Appendix:Toki Pona/kiki

Toki Pona

Glyph origin

sitelen pona
sitelen sitelen	File:Kiki - sitelen sitelen word symbol drawn by Jonathan Gabel.jpg

The main glyph represents a pointy shape derived from the image used on the bouba/kiki effect study. The alternative is derived analogously with the words sike and leko.

Etymology

From the nonce word kiki, from the 2001 study which coined the bouba/kiki effect conducted by V. S. Ramachandran and Edward Hubbard.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkiki/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

kiki

1. sharp or pointy
   • 2022 October 6, kulupu lintukamakaki, “kasi kiki”, in mun monsuta‎^[1], archived from the original on 2022-10-07, page 30:

     kasi kiki mute li lon poka nasin ale lon ma kasi.

     There are many thorny bushes next to the paths in the forest.

Noun

kiki

1. that which is sharp or pointy; for example, a spike, angle, point

Verb

kiki

1. (intransitive, transitive) to be or make sharp or pointy
   • 2021 August 2, kili Melon, “ma li tawa la jan o seme”, in lipu tenpo‎^[2], number 6, →ISSN, page 7:

     o weka tan kiwen pi kule ala. ona li pakala la ona li kiki li ken pakala e sina.

     Stay away from glass. If it breaks, it is sharp and can hurt you.

Usage notes

• According to Linku, this word is classified as "uncommon", being used by 29% of respondents in a poll from August 2023.