The word lu

This section is dedicated to the word lu. It plays a very important role in TT grammar as a 'connector' word, acting either like a preposition or a conjunction in English.

1) Used for space

The word lu means something like 'at, in, on, by, with'. There are many possible translations in English; most have the value of prepositions. Typically, lu expresses a spatial relation: the thing before lu is happening in/on/at the thing after lu.

1. • mi lu kiku kati.
   • I am at the forest/garden/mossy rock.
2. • mi pali i muku lu lupa mi.
   • I am making food in my hole (room, house...).

No other words act quite like lu: this is the only preposition. Other words that were prepositions in Toki Pona are not used like that in Tuki Tiki. For instance, taka (from TP tawa) never means 'to', but can still express a change in position.

3. • tila taka lu lupa mi.
   • sina tawa tomo mi.
   • You are going to my house. (You are moving in my house.)
4. • mi taka i kati mi lu ka pali.
   • mi pana e kasi mi tawa jan pali.
   • I gave my plant to the working person.

As the only word of its kind, lu has to cover a very broad range of meanings. Usually, what exactly lu means depends on the words before and/or after it. After the verb taka, it can often be interpreted like 'to, toward, into, along'. The thing following lu is often a physical object or place, such as: kiku (a), meaning 'hard stuff, rock, land, place'; and lupa (b-c), meaning 'hole, room, mouth; inside, underside'. (d) is a weirder case: here the thing after lu is a ka, whose location the plant is being moved towards.

There is no taka if there is no change (of place, or of state: see (2)):

5. • kati li pula lu ka li.
   • kasi li pona tawa jan ni.
   • The plant was good to/for that person. / That person liked the plant.

In that sentence, the lu phrase (lu ka li) has little to do with physical location. This is where lu starts to get more complicated: the word after it is not always a physical place, but can also be an idea or a person.

2) Used for things or people

The thing after lu does not have to be a location; it could also be a thing or a living, thinking being (like a ka, or a kati, or some other iku). In that case, lu can express that something is happening in that being's experience or opinion: they feel or experience what the sentence is describing.

1. • tila muku tu lu mi.
   • You are very sweet to me.
2. • kiku li pula lu kati.
   • The earth is good for the plant.

As seen above, the interpretation of lu can change when taka shows up. In § 1, taka referred to a change in position (movement). However, it could also express a non-spatial change of state (becoming).

3. • kati li taka lu muku.
   • The plant turns into food.
   • (Or: The plant goes in/into/to the food.)
4. • ka li taka lu kiku.
   • The creature goes to the place.
   • (Or: The creature turns into rock.)

The translation I put first is the one I would arrive at first. This has to do with the words kati and ka: a kati is a life-form that doesn't move (like a plant), or a part of such a life-form (like a leaf or, metaphorically, a page). As such, kati are less likely to move than ka, usually animals (like people).

3) Used for abstract concepts

The thing after lu could also be an abstract idea. Take ilu: a usage, tool, method, means or manner for doing something. When that something is muku, the ilu could be understood as a tool for eating. In that case, lu ilu can mean 'with a fork'. However, while ilu can designate the tool used, it more generally stands for the idea of use itself (spanning TP kepeken, ilo, as well as nasin). This makes it harder to interpret:

5. • mi muku lu ilu.
   • I eat with a tool/fork.
   • I eat in a way.
   • I eat on a bike/path.
   • ...

To make things a little clearer, it helps to follow an abstract word like ilu with a more physical thing. For cutlery, the word lika (line, stick, limb, rope, string) comes to mind - but that word (like many) creates its own vagueness, which other words may or may not resolve.

6. • mi muku lu ilu lika.
   • I eat with a stick/long thing/limb/with fingers/... (by means of a lika).
7. • mi muku i lika kati lu ilu lika ka mi.
   • I eat fries by means of my fingers.
8. • mi muku lu ilu lika kiku.
   • I eat with a hard/rock-like stick.

There are many more ways to use ilu: it does not need to appear after lu. Likewise, many other abstract words can go after lu to express a non-spatial relationship.

9. • mi ilu i lika (lu muku).
   • I use a stick/fork (for eating/while eating/for food/in food).
10. • ka li ilu i kiku lu pula kati.
    • People manage/use the land to the benefit of plants.
11. • mi pali i lupa lu lika mi.
    • I make a hole with my hands/in my rope/in my arms/... (lu ilu lika mi could clarify)

4) 'With' and 'and'

near, proximity er nffrje sfd puka 'side, backside, vicinity':

1. • mi lu iku.
   • I am in/at the thing.
   • I am with the thing. (?)
2. • mi lu puka iku.
   • I am in the vicinity/at the side of the thing.

accompaniment

3. • mi lu tila.
   • I am with you.
   • I am in/at you. (?)
4. • mi lu puka tila.
   • I am near you (in your proximity, by your side).

'and'

5. • mi pali i muku lu tila.
   • I make food with you.
   • I make food in/at/... you. (?!)
6. • mi lu tila mi pali i muku.
   • Me and you, we make food.
7. • lupa lu muku li lu puka.
   • The room and the food are beside each other/are nearby.

In summary, there are two different strategies for joining similar things together. For two subjects, we use lu; for things like objects and predicates, we repeat the grammatical word that they start with (mi/tila/li and i, respectively). discuss that other stuff somewhere before lu but after mi tu mi pula thoguh

new words:

• lu
• lupa
• kiku
• kati
• ilu
• taka