Function words:
A function word is a word which carries neither much grammatical nor semantic weight, like ‘en,’ ‘taso,’ and ‘a’. They lie somewhere in between content words and particles, which means they are given their own visual identity, somewhere in between blocks and sticks. For example, here's what the sentence "soweli li wile moku taso ona li jo ala e moku pona" looks like.
soweli- liwilemoku taso ona- lijoala emokupona
Here is a list of function words:
| sitelen Lasina | sitelen Kuwi | sitelen Kuwi (horizontal) |
|---|---|---|
| a | a | a-- |
| anu | anu | anu-- |
| en | en | en-- |
| kin | kin | kin-- |
| taso | taso | taso-- |
| n | n- | n--- |
Note that each of these function words also has a horizontal form. This is because function words can also function as modifiers, similarly to content words. The horizontal form is achieved by flipping each glyph on its side. In the sentence "soweli li wile moku taso ona li jo e kiwen taso", the word "taso" is used first as a connector, then a modifier, and this is reflected in the orientation of the glyph.
soweli- liwilemoku taso ona- lijo- ekiwentaso-
I like to replace - with "a" just for fun, like this: "nimi ni li pona a!"
nimini liponaa-!
When using function words as content words, be wary. n, taso and anu may be misinterpreted as sitelen, wan and uta. The glyphs only differ slightly in that the function words are not connected at the top.
sitelenn-- wantaso- utaanu-