Sonja Lang (previously known as Sonja Elen Kisa, 1978) is a Canadian linguist and translator. She is best known for her creation of

Toki Pona Toki Pona (rendered as ''toki pona'' and often translated as 'the language of good'; ; ) is a philosophical artistic constructed language (philosophical artlang) known for its small vocabulary, simplicity, and ease of acquisition. It was create ...

, a minimalist

constructed language A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...

Biography

Lang was born and raised in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. 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 Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

. She later said that Esperanto was the inspiration for her creation of constructed languages. Lang worked for a communications agency for a few years, providing translation and media services. She also taught French at a

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

. In addition, she worked in

cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...

. She also worked for the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...

as an interpreter. She currently lives in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Creation of Toki Pona

In 2001, Lang was experiencing depression and as a way to simplify her thoughts, she developed Toki Pona, an oligoisolating constructed language. Lang stated that the language has only 120 words. Toki Pona was also partly inspired by Taoist philosophy. 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. In 2021, she published a second book on Toki Pona, ''Toki Pona Dictionary'' which includes additional words invented by the Toki Pona community.

References

External links

Lang's personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang, Sonja 1978 births Living people Linguists from Canada Canadian translators Women linguists Constructed language creators Writers from Moncton Academics from New Brunswick