Toki Pona style guide

This brief supplement covers wording and review choices. It is not a complete grammar. Apply the shared localization review and house voice; adaptations are acknowledged in credits.

Local usage

Favor widely understood Toki Pona grammar and vocabulary. Use nasin pu as the baseline for this supplement, and have a proficient reviewer assess unfamiliar or newer vocabulary for the intended audience. This baseline does not imply that other community usage is invalid.

Explain a technical idea using simple constructions instead of inventing opaque word-for-word equivalents. Keep ordinary words lowercase, as in ilo sona and toki pona. Preserve protected product spelling in names such as ilo FontLab; the descriptor explains the role without respelling the brand.

Precision and interface review

Use exact digits when a task depends on an exact quantity. ijo mute can express many things, but cannot replace a specific count or limit. If a source says a file must be no larger than 100 MB, the translation must retain that bound and unit.

Test the explanation with someone who understands both Toki Pona and the product. They should be able to identify the action, its object, any prerequisite and the result. Check substituted values, message states and text expansion in the running interface. Simpler vocabulary must not erase a warning or imply an outcome that has not occurred.