The Road to Unicode kulupu li wile pana e sitelen+pona tawa nasin [jan] kulupu li wile pana e sitelen pona tawa nasin Juniko

Toki Pona experienced a boost in popularity as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and resources for Sitelen Pona grew exponentially. Prior to 2020, there were only a few Sitelen Pona fonts in use; in the period since, a large amount of Sitelen Pona fonts have been released. As early as 2021, the need for community-wide coordination of encoding was apparent.

Following the successful coordination of a proposal for Toki Pona's ISO-639-3 code, discussions regarding the feasibility of Sitelen Pona in Unicode began to percolate. As a provisional measure, Toki Pona speakers submitted a proposal to the Under-ConScript Unicode Registry (UCSUR). A few iterations later, that encoding came to see unanimous adoption by major Sitelen Pona fonts.

With UCSUR, tech-savvy members of the Toki Pona community are able to modify their messaging clients and fully chat in online spaces using Sitelen Pona. However, for members who are not so technically-oriented, the provisational and hacky measures required to use UCSUR in various platforms are rather inaccessible. As Sitelen Pona usage came to be normalized in such spaces, the more obvious it became that a robust solution needed to be pursued.

kulupu pi(toki+pona) li kama suli lon tenpo pi(jaki [ko: wile.])
tenpo pini la jan li wile sitelen+pona kepeken ilo la
zz nasin pi(sitelen+pona ilo) li mute ala a
taso tenpo ni la nasin mute mute mute mute mute mutemute mute a li lon
nasin ante pi(sitelen+pona ilo) li pana e sitelen nimi sama tawa nanpa ilo ante la
zz kulupu li pilin e wile ni> zz nasin ale o sama o wan o pona

ilo ale li sitelen e toki kepeken nasin [jan uta ni:ko:]
nasin [jan] li ken wan e nasin nanpa ale pi(sitelen+pona ilo)
zz li ken pana e ken pi(sitelen+pona) tawa ilo ale
n zz mi ken ala ken lukin pana e sitelen+pona tawa nasin [jan] a
kulupu pi(toki+pona) li kama pana e toki+pona tawa nasin [insa sona.] la
zz ni^ li suli lili pilin e ken kama pi(nasin [jan])
taso nasin [jan] li wile e tenpo zz nasin jaki pi(tenpo lili) li lon
nasin [jaki uta sijelo. sama.] li sama nasin [jan] pi(lawa ala)
kulupu li pana e sitelen+pona tawa nasin [jaki] la sitelen+pona li kama lon ona a
tenpo ni la nasin pi(sitelen+pona) li nasin sama lon nanpa ilo pi(sitelen nimi)

nasin [jaki] li lon la jan pi(sona ilo wawa)
zz li kama ken kama lukin e sitelen+pona lon ilo [sina. ko:]
nasin li ni> zz jan li ante nasa e ilo [sina] pi( ilo ona)
taso jan mute li sona mute ala e ilo li ken ala pali nasa ni^
zz zz zz li lukin ala e sitelen+pona li lukin e sitelen leko pakala taso
nasin [jaki] li wan e nasin li tu e kulupu
nasin [jan] taso li ken wan e nasin e kulupu kin

kulupu pi toki pona li kama suli lon tenpo pi jaki Kowi. tenpo pini la, jan li wile sitelen pona kepeken ilo la nasin pi sitelen pona ilo li mute ala. taso tenpo ni la, nasin sin mute mute mute a li lon. nasin ante pi sitelen pona ilo li pana e sitelen nimi sama tawa nanpa ilo ante la kulupu li pilin e wile ni: nasin sitelen ale o sama o wan o pona.

ilo ale li ken sitelen e toki kepeken nanpa pi nasin Juniko. nasin Juniko li ken wan e nasin nanpa ale pi sitelen pona ilo li ken pana e ona tawa ilo ale. mi ken ala ken lukin pana e sitelen pona tawa nasin Juniko a? kulupu pi toki pona li kama pana e toki pona tawa nasin Iso la ni li suli lili pilin e ken kama pi nasin Juniko. taso nasin Juniko li wile e tenpo. nasin jaki pi tenpo lili li lon: nasin Jusisa li pali sama nasin Juniko kepeken lawa lon ala. kulupu li pana e sitelen pona tawa nasin Jusisa la sitelen pona li kama lon nasin Jusisa a. tenpo ni la, nasin pi sitelen pona li nasin sama lon nanpa ilo pi sitelen nimi.

