Toki Pona · 14 September 2026
A word a day week
lili
LI-li · /ˈlili/ · content word
- small
- few
- young
- a little
Tok Pisin liklik loses its final consonants but keeps its reduplicated rhythm, becoming the compact opposite of suli.
Borrowed luggage
Where it came from
Tok Pisinliklik
Toki Ponalili
Lili comes from Tok Pisin liklik, ‘small’ or ‘a little’, adapted to Toki Pona’s open syllables.
- Tok Pisin liklik
- English little (deeper source)
Tiny sentence
kili lili li lon.
fruit small PRED exist
“A small fruit is here.”
Lon can mean existing, present, at, or in. The English location word is supplied by context.
Receipts
Sources and cautions
The immediate model is Tok Pisin, even though that language’s word has an English history of its own.