This is an interactive learnalong of sitelen telo. We assume prior familiarity with toki pona.
I read through the above pdf but struggled to learn just by looking, so I made this interactive page.
sina li sona e toki pona li pali e lipu ni la sina li kama sona e sitelen telo.
lipu sona pi sitelen telo li lon, taso mi ken ala kama sona kepeken ona.
mi la sona li kama tan kepeken. ni la sina o kepeken sitelen telo lon lipu ni.
this page is structured in sections,
first you will learn what words look like then you will be asked to retype a stream of characters.
try to enunciate what you read as/before you type it
keep attempting the section until you can do it with ease :3
sijelo lipu li ni:
mi pana e sona pi sitelen nimi kepeken leko sona
mi sitelen e nimi pi sona sin kepeken sitelen telo. sina o kalama e nimi o sitelen e ona lon anpa.
sina sona pona e nimi la o tawa anpa tawa poki nimi sin
press the settings icon to modify how this page is displayed
change the copy format to practice recalling symbol & writing on paper rather than recalling sound
kepeken nasin ni la sina ken lukin sona e nimi pi sitelen telo
sina alasa sona pi sitelen nimi la o ante e sitelen utala
sina ken ante e ni e lukin lipu kepeken ilo poki
sitelen telo has an 'abugida-type syllabary', a way of writing individual syllables.
each character is composed of a consonant and a vowel, as listed in the table below.
there's also a special coda/final N character. (& all linja sin is typed in upper case)
familiarise yourself with this system through practice as we will use it to name every word.
sitelen telo li jo e nasin pi kalama sitelen. nasin ni li linja sin.
sitelen pi linja sin li jo e kipisi tu ni: sitelen pi kalama kon en sitelen pi kalama kiwen.
sitelen kipisi li lon lipu anpa. o kama sona e nasin pi linja sin. mi sitelen e nimi kepeken ni.
A | E | I | O | U | J | K | L | M | NN | P | S | T | W | N |
A | E | I | O | U | J | K | L | M | N | P | S | T | W | -N |
Try transcribing/copying the following:
o sitelen sama e ni:
Let's start by learning the grammatical words/particles, as this will soon allow us to construct sentences.
also because we're following the introductory pdf and these are what's first :p
nanpa wan la o kama sona e nimi toki pi ijo lon ala
li | la | e | a | kin | ala |
li | la | e | a | kin | ala |
Transcribe the following:
o sitelen sama e ni:
Now lets learn some words to do with people! ^-^
sina pona mute a. o kama sona e nimi jan
jan | mi | sina | ona |
jan | mi | sina | ona |
now lets learn some others
o kama sona e nimi ante sama sitelen jan
unpa | musi | majuna | pata | apeja |
unpa | musi | majuna | pata | apeja |
putting them together
utala musi ni li jo e nimi tan utala musi sewi tu
you should now be able to read these sentences:
sina ken sona e toki ni:
ijo | sike | pi | sinpin | monsi | weka | kipisi |
ijo | sike | pi | sinpin | monsi | weka | kipisi |
combining every word we've learnt so far...
nimi ale sona li lon utala musi anpa
words for body parts
these characters are abstract representations of the actual parts
nimi pi ijo sijelo. sitelen ni li lukin sama ijo lon li pona
uta | luka | pilin | oko | kute | noka |
uta | luka | pilin | oko | kute | noka |
adding two lines typically turns the word into an action (eg. mouth -> talk)
sitelen nimi en linja tu li nimi pali sama. sitelen pi nimi uta en linja tu li sitelen pi nimi toki
toki | pana | olin | lukin | kalama | moku | namako |
toki | pana | olin | lukin | kalama | moku | namako |
combined with the previous section,,
nimi ni en nimi pi ijo sijelo li lon utala musi anpa
these characters are based on luka luka
sitelen ni li tan sitelen luka luka
jo | utala | pali | ilo | kepeken |
jo | utala | pali | ilo | kepeken |
you should now be able to read these sentences:
sina ken sona e toki ni:
the 'container' words are based off of uta with a lid
nimi poki li tan sitelen poki. sitelen ni li supa lon uta
poki | insa | poka | lupa | open |
poki | insa | poka | lupa | open |
pona | tonsi | ike | jaki |
pona | tonsi | ike | jaki |
toki pona a
kama | awen | tawa |
kama | awen | tawa |
Let's test all the words sourced from body parts
utala musi anpa li jo e nimi ale tan sitelen pi ijo sijelo
Well done! You've learnt 51 words!