nasin Jusisa li lon la jan pi sona ilo wawa li kama ken kama lukin e sitelen pona lon ilo Siko kepeken nasin ni: jan li ante nasa e ilo Siko pi ilo ona. taso jan mute li sona mute ala e ilo li ken ala pali nasa ni, la ona li lukin ala e sitelen pona li lukin e sitelen leko pakala taso. nasin Jusisa li wan e nasin li tu e kulupu. kepeken nasin Juniko taso la kulupu li ken wan pona sin.

Starting in 2024, efforts to draft a proposal began in earnest.

In January, several interested community members formed an ad-hoc working group. After four months of investigation, internal discussions, and survey outreach, the working group submitted a preliminary proposal to the Unicode Consortium in April.

This preliminary proposal demonstrated widespread usage of Sitelen Pona as a writing system, but refrained from outlining a stable set of characters to be encoded. The working group had determined that, before they could provide such a set, advancements in Toki Pona data analysis needed to be made.

Prior to 2024, usage of Toki Pona vocabulary was primarily assessed by the Linku project’s annual write-in surveys. But the working group felt that this data was not enough for the Unicode Proposal. Linku's annual survey does not directly observe usage; rather, it reflects what people report their own usage to be. The bar for Unicode would need to be higher.

After running a write-in survey for Sitelen Pona usage, the working group came to a similar conclusion for assessing the stability of Sitelen Pona glyph variants. Write-in surveys would not be enough. Organic usage needed to be gathered into a corpus and analyzed, to be considered together with self-reported usage.

The working group set about making the tools required to pursue this new direction.

lipu wile pi(nasin [jan uta ni: ko:]) la
zz pali kulupu pi(sitelen+pona) li kama wawa lon tenpo sike pini nanpa tu

open pi tenpo sike la jan mute li kama lon kulupu pali lili
kulupu ni^ li alasa e sona li toki mute e nasin
zz zz li kama e sona tan kulupu suli pi(toki+pona)
pini pi(tenpo mun tu tu) la kulupu li pana e lipu wile pi(pini ala)
|tawa kulupu pi(nasin [jan uta ni: ko:])

lipu wile pi(pini ala) li toki wawa pi(sona mute) e ni
zz kulupu pi(toki+pona) li kepeken sitelen+pona lon tenpo mute
taso lipu wile pi(pini ala) li toki ala a e ni
zz sitelen seme pi(sitelen+pona) o lon nasin [jan]
kulupu pali lili li pilin e ni> zz alasa sona li pini ala

nimi seme li lon toki+pona zz lipu Linku la sona ni< li kama tan pilin jan
jan pi(toki+pona) li toki pilin e nasin ona tawa lipu Linku lon tenpo sike ale
taso sona pi(toki+pona) li kama tan pilin taso li kama tan toki+pona ala la
zz ni^ li nasin pi(pona ale ala a)
kulupu pali lili li pilin e ni
zz pali pi(nasin [jan]) la mi o kepeken nasin alasa pi(pona ale ken)
ni^ la sona pi(toki+pona) o kama tan pilin taso ala o kama tan toki+pona kin

sitelen seme li seme lukin zz alasa sona ni< li sama alasa ante pi(sona nimi)
open la kulupu pali lili li wile kute mute e ni
zz jan li toki e nasin ona pi(sitelen+pona) zz taso ni< li pona ale ala
a zz sona pi(sitelen+pona) o kama tan pilin taso ala o kama tan sitelen+pona kin
nasin pona la kulupu pali lili o pali e ilo sona sin pi(nasin ni)
zz ilo li moku e toki+pona mute e sitelen+pona mute
zzzz li pali nanpa e sona kepeken moku ni^
nasin sona pona la sona pilin pi(lipu Linku) en sona nanpa pi(ilo sin)
zz zz zz o ken kama e sona wan pi(pona wawa a)

ni^ la kulupu pali lili li open e pali pi(ilo sin mute)

lipu wile pi nasin Juniko la pali kulupu pi sitelen pona li kama wawa lon tenpo sike #MAMTT.

