nasin nanpa pona is the primary number system of toki pona.
It uses five words:
wan, meaning one;
tu, meaning two;
luka, meaning five;
mute, meaning twenty;
and ale, meaning one hundred.
The number system is quite simple. For numbers below one hundred,
you simply sum up each word.
Example: "mute mute luka luka luka tu wan" -> "58"
If you want any number larger than one hundred, you need to determine
how many hundreds are within the word, and put that number before
the one hundred.
Example: "mute ale mute luka luka wan" -> "2031"
If the amount of hundreds is greater than one hundred, you simply
use this same method again and concatenate everything.
Example: "mute ale wan ale mute tu" -> "200122"
That's it! You can use this converter to get a hang for how this
works in practice. Many numbers will require a lot of syllables;
usually you should consider if you need to be that specific before
using that complex of a number!
nasin nanpa pu is the simplest number system in toki pona, but also
the least versatile. It uses five words:
wan, meaning one;
tu, meaning two;
luka, meaning five;
mute, meaning twenty;
and ale, meaning one hundred.
Contrary to nasin nanpa pona (the standard for use as of 2026),
there is no multiplication in nasin nanpa pu. To create a number,
you simply add all the numbers together.
Here are a few examples:
Example: "mute mute luka tu wan" -> "48"
Example: "ale ale ale tu tu" -> "304"
Example: "ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale ale mute luka luka luka tu" -> "1337"
It is hard to tell if a number is in nasin nanpa pona or nasin nanpa
pu, so you may have to ask.
Please be super careful with large numbers, it might crash your
browser as this system needs so many words!
nasin nanpa kijetesantakalu is a joke number system based on the
longest word in toki pona, kijetesantakalu (meaning raccoon).
It converts the number into base 6, then uses the word
kijetesantakalu for each digit, stressing a different syllable for
each different digit. This stress is not written, only spoken.
The syllables stressed are capitalized.
kijetesantakaLU, meaning 0;
kijetesantaKAlu, meaning 1;
kijetesanTAkalu, meaning 2;
kijeteSANtakalu, meaning 3;
kijeTEsantakalu, meaning 4;
kiJEtesantakalu, meaning 5;
and KIjetesantakalu, meaning raccoon. (this one isn't a number)
This system, of course, is not meant to be serious, but it is cute! kijetesantakalu kijetesantakalu kijetesantakalu