You're doing great!
sina li sona e nimi mute mute luka luka wan
pona a. olin tawa sina
here are the words based on sijelo
nimi ni li tan sitelen sijelo sijelo
sijelo | supa | suli | lili | kule |
sijelo | supa | suli | lili | kule |
nasin | ken | tan | anu | taso |
nasin | ken | tan | anu | taso |
you should now be able to read these sentences:
sina ken sona e toki ni:
sin | pini | tenpo |
sin | pini | tenpo |
kiwen | ko |
kiwen | ko |
collating the previous few
utala musi anpa ni li jo e sitelen mute ??
the first of the traditional element types, water is represented as telo. Which can combine with these previously shown words
nimi ni li sama sitelen telo telo li tan sitelen anpa ni pi sona pini
ijo | uta | ike | jan | |
ijo | uta | ike | jan |
telo | kala | suwi | powe | meli |
telo | kala | suwi | powe | meli |
fire is represented as seli
nimi ni li tan sitelen seli telo
seli | suno | mije |
seli | suno | mije |
air is represented as kon
nimi ni li tan sitelen kon kon
kon | waso | nasa | seme | lete |
kon | waso | nasa | seme | lete |
and earth is represented as ma
nimi ni li tan sitelen ma ma
ma | nena | lon | anpa | mun | moli |
ma | nena | lon | anpa | mun | moli |
combining each element in the next test:
tan sitelen pi utala musi anpa ni li telo li seli li kon li ma
linja | len | lape | sama | ante | en |
linja | len | lape | sama | ante | en |
these words metaphorically and visually 'shelter' other characters
nimi ni li len tomo e nimi ante pi sona pini
ijo | pilin | sama | jan |
ijo | pilin | sama | jan |
selo | tomo | esun | mama |
selo | tomo | esun | mama |
these words metaphorically and visually 'shelter' other characters
nimi ni li len tomo e nimi ante pi sona pini
lawa | sona | nimi | wile |
lawa | sona | nimi | wile |
sina ken sona e toki ni:
lipu | sitelen | pu |
lipu | sitelen | pu |
sina sona suli e sitelen telo
soweli | akesi | mu |
soweli | akesi | mu |
pipi | pakala | monsuta |
pipi | pakala | monsuta |
kasi | kili | pan |
kasi | kili | pan |
o | alasa | pake | ni |
o | alasa | pake | ni |
o pona tawa sina
o kama sona e sitelen pi nimi kule
sitelen ni li tan sitelen oko en sitelen ante lon anpa
seli | ala | kon | ma | telo |
seli | ala | kon | ma | telo |
loje | pimeja | walo | jelo | laso |
loje | pimeja | walo | jelo | laso |
palisa | sewi | nanpa | mani | leko |
palisa | sewi | nanpa | mani | leko |
sitelen pi nimi nanpa li seme
ni li kulupu pini pi sitelen lon
wan | tu | mute | ali | kulupu |
wan | tu | mute | ali | kulupu |
ni li sitelen musi
these are the joke words
ni li sitelen musi
kijetesantakalu | sutopatikuna | epiku | itomi | pa |
kijetesantakalu | sutopat ikuna | epiku/sikomo/kulijo | itomi | pa/okepuma |
ni li sitelen wan tan nimi mute
these characters are shorthand combinations of multiple glyphs
ni li sitelen wan tan nimi mute
aaa | tokipona | tuwan | tutu | eni | tawami |
aaa | tokipona | tuwan | tutu | eni | tawami |