Sonja Lang (previously known as Sonja Elen Kisa, c. 1978)[2] is a Canadian linguist and translator. She is best known for her creation of Toki Pona, a minimalist constructed language.
Sonja Lang | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1978 Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada |
Other names | jan Sonja[1] |
Occupation | Linguist, translator |
Known for | Creation of Toki Pona |
Lang was born and raised in Moncton, New Brunswick.[3] She grew up in a bilingual family; her mother spoke French, and her father spoke English. During and after her high school years, she became fluent in five languages, including Esperanto.[4] She later said that Esperanto was the inspiration for her creation of constructed languages.[2]
Lang worked for a communications agency for a few years, providing translation and media services. Lang also taught French at a community college. In addition, Lang worked in cybersecurity. Lang also worked for the Council of Europe as an interpreter.[2]
She currently lives in Toronto.[5]
In 2001, Lang experienced depression. As a way to simplify her thoughts, Lang developed Toki Pona, an oligoisolating constructed language.[6][4] Lang stated that the language, which has only 120 words,[7] would encourage people to think through things and would encourage more positive statements, in accordance with the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis.[4] Toki Pona was also partly inspired by Taoist philosophy.[7] An early version of Toki Pona was published by Lang in 2001, and it quickly gained some popularity. In 2014, Lang released a book on the language, Toki Pona: The Language of Good, followed by a French edition in 2016 and a German edition in 2021.[8]
In 2021, Lang published a second book on Toki Pona, Toki Pona Dictionary which includes additional words invented by the Toki Pona community.[9]