Explaining Toki Pona Through the Lyrics of "moku Sutolokanopu" (The Beef Stroganoff Song)

First, Let’s Watch#

Original Video#

【シンフォギア】ビーフストロガノフの歌

【シンフォギア】ビーフストロガノフの歌 [アニメ] ビーフストロガノフ(牛肉とは言ってない)

www.nicovideo.jp

moku Sutolokanopu#

moku Sutolokanopu (beef stroganoff song in toki pona)

boys don't know this.https://conlangcritic.bandcamp.com/track/moku-sutolokanopuhttp://patreon.com/hbmmasterhttp://conlangcritic.bandcamp.comhttp://seximal.ne...

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tomo sona moku la mi pali e moku Sutolokanopu.#

In culinary school, I make the food called Stroganoff.

First, looking at the overall structure of the sentence, we can see that it consists of two clauses joined by la. A la B has roughly the same meaning as if A then B (in the context of A, B).

Let’s start by translating the first clause (A).

tan lipu musi la sina sona e moku Sutolokanopu.#

From fun books, you know the food called Stroganoff.

The structure of the sentence as a whole is the same as the first one.

Once again, let’s translate from the first clause.

o tu e kili selo tan sewi ona.#

Please cut the onion from above.

• o: particle indicating an imperative / vocative
• tu: 2
• kili: fruit, vegetable
• selo: skin, peel, shell, outer layer
• tan: from
• sewi: top, above, high
• ona: its, that, it

Since this sentence is an imperative without a subject, it tells the listener to “do…”.

First, let’s look at the verb. If we treat tu as a verb, it means “to make into two”—in other words, to cut in half.

Next, the direct object. This part is easier to understand if you read tan prepositionally, like “from.”

kili selo means “skin/peel vegetable.” And when you think of a vegetable known for its skin/layers, that’s an onion.

By the way, other examples of translating “onion” include:

• kili pi selo mute: vegetable of many skins / layers
• kili tan pi telo oko: vegetable of tears (“eye water”)

…and so on, apparently.

tan sewi ona translates directly as “from above it” (or “from its top”).

o tu e kili loje tan poka ona.#

Please cut the tomato from the side.

• loje: red
• poka: side, flank, next to

Almost identical to the previous sentence.

• kili selo→kili loje
• sewi ona→poka ona

…are the substitutions.

kili loje is “red fruit/vegetable,” which means tomato. A tomato can also be written as:

• kili loje ko: soft red fruit/vegetable

…to distinguish it from an apple.

o wan e ko pan e moku soweli.#

Please combine the grain flour and mammal meat.

• one: 1
• pan: grain, cereal, bread
• soweli: (cute) animal, land mammal

Much the same way,

• tu→one
• kili selo→ko pan
• tan sewi ona→moku soweli

…are the changes.

A sentence with two direct objects:

• e ko pan
• e moku soweli

mi ken kepeken ala soweli mani!#

I can also not use beef!

• ken: can
• ala: nothingness, no, not (negation)
• kepeken: to use
• mani: money, wealth, large domesticated animal / cattle

In the verb section, we now see ken acting as an auxiliary verb and ala expressing negation.

ken kepeken ala means “can also not use” (or “don’t have to use”).

Apparently they struggled with how to translate “beef,” but managed to express it with soweli mani (“wealth/cattle animal”).

ni la o lon kili selo e soko#

And then please "make-onion-present" the mushrooms.

• lon: to exist, be real/true, at / in / on
• ni: this, that
• soko: mushroom, fungus
  • A non-pu word not in the base pack lipu pu. However, it is listed in the expansion pack lipu ku.

In short, it means “mix the mushrooms with the onion you cut earlier.” It’s a bit of a stretch, but hey, it’s song lyrics, so fair enough.

a, telo walo li open seli la o pini pali kepeken namako.#

Ah, when the white liquid starts heating up, please finish cooking with spices.