open pi tenpo sike la jan mute li kama lon kulupu pali lili. kulupu ni li alasa e sona li toki mute e nasin li kama e sona tan kulupu suli pi toki pona. tenpo mun tu tu li kama li weka la kulupu li pana e lipu wile pi pini ala tawa kulupu pi nasin Juniko.

lipu wile ni pi pini ala li toki wawa pi sona mute e ni: kulupu pi toki pona li kepeken sitelen pona lon tenpo mute. taso lipu wile ni pi pini ala li toki ala a e ni: sitelen seme pi sitelen pona o lon nasin Juniko. kulupu pali lili li pilin e ni: alasa sona li pini ala.

nimi seme li lon toki pona? lipu Linku la sona ni li kama tan pilin jan. tenpo sike ale la jan pi toki pona li toki pilin e nasin ona tawa lipu Linku. taso sona pi toki pona li kama tan pilin taso li kama tan toki pona a ala la ni li pona ale ala. kulupu pali lili li pilin e ni: pali pi nasin Juniko li wile e sona pi pona ale ken. ni la sona pi toki pona o tan toki nasin taso ala o tan toki pona kin.

sitelen pona li seme lukin? alasa sona ni li satma alasa ante pi sona nimi. open la kulupu pali lili li wile kute mute e ni: jan li toki pilin e nasin ona pi sitelen pona. taso ni li pona ale ala. a, sona pi sitelen pona o kama tan sitelen pona kin! nasin pona la kulupu pali lili o pali e ilo sona sin pi nasin ni: ona li moku e toki pona mute e sitelen pona mute li pali nanpa e sona kepeken moku ni. nasin sona pona la sona pilin pi lipu Linku en sona nanpa pi ilo sin o ken kama e sona wan pi pona suli.

ni la kulupu pali lili li open e pali pi ilo sin mute.

In the latter half of 2024, members of the working group had their priorities set on creating new tools and gathering usage data.

In August, mun Kekan San published ilo Muni, a new corpus-based word-frequency analyzer. Owing to extensive web-scraping efforts, ilo Muni provides robust data on word usage in Toki Pona by drawing on a new filtered corpus with major sources from 2016 onwards.

Usage data for Sitelen Pona glyph variants was pursued in three ways. At the font level, jan Ke Tami created a new annotated database of all Sitelen Pona fonts. At the text level, several working group members gathered and annotated a new corpus of Sitelen Pona handwriting examples. Finally, waso Keli created and published SP Font Maker. This tool allows anyone to create and upload their own handwriting samples to create a Sitelen Pona font, and also serves as a database where individual preferences for Sitelen Pona glyphs can be batched and analyzed.

In addition to data collection, seeing as many glyph designs that did not appear in the 2014 publication were not explicitly released into the public domain, the working group contacted the authors of these glyphs to confirm CC0 licensing.

After much groundwork had been laid, the group was ready to draft Common Sitelen Pona. In October, Mrs. Lang developed and proposed a formal methodology for defining Common Sitelen Pona. It would assign Sitelen Pona word characters and punctuation characters to three tiers of teachability by examining existing and new data sources, uniting the work that had been done up to this point and defining a clear deliverable.

kulupu pali lili li wile ken kama sona e toki+pona tan toki+pona e sitelen+pona tan sitelen+pona
ni^ la kulupu li pali e poki suli pi(toki+pona) e poki suli pi(sitelen+pona)

poki sona suli pi toki pona la pali li ni> zz lon suno pi+toki+pona la
zz mun [ken . kalama . nasa][mute:] li pana e pali ona
zz ilo [mute.nimi.] li jo e poki suli pi(toki+pona)
zz li ken kama e sona nanpa pi nasin nimi kepeken ona
zz poki ni^ la mun [ken . kalama . nasa][mute:]
zz zz li kepeken ilo wawa li lukin e toki ale tan kulupu toki+pona mute
zz zz li weka e toki [insa.li:] e toki ante
zz zz li awen e toki+pona taso kepeken nasin sin pi(sona toki)
zz ilo [mute. nimi.] li ken sona pona e nasin toki kulupu
zz zz tan open pi(tenpo sike nanpa mute ale luka luka luka wan)

