic kapi, “large”.

kato

noun: the number four. adjective: four.

Spanish cuatro, “fourty”.

Ideographic representation of a pusu encapsulating two horizontal strokes.

katu

noun: eating, nourishment, good. transitive verb: to eat.

Arabic ghadhw, “feeding”.

Ideographic compound of yata, “hand”, within pusu, “mouth”, illustrating someone feeding themself.

kawi

noun: power, strength, force, energy, electricity, potency. adjective: powerful, strong, forceful, energetic, electric, potent. transitive verb: to empower, to strengthen.

Arabic qawī, “powerful”.

Pictographic representation of a person holding up something.

kayo

noun: clot, curd, paste, powder, clinging mass, clump, powder. transitive verb: to cause to clot or curdle or otherwise become a clinging mass.

French caillot, “clot, curd”.

Ideographic representation of wala “water” to the left of sama, “air”, illustrating that kayo may be wet or dry.

ke

particle: introduces a comparison.

hata towa wata pe ma pon ke wisa towa wata, “Today was better than yesterday.”

French que, “than”; Spanish que, “than”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic kalan, “speech”, above the phonetic kete, “thread”.

kelen

noun: individual grain, seed, egg, gamete.

French grain, “grain”.

Phono-semantic compound of the semantic titi, “small”, above the phonetic kete, “thread”.

keme

noun: the color red. adjective: red, ruddy, crimson, vermillion, maroon, burgundy, pink, magenta. transitive verb: to redden.

Farsi qermez, “red”.

Ideographic compound of nasa, “eye”, to the left of pilan, “heat”

kete

noun: line, thread, string, cord, rope, something long and flexible. adjective: long and flexible.

Arabic khayṭ, “thread”.

Pictographic representation of a person with long hair.

kipin

noun: possession, ownership, grasp, grip, hold. transitive verb: to possess, to own, to grasp, to grip, to hold, to have, to carry.

English keeping.

Pictographic representation of yata, “hand”, holding pusu, “mouth” (here representing a thing).

kitala

noun: glass, crystal. adjective: glass, crystalline, translucent, transparent.

French cristal, “crystal”.

Ideographic representation of towa, “light”, within a container.

kole

noun: fairness, justice, flatness, evenness. adjective: fair, just, flat, even. transitive verb: to justify, to flatten, to even out.

French correct, “correct”.

Pictographic representation of a tall, flat platform.

kolo

noun: everything, totality, completion. adjective: all, every, each.

Arabic kull, “every”.

Ideographic representation of pusu, “mouth”, encapsulating hisi, “group”, both representing items with one surrounding the totality of the others.

koman

noun: start, beginning, opening up. adjective: starting, initial, opening. transitive verb: to to justify, to flatten, to even out.

French commence/es/ent, “begins”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic papa, “opening” encapsulating the phonetic kole, “flat”.

kon

noun: accompaniment, attendance. adjective: accompanying. preposition: with, in the company or, possessing, in association with.

Mandarin gēn, “with”, Spanish con, “with”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic kalan, “speech” above the phonetic kole, “flat”.

kopo

noun: fear, dread, terror, horror, threat, source of fear. adjective: dreadful, scary, threatening. transitive verb: to scare, to frighten, to terrorize, to threaten.

Arabic khawf, “fear”.

Phonosemantic compound of the semantic pilin, “center”, above the phonetic kole, “flat”.

kute

noun: meter, foot, measurement. adjective: metric (related to measurement in general). transitive verb: to measure.

French coudée, “cubit”.

Ideohgraphic representation of yata, “hand”, under setale, “star”, representing a hand recording the passing of time by measuring the stars.

• l •

• m •

• n •

• o •

• p •

• s •

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