• a: exclamation, ah
• telo: water, liquid
• walo: white
• open: to begin, open
• seli: fire, warmth, to cook / heat
• pini: finish, end
• namako: spice, seasoning, salt, embellishment

Setting aside a since it’s an interjection, let’s look through starting from the first clause.

telo namako la moku pona li lon!#

When there is spiced liquid, good food comes into being!

• pona: good, simple

telo namako actually represents sour cream. That’s a pretty tough sell.

However,

In the first place, this song itself is a pretty sloppy recipe, so as long as no one actually tries to cook beef stroganoff following it, it should be fine.

…or so it seems.

In fact, even when I looked into it, I couldn’t find any other translation examples for sour cream.

mije ale li sona ala e ona.#

All men do not know this.

• mije: man, male, masculine
• ale/ali: all, every

A simple negative sentence with a complete subject, verb, and direct object.

a, mi sona#

Ah, I know.

ni li pona#

This is pona (good/simple).

In the original song, she sings “simple” (in Japanese, igai ni kantan / “surprisingly simple”). Since pona carries the meanings of both “good” and “simple,” it makes for a remarkably neat translation.

moku Sutolokanopu!#

The food called Stroganoff!

mu!#

mu!

• mu: interjection representing any animal sound

In Toki Pona, “woof,” “meow,” and every other animal sound are all expressed with mu.

The Rest Is Repetition#

The End#

From here on, it’s just repetition, so I’ll wrap things up here.

In this post, I’ve explained 40 words. That corresponds to 1/3 of the 120 words in the base pack. Taking into account the principle that word frequency is roughly inversely proportional to its frequency rank, this should mean you’ve already covered more than half of your vocabulary study.

As for grammar, since Toki Pona’s grammar is so simple to begin with, I should have covered most of it.

jan Misali has released Toki Pona versions of other Japanese songs as well, so if you’re interested, be sure to check them out.

Lyrics#

1
本日の調理実習は
2
ビーフストロガノフ
3
アニメや漫画でおなじみの
4
ビーフストロガノフ
5

6
玉ねぎは縦に2つ切り
7
トマトは横に2つ切り
8
さっと小麦粉をまぶすのは
9
牛肉でなくても構わない
10

11
玉ねぎにキノコ加えて
12
牛乳を入れて煮立ったら
13
最後に塩胡椒をランデブー
14
サワークリームで出来上がり
15

16
男の子は知らないけど
17
意外に（意外に）簡単（簡単）
18
ビーフストロガノフ
19
にゃ！
20

21
本日の調理実習は
22
ビーフストロガノフ
23
アニメや漫画でおなじみの
24
ビーフストロガノフ
25
にゃ！

1
tomo sona moku la mi pali
2
e moku Sutolokanopu
3
tan lipu musi la sina sona
4
e moku Sutolokanopu
5

6
o tu e kili selo tan sewi ona
7
o tu e kili loje tan poka ona
8
o wan e ko pan e moku soweli
9
mi ken kepeken ala soweli mani!
10

11
ni la o lon kili selo e soko
12
a, telo walo li open seli la
13
o pini pali kepeken namako
14
telo namako la moku pona li lon!
15

16
mije ale li sona ala e ona
17
a, mi sona (a, mi sona)
18
ni li pona (ni li pona)
19
moku Sutolokanopu!
20
mu!
21

22
tomo sona moku la mi pali
23
e moku Sutolokanopu
24
tan lipu musi la sina sona
25
e moku Sutolokanopu
26
mu!

1
In culinary school, I
2
make the food called Stroganoff.
3
From fun books, you
4
know the food called Stroganoff.
5

6
Please cut the onion from above.
7
Please cut the tomato from the side.
8
Please combine the grain flour and mammal meat.
9
I can also not use beef!
10

11
And then please "make-onion-present" the mushrooms.
12
Ah, when the white liquid starts heating up,
13
please finish making it with spices.
14
When there is spiced liquid, good food comes into being!
15

16
All men do not know this.
17
Ah, I know.
18
This is pona (good/simple).
19
The food called Stroganoff!
20
mu!
21

22
In culinary school, I
23
make the food called Stroganoff.
24
From fun books, you
25
know the food called Stroganoff.
26
mu!