poki suli sona pi(sitelen+pona) li poki tu wan
nanpa wan la jan [ken .][taso .mi:] li poki sona
|||| |e nasin ale ni> zz ilo li ken sitelen+pona kepeken ona
nanpa tu la jan [meli+awenjan+eko+ale] li lukin e sitelen mute pi(sitelen+pona luka)
|||| li sitelen ilo e sitelen luka ale li poki sona e ni<
nanpa mute la waso [ken. lukin insa] li pali e ilo pali sin ni
zz jan li sitelen+pona luka e sitelen nimi ale li pana e sitelen tawa ilo la
zz zz ilo li kama pali e nasin sin pi(sitelen+pona ilo) tan sitelen+pona luka ona
zz ilo pali sin pi(waso [ken] )li ilo pali taso ala li ilo sona
zz ilo li sona e selo ale pi(sitelen nimi) tan nasin pi(jan ante mute)

lawa ma la jan li pali e musi la ona taso li ken kepeken musi ni<
jan wan taso ala li pali e sitelen+pona zz jan ante li pali e sitelen ante
kulupu pali lili li alasa e jan ante mute ni^ li toki tawa ona e ni
te o kama ala awen lawa ale e ken pali pi(sitelen+pona sina)
zz o pana lawa kepeken nasin ni> zz ale kulupu li ken kepeken sitelen sina to

tenpo ni< la kulupu pali lili li jo e ilo ale wile tawa ni la
zz ona li ken open a e pali pi(sitelen+pona kulupu)
anpa-sewi li pali e nasin alasa pi(sitelen+pona kulupu) zz nasin li alasa e sona ni
zz kulupu la sitelen nimi seme en sitelen+nasin seme en selo sitelen seme li suli kepeken
zz sona ni^ o kama tan pali ante ale pi(tenpo sike pini)
nasin alasa pi(anpa-sewi) la sona ale pi(kulupu pali lili) en pali pi(mi kulupu)
||||| o toki o wan o mama e lipu pi(sitelen+pona kulupu)

kulupu pali lili li wile ken kama sona e toki pona tan toki pona e sitelen pona tan sitelen pona. ni la kulupu li pali e poki suli pi toki pona e poki suli pi sitelen pona.

poki sona suli pi toki pona la pali li ni: lon suno pi toki pona la mun Kekan San li pana e pali sin ni: ilo nimi Muni pi mute nimi li kama e sona nanpa pi nasin nimi kepeken poki suli pi toki pona. poki ni la mun Kekan San li lukin e toki ale pi kulupu toki mute pi toki pona kepeken ilo li weka e toki Inli e toki ante ale li awen e toki pona taso kepeken nasin sin pi sona toki. ilo Muni li ken sona pona e nasin toki kulupu tan open pi tenpo sike #MALLLW.

poki sona suli pi sitelen pona la pali li tu wan. nanpa wan la, jan Ke Tami li poki sona e nasin ale ni: ilo li ken sitelen pona. nanpa tu la, jan Majeka li lukin e sitelen ale ni: jan li sitelen pona kepeken luka. nanpa tu wan la, waso Keli li pali e ilo sin ni: jan li sitelen pona e sitelen nimi ale kepeken luka li pana tawa ilo la ilo li pali e nasin sin pi sitelen pona ilo kepeken sitelen pona luka. ilo pali sin pi waso Keli li ilo sona kin lon nasin ni: ona la waso Keli li ken alasa e sitelen nimi wan li ken lukin e selo sitelen ale pi jan ante mute tawa sitelen nimi wan ni.

lawa ma la jan li pali e musi la ona taso li ken kepeken musi ni. jan wan taso ala li pali e sitelen pona. jan ante li pali e sitelen ante. kulupu pali lili li alasa e jan ante mute ni li toki tawa ona e ni: o kama ala awen lawa ale e ken pi pali sina o pana lawa kepeken nasin ni: ale kulupu li ken kepeken sitelen sina pi sitelen pona.

tenpo ni la kulupu pali lili li jo e ilo ale wile. pali pi sitelen pona kulupu o open! anpa sewi li pali e nasin alasa pi sitelen pona kulupu. nasin alasa la kulupu pali lili li kama sona e ni: kulupu la, sitelen nimi seme en sitelen nasin seme en selo sitelen seme li suli kepeken? sona ni o kama tan pali ante ale pi tenpo sike pini. nasin alasa pi anpa sewi la sona ale pi kulupu pali lili en pali pi mi kulupu o toki o wan o mama e lipu pi sitelen pona kulupu.

