about

What is Toki Pona?

Unlike languages that develop naturally amongst people like American Sign Language, or English or Mandarin Chinese, Toki Pona is a constructed language that was drafted by a Canadian woman, Sonja Lang, in 2001. In a celebration of minimalism and simplicity, Toki Pona has less than 140 words in total. The Toki Pona community comprises of hobbyist individuals across the globe who have learned TP as a secondary language (there are no native speakers of Toki Pona). Speakers of Toki Pona congregate in online spaces like Discord, Telegram, Reddit, YouTube and Twitter. In-person meetups occur, though far less frequently.

What is LPSL?

Luka Pona Sign Language is a communally-constructed artificial sign language designed to be used in the Toki Pona community. “luka pona” in Toki Pona means ‘good hand.’ Similarly to how Toki Pona has a limited amount of words, Luka Pona has a limited amount of signs: all together, less that 150 signs.

LPSL draws its grammar from the known grammars of natural sign languages, the precious and cherished resource of Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities. It is not a coded 1:1 version of Toki Pona. It has its own unique expressive capacity, and with it, a cultural debt to Deaf epistemologies.

What is LPSL not?

LPSL is not designed to replace any natural sign language and should not be learned as a substitute for natural sign languages. Similarly, it should not be taught to Deaf children as a first language, nor fetishized as a ‘baby sign language’ to be taught to infants. If LPSL is the first sign language that the new LPSL learner has ever approached, they are encouraged to also learn and reference the natural sign language of their own geographical community.

How is LPSL used?

LPSL, currently, is taken up most commonly by hearing speakers of Toki Pona. As many members of the Toki Pona community are neurodivergent, many find the language to be a useful aid during non-speaking periods. Theoretically, LPSL would enable the TP community itself to be more accessible to DHH folk. However, at the time of writing, the community has not seen this come to fruition. We view this as an area we need to improve on.

LPSL signers most frequently congregate on a network of Discord servers where signing is done in system-muted channels. These are voice-off environments. Occasionally, LPSL is used when Toki Pona speakers meet up in person.

What is this website?

This website is primarily maintained by jan Lakuse, a hearing student of ASL that most often hosts LPSL classes. jan Lakuse takes mentorship and direction from jan Olipija, a HH user of BSL, who first initiated the LPSL project. jan Lakuse can be contacted directly by email at tokipona(dot)sasalin(at)gmail(dot)com or over Discord @raacz106.