meaning
(particle) [indicate a question by marking missing info in a sentence]; what, which, who
semantic space · lipamanka
the semantic space of seme is unknown. That's the whole point! When one uses seme, it's unclear what it means. It is an invitation for an answer. this is very similar to wh- words in english like "what" and "which" and "who." unlike english, toki pona only has the one. If you want to specify what your query is about, you can modify a different word with seme. "kasi seme" can mean "which plant," for example. often, seme is a direct prompt to the listener, but it's frequently used as a prompt to the self or an expression of a lack of knowledge. speakers sometimes ask a question with seme only to answer it. Perhaps this is a me thing because I am jewish and that is how many jews tend to talk.
ku translations
what100, which69, huh44
pu verbatim
PARTICLE what? which?
usage
core · 100% usage
found in pu
coined pre-pu
origin
Mandarin · 什麼 shénme ‘what, something’
coined by jan Sonja
sitelen pona
semefrom question mark (?). compare blissymbol “what”
sitelen sitelen
sitelen jelo
❓
sitelen Emosi
❓
ucsur
U+F1959