In 2025, armed with more usage data and a united vision, things progressed until the end was in sight.

Anticipating the eventual publication of Common Sitelen Pona, the working group agreed it would register itself as a not-for-profit corporation in Canada. The association was legally incorporated on July 28, 2025.

Using Mrs. Lang’s methodology, tiers of teachability for the main set of word characters were finalized by April, and representative glyphs were finalized by May.

Some matters were resolved by alternative processes. One complexity that arose was the issue of whether certain alternate glyphs were semantically distinct enough from the primary glyph for the same word. The words with glyphs that met this criteria would require separate codepoints in Unicode, and similarly would need to be recognized and adopted into Common Sitelen Pona as separate characters. The association studied this issue by community-wide survey, asking members of the community to report whether and how they distinguish the glyphs in question. The association then utilized that data to determine via vote, which such alternative glyphs should be included.

Later, the association studied specific punctuation marks and other features of Sitelen Pona in a similar manner, and again determined which would be included in Common Sitelen Pona via vote.

In addition to working on Common Sitelen Pona, the font-makers of the association worked to coordinate an ASCII input standard, which seeks to unify the use of ASCII text for writing Sitelen Pona across all implementing fonts.

open pi(tenpo sike pini) la sona wile en nasin pali li lon kulupu pali lili
ni^ la kulupu pali li kama pali a

pali li kama lon poka pini la
kulupu pali lili li kama wile ante lawa e nimi e nasin
||| li wile kama kulupu esun pi(wile mani ala)
|||| kepeken nasin lawa pi ma [kasi.nasin.taso.]
nimi sin en nasin sin en lawa sin la te kulupu pali pi sitelen pona to
zz li open lon suno nanpa mute luka tu wan pi(mun nanpa luka tu)

kepeken nasin alasa pi(anpa-sewi) la
zz mun nanpa tu tu la kulupu pali li kama sona e sitelen nimi pi(sitelen+pona kulupu)
zz mun nanpa luka la kulupu pali li kama sona e selo pona pi(sitelen nimi ni^)

wile sona ante tu la mi alasa kepeken nasin ante zz wile sona nasa wan li ni
zz sitelen nimi wan li jo e selo ante mute la
zz zz selo ante ni^ li ken ala ken sama nimi ante
zz selo ante pi(sitelen nimi sama) li ken sona ante la ni< li ken nimi ante
zz selo ante pi(sitelen nimi sama) pi(sona ken ante) o kama sitelen nimi ante
zz zz lon lipu pi(sitelen+pona kulupu) lon nasin [jan uta ni: ko:]
zz mi kulupu li alasa e sona ni^ kepeken ni
zz zz mi pana e lipu pi(alasa pilin) tawa ale kulupu li alasa mute e ni
zz zz zz selo tu pi(sitelen nimi wan ni<) li pilin ala pilin sama lon sona
zz kama la jan sona mute pi(kulupu pali) li lukin e pilin pi(kulupu suli)
zz zz li toki e wile ona ni> zz selo seme pi(sitelen sama) o lon lipu
zz nasin pini li kama tan wile suli pi(jan sona mute kulupu)

tenpo ante la kulupu pali li alasa e sona ni
zz sitelen+pona la kulupu li nasin e sitelen nimi kepeken nasin seme pi(suli kepeken)
zz sitelen nasin seme pi(nimi ala) o lon lipu pi(sitelen+pona kulupu)
zz open la mi kulupu li pana e lipu pi(alasa pilin) tawa ale kulupu
zz pini sama la jan sona mute pi(kulupu pali) li lukin e lipu pilin
zz zz li toki e wile ona ni> zz sitelen nasin seme o lon lipu
zz nasin pini li kama tan wile suli pi(jan sona mute kulupu)

