English Translation
Spiders prey on flies and other small insects.
This sentence in Toki Pona can be literally translated as “Alankin hunts the bug Musa and another small bug.” Here is a breakdown of the sentence:
- “pipi Alankin”: This means “Alankin bug” - but in context of this sentence where Alankin is likely a name, it is more appropriate to interpret it as “Alankin’s bug”.
- “li”: This is a separator used in Toki Pona. It separates the subject of the sentence from the predicate (what the subject does).
- “alasa e”: “Alasa” means to hunt, forage, or gather, and “e” marks the next word as the direct object of the action.
- “pipi Musa”: This translates as “bug Musa” - similar to “pipi Alankin”, it can be read as “Musa bug” or “Musa’s bug”.
- “e”: This word is used again to introduce another object of the action.
- “pipi lili ante”: “Pipi lili” translates to “small bug”, and “ante” mean “other” or “different”, so “pipi lili ante” can be translated as “another small bug”.
Together, this sentence could narrate that Alankin is hunting two bugs - one named Musa and another one, which is small.