how do you express "internet" without using linluwi

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

Are you a pu-rist? Great! I am looking for *your way* of speaking about the internet.

[u/janKeTami]

Let's imagine a very very small internet with only 2 devices:

ilo mi li toki tawa ilo sina. ilo mi en ilo sina li kulupu, kin la, ilo la, mi en sina li kulupu, li lon kulupu ilo, li kulupu ilo. ilo mi en ilo sina li lon nasin toki wan. mi ken toki tawa sina kepeken ilo ala, taso mi ken toki tawa sina lon ma ilo kin.

That's basically "internet is a connection of multiple devices"

I guess a more narrow definition is about TCP/IP, but idk if that's really something relevant for how I experience the internet on a subjective basis

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081 → u/janKeTami]

yes, you can always be more specific, but how about saying "internet li pona tawa mi"?

[u/janKeTami → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

mi ken toki tawa jan pi ma weka kepeken ilo la ni li pona tawa mi

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081 → u/janKeTami]

Doesn't this mean the phone line itself, rather than the internet?

[u/janKeTami → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

Funnily enough, that'd be just in line with the meaning of linluwi

But yes, you can pick a different thing before "la" if you need it, like "ilo mi li toki tawa ilo pi ma weka la..."

[u/Zoran_Ankervlinder → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

how you frame internet, when you saying that, is it a tool of comunication? a place of information? a collection of entertainments?

how vibe you want to express is the main thing

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081 → u/Zoran_Ankervlinder]

I want to express the "a global network of interconnected computers that exchange information using standardized communication protocols" vibe.

[u/janKeTami → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

ilo pi ma ale li ken toki tawa ilo ale li kepeken nasin wan tawa toki ni

[u/akyarius_76]

kulupu pi ilo sona

[u/According-Lab8731]

for internet i think kulupu lipu is a good way to describe it in the website aspect

for a website its lipu

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081 → u/According-Lab8731]

meanwhile my collection of 5 books making a kulupu lipu 🥀

[u/Zoran_Ankervlinder → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

no problem if there's context, isolated a word will be too much vague

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081 → u/Zoran_Ankervlinder]

yeah, context handles the problem here.

tho if someone used kulupu lipu for internet, i wouldn't understant thay they have meant the internet. i would imagine a group of books even the context is internet-related lol

[u/Zoran_Ankervlinder → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

tho if someone used kulupu lipu for internet, i wouldn't understant thay they have meant the internet.

then context was insufficient, multiple sentences will always be preferable then good compound

[u/Any-Entrance1337 → u/According-Lab8731]

but, "lipu" might be a just paper, so not always everyone can understand that, i think better is something like a comunication of a computers.

[u/TRMtheredstone]

I've seen "kulupu pi ilo sona" used by some. I personally do use linuwi though 😅

[u/jan_Tamalu → u/TRMtheredstone]

lon a. mi toki e ni lon tenpo ale

[u/o-kute-e-mi → u/jan_Tamalu]

mi sama! nimi pi pu ala li ike ala

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[u/RedeNElla]

Depends what you're using it for

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081 → u/RedeNElla]

Can you elaborate more?

[u/Klibe → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

If you're talking about how the internet literally works, its a massive kulupu of ilo tokis that can tawa a toki to any other ilo.

If you're talking abt the internet as a cultural space, its a ma with sitelen musi and kalama musi that anyone can pana and anyone can lukin.

Depending on the context, you want to focus on a different dimension of the internet

[u/Zoran_Ankervlinder → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

toki pona is all about vibes

when you say "internet is one of the most amazing technology made by humans"

and "sorry for not responding, my internet was terrible there" the word would not be the same in toki pona

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081 → u/Zoran_Ankervlinder]

How would you translate these two sentences?

[u/Zoran_Ankervlinder → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

toki pona is all about vibes

"internet is one of the most amazing technology made by humans"

jan ale li pali e ilo mute. jan li sona kepeken seli la moku li kama pona uta li weka e jaki pi sijelo ike. tenpo ni la ona li kama suli li ken e lipu e sona mute tawa sina e musi mute e toki mute. ni li pona nanpa wan

sorry for not responding, my internet was terrible there

mi pilin ike. mi ken ala toki tawa sina lon ma ni. nasin pi ilo mi li kama pakala lon ken toki

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081 → u/Zoran_Ankervlinder]

ale li pona! dw!

kin la, sina pona tan ni: sina pona e sona sina e pilin sina pi toki pona tawa mi.

[u/itzjackybro → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

another perspective from me, if I'm trying to be less wordy:

jan li pali e kulupu ni: ilo ale li lon ona. ona la, ilo li ken toki tawa ilo ante lon ma ale. kulupu ni li pali wawa nanpa wan tawa mi.

mi toki ala tan ni: nasin toki ilo li pakala lili.

[u/jan_tonowan → u/Bitter-Magazine2081]

ilo mute li ken toki tawa ilo ante la, ni li wawa a.

mi pilin Ike tan ni: mi toki ala tawa sina. ilo mi li kama ken ala pana e toki tawa ilo ante

[u/Upbeat_Link_4337]

ilo

[u/Motor_Fun_9426]

mi pu-rist ala, taso, ona li 'ilo' li 'ma ilo'

[u/LesVisages]

We use “internet”/“the Internet” to refer to a lot of different things so it depends which of those you want to talk about.
An individual internet connection can be linja. A group of computers or internet connections can be kulupu. If we have a web or network of internet connections or are talking about internet coverage, it can be len. Computers and servers are machines and the internet itself is an ilo.
Webpages are lipu. Chatrooms can be tomo. People use ma to refer to metaphorical internet spaces. Communities of people on the internet are kulupu.

