The world's smallest language

The characteristics of toki pona is similar to chinese. No tense, no gender, only three pronouns. What i see is toki pona can be a very basic level of communication but you cant describe something in a precise way, or just like the language ability of a 3 yr old kid.

the vague reminds me of semitic radicals.

Een OV-chipkaart automaat spreekt een taal die bestaat uit niet meer dan 2 woorden: "biep", d.i. "hallo", en "biep biep", d.i. "tot ziens". Dit is letterlijk vertaald uit het Italiaans, resp. "ciao" en "ciao ciao".

Mu - The sound of one hand clapping, and the noise a tree makes when it falls in the woods.

Robotic.

Stumbled upon your channel just the other day and I find this video fascinating! Conlangs are amazing because they make us analyze our own languages and therefore ways of thinking. I’d never heard of Toki Pona— it’s a neat idea.

Just another fad for teens that wish they spoke Japanese!😂😂😅

This language seems like a fun language game but lacks any complexity and nuance. It also seems reliant on the speaker already knowing another language. Any speech needs any sort of technicality would be impossible.

I can’t stress enough how useless this language is. Do we have more words than we need? Probably. Toki Pona gets rid of essentials though. It’s worse than bc Hebrew. Will it work. I suppose. It will not work well though.

I see someone here didn't read the book 1984

Awesome

Don't really understand why we would want less precision in language

Toki pona Scrabble would be the world's most boring game!

Fascinating, thanks!

Jan is in czech John xd

I'm officially jan Lesolu now.

I'm sorry. I just cannot take seriously a language being advocated by a young lady with ANTLERS.

😂

The unneeded answer to the question "what do esperanto adherents move to when they feel too mainstream?"

An unuseful pretend language, like Klingon, that people waste time trying to "learn". 🙄

For me toki pona sounds like uralic paleo-european language which was spoken thousands of years ago.

in other words, lazy language.

Toki Poni is a language for cavepeople, for primitives. The great brilliance of English is its adaptability and subsequent ability to subtly and clearly relate any idea or concept. There is a reason it is the international language of diplomacy, science, business, and travel communications. And yet, like with computer programming, it allows you to start easily with something as simple as “Hello world.”

As a toki pona speaker: excellent video, probably the best on our language made from an outsider!

So very interesting, with a gorgeous smile on top!

Ambiguity in mission critical situations can be deadly.

Are you taking the piss? If not you, are THEY? Took it right out. I’ve none left of me own after seeing them speak.

My 2 years old daughter speaks Toki pona, but only in French. That is cute.
However, we are grown-ups, so I don't see the point of growing dumber.
By the way, Geologist comes from Greek "Geos" = Earth + "Logos" = word, knowledge of science + "ist" a suffix used in many European languages for professional occupations.
It's someone whose job is to know the Earth. No need for shitty toki BS to express that.

Sorry, I am really annoyed by this piece.

If you remember Orwell's novel 1984, you might remember that the goal of Newspeak is to reduce the number of words until it is no longer to express any complex thought, or any thought that might endanger the absolute dictatorship of the Party.
Congrats, you doubleplusgoodthink, comrade. Doubleplusgood ducksquack!
This moronic language would not even be fit for hunter-gatherers, so even less for a complex society such as ours.

The real life version of Newspeak?

You lost me at trying to say 299. Because if I have to spend a half hour trying not to stammer my birth date out, I'd cause an angry head boom.

Huh. Glancing through the comments... I'm very surprised no one else is mentioning 1984's language/thought control of Newspeak :/

Fascinating! I’m so impressed so that these people have developed and spread a language on their own. I dream of a non-dual language. Where the language cannot be used to judge or separate others or ourselves. I really appreciate a gender neutral language. This is definitely where languages had it. But in my mind, we will be evolving into telepathic communication at some point.

Looks like Persian language...😂 Similar Grammar

toki pona seems like a bouillon cube. You could call it a 'soup' if you add hot water to it - but it doesn't taste as good as an individual, homemade fresh soup with fresh ingredients, spices and herbs...
This is how I think about it philosophically as a chef...

Greetings from northern germany ♥️🇩🇪

She's so cute

I found it kind of ironic how jan lakuse talks in English in almost the opposite extreme from toki pona communication. Using very uncommon specific words like interlocuter.

This reminds me of the party member in 1984 who pares down the number of words in the dictionary so as to limit the range of thought and expresstion

Look at me...I have pink hair and antlers.  
A language with only 120 words suits someone who talked like this in English:
"...I've given the impression like this is only going to make sense once you talk to her in English and they explain it afterwards and I like I understand where that comes from but my intention is always like yea I'm not going to explain the concept fully but then like if you derive something different from it that's totally different from what I expected like that's now a new meaning..."

I can't help but wonder how specialists (e.g. doctors, engineers, scientists) would function with Toki Pona.
And it is a clique - maybe one that's easier to be a part of than others.

Some of it reminds me of Finnish ie no gender … hän is used for everyone.

Not surprised this was created by americans. Half expecting the entire furry community to have adopted this “language”

Sounds like a lot of the simplicities can be found in the trading languages of southe east asisa

Ms. Tumnus is not someone that can be taken seriously.

Ingsoc: “We have revolutionised communication with newspeak”
Toki Pona: “Hold my grain drink”

Fun but 100% ineffective

Toki Pona sounds a lot like Chinese.

toki a! sitelen tawa ni li pona tawa mi! toki sina li pona. sona sina li pona kin! pona tawa sina! :) - kasi Apen

say 299 in Toki Pona, but with Dio Brando's voice