meaning
see, look, view, examine, read, watch; visual; eye, seeing organ; (preverb) try to
see also
semantic space · lipamanka
lukin is both passive seeing and active watching. it can also mean something that sees, like eyes or a camera. lukin is also used as a preverb that means to "try" to do something.
ku translations
see100, observe92, look at86, sight85, gaze83, observation83, check77, view74, scan67, watch65, visual64, examine60, inspection60, vision60, notice53, appearance50, attention50, surveillance50, examination47, detect46, assess40, stare38, perceive36, perception36, try36, glance33, impression33, reading31, regard (v)29, apparent27, read27, visible27, eye26, seek26, encounter25, investigation25, monitor25
pu verbatim
NOUN eye
VERB to look at, see, examine, observe, read, watch
PRE-VERB to seek, look for, try to
usage
core · 99% usage
found in pu
coined pre-pu
origin
Tok Pisin · lukim ‘see, look at’
English · look
English · him
coined by jan Sonja
commentary
In common usage (both before and after pu), "lukin" and "oko" are separate words, each with their own meaning. In pu, they are considered synonyms. Those who consider them synonyms typically don't use "oko" at all, preferring "lukin" in all circumstances. The usage of "alasa" as a preverb meaning "try to" is more common than "lukin". In pu, only "lukin" has this meaning. A very common beginner mistake is treating "lukin" as if it means "appearance", due to the mistakenly equating the "visual" meaning as in "pona lukin (visually good)" to mean "looks good".
sitelen pona
lukinpictogram of an eye. compare blissymbol “eye”
sitelen sitelen
sitelen jelo
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sitelen Emosi
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ucsur
U+F192E