English Translation
Will it clear up this afternoon?
sinpin - This word means "front" or "face."
pi - A grammatical particle used to group words together that describe a single noun.
tenpo - This word means "time" or "moment."
pimeja - This word means "dark" or "black."
ni - This word means "this."
la - A grammatical particle that introduces a condition. The phrase before "la" sets the context for the phrase that comes after it.
suno - This word means "sun" or "light."
li - A grammatical particle that separates the subject from the predicate (verb and its object).
lon - This word means "to be" or "to exist."
anu - This word means "or."
seme - This word is used to ask questions related to "what," "which," or "how."
Now, let’s put it all together.
"sinpin pi tenpo pimeja ni" translates to "the front of this dark time" or "the face of this night."
"sinpin" (front/face)
"pi" (of)
"tenpo pimeja" (dark time/night)
"ni" (this)
"la" indicates that the condition or context ("in the face of this dark time") is setting up the question.
"suno li lon" translates to "the sun exists" or "there is light."
"suno" (sun/light)
"li" (separating subject and predicate)
"lon" (to be/exist)
"anu seme" translates to "or what?"
"anu" (or)
"seme" (what/which/how)
Putting it all together, the sentence “sinpin pi tenpo pimeja ni la suno li lon anu seme?” translates to “In the face of this dark time, is there light or what?” or more naturally, “Is there light in this darkness, or what?”
This sentence asks whether there is light (or the sun) during a dark time (night). The structure follows Toki Pona’s minimalist and context-dependent grammatical rules, using particles like “pi” to group descriptive words, and “la” to set the context for conditions or circumstances.