meli and mije

[jnpoJuwan]

meli

sona pu

NOUN woman, female, feminine person; wife

sona Linku pi toki Inli

woman, female, feminine person; wife

sona Linku pi toki pona

mije ala; kulupu wan pi kulupu jan

sona ku

female⁵, lady⁴, woman⁴, girl³, wife², cisgender woman², transgender woman², ma’am²

sona sin

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mije

sona pu

NOUN man, male, masculine person; husband

sona Linku pi toki Inli

man, male, masculine person; husband

sona Linku pi toki pona

meli ala; kulupu wan pi kulupu jan

sona ku

male⁵, man⁵, husband³, cisgender man³, sir², boyfriend², guy², gentleman², transgender man¹

sona sin

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as tonsi already has an reworked definition established, mije and meli should also receive definitions. here are some thoughs on what the definitions may include:

1. sex vs. gender (man vs. male, woman vs. female)
2. masculinity and femininity (by themselves, instead of 'masculine person' and 'feminine person')
3. gender expression
4. relationships (wife/husband, boyfriend/girlfriend)
5. words for animals*

* this is something that English lacks but many other languages have. for example, Portuguese macho and fêmea, Chinese 公 and 母, among others.

[KelseyHigham]

meli: woman, feminine person, wife, girlfriend mije: man, masculine person, husband, boyfriend

[KelseyHigham]

i'd like to remove the translations "male" and "female" because they're misleading. they cause people to learn to use these words for sex. but descriptively, this usage isn't understood by other speakers. if i refer to a transgender woman as "mije", the listener will assume that i'm referring to a man.

[jnpoJuwan]

it is still used in that manner, with context. lipu Wikipesija refers to AMAB/AFAB as "meli/mije sijelo", compare "meli/mije kon" for man/woman in the context of gender

[KelseyHigham]

ew

[KelseyHigham]

aside from being offensive "body-man" is a really poor translation of "woman whom a doctor called a man"

[RetSamys]

Wikipesija is not a good standard, I'm afraid