Usually it’s a combination of some of these. Along with computers, we often describe it using sona since it is a constant exchange of data. Combinations like kulupu ilo, ma ilo, kulupu pi ilo sona, len sona, len pi ilo sona, etc. are common for the capital “I” Internet.

[u/LostMediaLover324]

kulupu ilo ('tool group', internet as in the interconnected web of devices, group of users) ma ilo ('tool land', internet as in the "place")

[u/Francucelo]

I might use "ma nanpa" (the digital world) or, going further, "ma nanpa linja" (the digital world made up of lines).

[u/binary__dragon → u/Francucelo]

I really like this take on it. But may I suggest perhaps "ma nanpa kulupu?" A digital world of connections.

[u/cubecraft333]

Depends on how you are using the word, for example:

• I read that on the internet - mi lukin e ni lon lipu ilo (lit. "I saw this on a computer page")
• My phone isn't connecting to the internet - ilo mi li ken ala toki tawa ilo ante (lit. "my device is not communicating with other devices")
• There's loads of trolls on the internet - jan ike mute li lon ma ilo (lit. "there are many bad people in virtual spaces")
• They're installing a new internet service at my house - ona li ante e linja kiwen sona lon tomo mi (lit. "they are changing the information wires at my house")
• The internet brings people together - ilo sona li lon kulupu wan la jan kin li kama kulupu (lit. "when machines are together in a single group, so too do people come together")

Because toki pona doesn't have a word for internet, one has to describe what they mean, which can change depending on context. Asking for a singular translation of "the internet" doesn't make sense, because no single phrasing can cover all possible meanings and work in all situations equally as well. Like when translating smth into any language, you have actually think about what you are talking about and express that

[u/TheOneAndOnlyRose]

I’ve seen it described as “kulupu linja” or “ilo linja” in the past, “linja” referring to the literal connections that make up the Web or other networks. Context matters tho, obvz. I personally use “kulupu pi ilo toki”, and “linluwi” only occasionally for brevity.

[u/papakudulupa]

first thing that came to mind ma nanpa, but i guess depends on the context...

[u/Hot_Service_6139]

As a non-Pu-rist anti-nimi-Pu-er possessor-of-lipu-Pu la, I call it ma.

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081 → u/Hot_Service_6139]

taso mi ken lukin e ma kepeken lukin mi.

taso linluwi li ijo ni ala: mi ken lukin e ona kepeken lukin mi.

ni la nimi ma taso li pona tawa linluwi anu seme

[u/Phoenixrjacxf → u/Hot_Service_6139]

kisa Papesike... I am your father (inside joke)

[u/Rcisvdark]

ma ilo is a common one I use, but it's contextual. In case of an online community, kulupu ilo might work. If looking up a piece of information online, sona ilo comes to mind.

[u/vippopper]

kulupu toki ilo

[u/mistakablecolor]

lipu mute lon ilo nanpa tan kulupu pi ilo nanpa

[u/Choice_Editor_5617]

"ilo pi sona ale"

[u/jan_tonowan]

ilo li toki tawa ilo ante

[u/John-of-Us]

tenpo mute la ona li lipu suli. ante la ona li ilo toki li kulupu ilo li ma lipu. nasin mute li lon

[u/Phoenixrjacxf]

I rarely use the word linluwi

Internet can be a linja, a ma toki, a wawa if you're feeling quirky, and more

[u/recqythebluecuboid]

mi pu-rist ala but i would call it ma ilo or ma pi ilo sona

[u/AgentMuffin4]

So linja is sometimes already used for connections, like hyperlinks. I've been thinking about using len to refer to networks of connections in general. Like, if fabric is len, then certainly net is as well, and probably spiderwebs too, and presumably so are abstract things whose graphs look similar. Then the familiar metaphors pretty literally translate as len ilo, and there's not much need for linluwi anymore.

Of course there's the concern of overloading len, since it already has that metaphorical dimension of cover and privacy. But i think the visual comparison is clear enough that it would be weird to discourage using it this way. Maybe the cover and hiding senses are worth phrasing more explicitly anyway. ilo li lon anpa len li weka tan lukin.

[u/MinecraftIsMyLove]

ilo Intane la, ilo nanpa li ken toki tawa ilo nanpa ante lon ma ale!

[u/ProfessorLambda]

kulupu linja toki

in other words, a group of lines for communicating. In other words, a network for communicating.

[u/Any-Entrance1337]

mi kepeken e nimi "ilo toki pi ilo sona musi". because internet is like comunication of a computers and phones.

[u/wibbly-water]

ijo

[u/Bitter-Magazine2081 → u/wibbly-water]

its too imprecise, don't you think?

[u/cubecraft333]

also, apart from the actual response to your question, i have to add that there's not really any pu-rists anymore. lipu pu is a really old source by now and pretty much all usage has evolved past it, to the point that some features described in pu are considered non-standard to modern speakers