Toki Pona is the Ultimate Minimalist Language
The Oxford English Dictionary adds dozens of words to its glossary each year and, right now, it contains about a quarter-of-a-million words. By comparison, Toki Pona—a new language born from the pursuit of minimalism—consists of just 123 words. But from those few, Toki Pona speakers argue that they can flesh out nearly every idea, action or item. The language’s creator, Sonja Lang, explains, “If you can express yourself in a simple way, then you really understand what you’re talking about, and that’s good. If something is too complicated, that’s bad… That belief is kind of hardwired into the language.”
Via theatlantic.com link opens in a new window
