Tuki Tiki (cyclical, repetitive, roundabout language) is a constructed language with very few sounds (8) and words (39). It was derived from another minimalist language, Toki Pona (good language), by removing sounds, words and constructions from it. All Tuki Tiki words must have source words in Toki Pona (that are commonly used and understood), and no words or sounds can be added, only removed. The exact count has gone down and back up many times, depending on how I felt.

There is no end goal to how small the language is supposed to be. Tuki Tiki is not trying to be a better version of Toki Pona, nor the ‘smallest possible language’. In fact, it’s pretty tame in comparison to many others (such as: the Toki Pona-inspired Puna & Pulu by arpee (18 words), Jack Eisenmann’s Facilish (2 words), arseniiv’s U (1)…). Tuki Tiki’s ‘goal’, if you want to call it that, can be summarised as ‘Toki Pona but smaller’: I just tried my best to do something interesting with that premise. Shrinking Toki Pona seemed more fun to me than expanding it, precisely because it’s the more restrictive option.

The main areas of difference between Tuki Tiki (TT) and Toki Pona (TP) are sounds and words. The syntax (how words are combined together to eventually create sentences) has changed much less in comparison. If a grammatical property of Toki Pona is missing in Tuki Tiki, that’s usually because a word associated with that property was lost (e.g. TP o, pi have no TT counterparts).

For me, Toki Pona was easier and more fun to learn than other constructed languages (conlangs), which I struggled getting into. Similarly, Tuki Tiki started because I struggled to make full-fledged conlangs of my own and found the process frustrating. I created this language between my first exams at university in January 2020, as a way to relax and to think about what a language needs to (barely) function. It’s a weird hobby that’s helped me through stressful periods. I don’t think you’ll find it very useful, but I hope you’ll find it fun.

– ka Tumu