pali namako wan pi(nasin [jan uta ni: ko:] ala) la
zz jan pali nasin pi kulupu pali li pali e lipu sin
zz te lipu pi(sitelen+pona) pi(nasin [akesi su:kili.] to
ilo li sitelen e sitelen+pona kepeken nasin [akesi su:kili.]) la
zz nasin sitelen mute li wan ala li sitelen e ijo sama kepeken sitelen ante
lipu sin pi(kulupu pali) li wile wan e nasin

open pi tenpo sike #MAML la sona wile en nasin pali li lon kulupu pali lili. kulupu pali li kama pali a.

pali li kama lon poka pini la kulupu pali lili li kama wile ante lawa e nimi e nasin li wile kama kulupu pali pi sitelen pona. tawa lawa pi ma Kanata la, kulupu pali pi sitelen pona li wile kama kulupu esun pi wile mani ala. nimi sin en nasin sin en lawa sin li open lon tenpo suno #MLTW pi tenpo mun #LT.

kepeken nasin alasa pi anpa sewi la kulupu pali li kama sona e sitelen nimi pi sitelen pona lon tenpo mun #TT e selo pona pi sitelen nimi ni lon tenpo mun #L.

wile sona ante pi mute lili la mi kama e sona tan nasin ante. wile sona nasa wan li ni: sitelen nimi wan li jo e selo ante mute la selo ante ni li ken ala ken sama nimi ante? selo ante pi sitelen nimi sama li ken sona ante la, selo ni li ken nimi ante. ona o sitelen nimi ante lon nasin Juniko lon sitelen pona kulupu. mi kulupu li alasa e sona kepeken ni: mi pana e lipu pi alasa pilin tawa jan ale kulupu li alasa e ni mute: selo tu pi sitelen nimi wan ni li pilin ala pilin sama lon sona? kama la jan sona mute pi kulupu pali li kute e pilin pi kulupu suli li toki e wile ona ni: selo seme pi sitelen sama o lon lipu pi sitelen pona kulupu. nasin pini li kama tan wile suli pi jan kulupu.

tenpo ante la kulupu pali li alasa e sona ni: sitelen pona la kulupu li nasin e sitelen nimi kepeken seme? sitelen nasin seme li suli tawa kepeken kulupu li wile lon sitelen pona kulupu? open la mi kulupu li pana e lipu pi alasa pilin tawa jan ale kulupu. pini pi nasin sama la jan sona mute pi kulupu pali li lukin e lipu pilin li toki e wile lon ni: sitelen nasin seme o lon lipu pi sitelen pona kulupu.

pali namako wan pi nasin Juniko ala la kulupu pali pi sitelen pona li pali e lipu ni: sitelen pona pi nasin Asuki o kepeken nasin wan seme. tenpo suli la ilo li sitelen e toki pona kepeken nasin sitelen sona pi ma Mewika (nasin Asuki) la nasin li wan ala. nasin ilo ante pi sitelen pona li sitelen e ijo sama kepeken sitelen ante pi nasin Asuki. lipu sin pi kulupu pali li wile wan e nasin.

In 2026, we are finally presenting the labour of the last two years to the public. We published a public draft of Common Sitelen Pona in January. In February, we completed analysis on the Linku glyph survey. In April, we released our new website.

Stay tuned for more updates!

tenpo suli la kulupu pali li pali len zz tenpo sike ni la len li weka a
mun nanpa wan la mi pana e lipu pi(pini ala) pi(sitelen+pona kulupu) tawa jan ale
mun nanpa tu la mi pini e pali lon alasa sona pi(sitelen+pona) pi(lipu Linku)
mun nanpa tu tu la mi pana e lipu ilo sin

o awen zz pali sin mute li kama a

tenpo suli la kulupu pali li pali len. tenpo sike ni la len li weka! tenpo mun nanpa wan la mi pana e lipu pi pini ala pi sitelen pona kulupu tawa lukin pi jan ale. tenpo mun nanpa tu la mi pini e pali lon alasa sona pi sitelen pona pi lipu Linku. lon tenpo mun nanpa tu tu la mi pana e lipu ilo sin.

o awen, pali sin mute li kama!