A Computational Approach to Analyzing Language Change and Variation in the Constructed Language Toki Pona

TL;DR

This paper uses computational methods to analyze how Toki Pona, a constructed language, evolves and varies over time and across communities, revealing sociolinguistic influences similar to natural languages.

Contribution

It introduces a corpus-based computational approach to studying language change and variation in Toki Pona, highlighting its natural evolution.

Findings

Sociolinguistic factors influence Toki Pona similarly to natural languages

Content word preferences change over time in Toki Pona

Usage varies across different Toki Pona corpora

Abstract

This study explores language change and variation in Toki Pona, a constructed language with approximately 120 core words. Taking a computational and corpus-based approach, the study examines features including fluid word classes and transitivity in order to examine (1) changes in preferences of content words for different syntactic positions over time and (2) variation in usage across different corpora. The results suggest that sociolinguistic factors influence Toki Pona in the same way as natural languages, and that even constructed linguistic systems naturally evolve as communities use them.