tenpi

categorised toki pona cheat sheet

i made a single-sheet toki pona dictionary with the words grouped by themes!

this is a learning tool to help associating terms and concepts in categories for easier memorisation, and as a quick reference to find words fast!

image

download version 24.0.0 - 25 September 2024

(PDF document, A4 landscape) (based on 2024 linku survey results)

disclaimer. some choices in the categorisation here are arbitrary and opinionated. it just makes sense to me this way. almost all Toki Pona words have uses which could place them in multiple categories.

features

  • all the 132 Toki Pona words you need (core and common)
  • short and sweet rewritten definitions
  • sitelen pona glyphs, including alternates!
  • it's colourful so it's pleasant to look at!
  • and it all fits neatly on one sheet of paper!

why?

i think this is a pretty good way to help memorise your words when used alongside things such as (digital) flashcards.

not only do you get the visual help by use of the symbol script (sitelen pona, which means "good drawings"), but by putting the words in certain categories, you are making use of the associative capabilities of your brain!

think about it! pokémon's first generation has about as many pokémon as there are toki pona words. you don't just remember their names but also what they look like and what typings they are! you can use this as a learning technique!

this is not only a funny thought, but it is a common theme in psychology! chunking is basically the practice of grouping together smaller pieces of information or splitting up a big piece of information so you can remember it and form it into a bigger cohesive whole later. this is also related to "Miller's law" (not to be confused with other "Miller's laws") what states that the maximum amount of objects you can store in short-term memory is 7 plus-minus 2 (though, later research has really kinda proven the fact that there's no one magic number).

i hope, i truly hope, that this cheat sheet helps you on your beginning toki pona journey, if you're just starting out. get involved in the community by just casually chatting with us! find stuff to read or listen to toki pona music! you can do it! this language is so much fun to learn and puts your creative thinking to work, even if you think you're not good at learning or at languages. (i would know, i failed my french and german classes! i'm awful at learning languages, but i'm having fun with toki pona!)

previous versions

based on 2024 linku survey results
  • version 24.0.0 - 25 September 2024
    thanks for scrolling down here, have some secret freebies:
    14 minor changes
    • su su remains on the cheat sheet not only due to laziness reasons, but also because i feel it's proper to acknowledge the works of the creator of the language, especially in a learners' resource
    • several reorderings of definitions
      • reordered due to etymology not being in front or semantic prevalence
        • nena nena lists "nose" first and "button" last (Finnish)
        • pan pan lists "bread" first (Romance/Japanese/Portuguese)
        • monsuta monsuta lists "monster" first (Japanese)
        • poka poka lists "side" first (Serbo-Croatian)
        • monsi monsi lists "behind" first (Acadian French)
      • reordered due to semantic prevalence or logical ordering
        • mama mama lists "caretaker" next to "parent"
        • lupa lupa lists "window" next to "door"
        • wawa wawa lists "amazing" first
    • added to definition
      • meli meli now includes "feminine"
      • mije mije now includes "masculine"
      • lipu lipu now includes "document"
    • changes to definition for clarification or wider semantic space
      • telo telo doesn't include "oil, ink" and now includes "to wash, to clean"
      • ko ko doesn't include "semi-solid" and now includes "something pliable; sand"
      • a a is now described as an "interjection" instead of "marker"
    • mun mun now lists ⛤ as an alternate glyph. albeit untested in surveys, i think it's worth trying. i can always reverse course later.
based on 2023 linku survey results
  • version 23.0.0 - 1 May 2024
    many changes
    • completely rehauled definitions, mostly due to missed meanings last version
    • adds words misikeke misikeke (necessities) and n n (evoke) based on new survey results and widening of the usage windows for the common word category
    • adds su su (activity) based on the new book release!
    • ilo ilo was moved from necessities to things (this was probably just a mistake, last version)
    • suwi suwi, jaki jaki, and nasa nasa have been moved from ideas to descriptions
    • minor order changes so similarly shaped or opposites are grouped together
    • moved categories around the page mostly for aesthetic reasons. they now don't break between columns too!
    • all categories have their own colour now
    • the cheat sheet is now built with Penpot, which is a new cool open source design tool, which i am really happy with
    • starting this version, the cheat sheet is marked as dedicated to the public domain, using the CC0 license
based on 2022 linku survey results

note. maybe soon i should also make a portrait version or also alternative paper sizes (i'm looking at you, ma Mewika...)

contribute

feel free to reach out to me and discuss changes.

forking/remixing/redistributing/adapting this project is explicitly allowed by anyone without asking permission and without the need to give credit to me (starting at v23.0.0), as it is licensed CC0, dedicated to the public domain.

download source files (v24.0.0)
older source files

credits

liked this project? consider donating!

donate!

donation info

payments are processed by bunq, my bank, and are directly deposited to my bank account. you can use:

  • credit or debit (all Visa and Mastercard, i receive 97.5% of your donation)
  • iDeal (NL, 100%)
  • Bancontact (BE, 100%, donation must be above €5)

please only consider donating if you can spare the money. if you're a student or could really use the money for basic needs like food or rent, you really don't have to. (i especially discourage using Sofort/Klarna, please only spend money you have, responsibly.)

sharing this site by posting it on your socials, or sharing it with new Toki Pona learners is absolutely the best thing you could do!

categorised toki pona cheat sheet by tonsi tenpi (daph) is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal