Béu : Discarded Stuff

... Word building

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Many words in béu are constructed from amalgamating two basic words. The constructed word is non-basic semantically ... maybe one of the concepts needed for a particular field of study.

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In béu when 2 nouns are come together the second noun acts as an attribute of the first*. For example ...

toili nandau (literally "book word" ... "book" is the head and "word" is the attribute).

Now the person who first thought of the idea of compiling a list of words along with their meaning would have called this thing he created toili nandau.

However over the years as the concept toili nandau became more and more common, toili nandau would have morphed into nandəli.

Often when this process happens the resulting construction has a narrower meaning than the original two word phrase.

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There are 4 steps in this word building process ...

1) Swap positions : toili nandau => *nandau toili

2) Delete syllable : *nandau toili => *nandau li

3) Vowel becomes schwa : *nandau li => *nandə li

4) Merge the components : *nandə li => nandəli

In the above, the only valid constructions are toili nandau and nandəli. The other constructions are only shown for demonstration purposes. From now on I will leave out the * (indicating non-validity) Below are a number of examples. They are divided up into sets, depending on how many syllables in the head and how many in the attribute.

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... head 2 : attribute 2

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[Note to self : are you totally happy with this example ?]

laŋku = shadow, reflection

miaka = echo, response, effect

Which produce miakəka meaning "subtle influence" or "to subtly influence"

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And the case when the attribute ends in a consonant ...

megau plus peugan : "body of knowledge" + "society"

1) Swap positions : peugan megau

2) Delete syllable : peugan gau

3) Delete the coda and neutralize the vowel : peugan gau => peugə gau

4) Merge the components :peugə gau => peugəgau

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And the case when the main word has a double consonant before the end vowel ...

kanfai plus gozo : "merchant" + "fruit"

1) Swap positions : gozo kanfai

2) Delete syllable : gozo fai ............................. Note kan is deleted, not just ka

3) Vowel before the final consonant becomes schwa :gozo fai => gozə fai

4) Merge the components : gozə fai => gozəfai

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... head 2 : attribute 1

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nandau plus sài : "word" + "colour"

1) Swap positions : sài nandau

2) Delete syllable : sài dau

3) ---

4) Merge the components : sài dau => saidau

Note that in this case the semantic difference between nandau sài and saidau is quite large ... we have aboiut 10 of the first but around 1,000 of the second.

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ifan plus kwò : "duo" + "wheel"

( kwò "wheel" is related to kwè "to turn")

1) Swap positions : kwò ifan

2) Delete syllable : kwò fan

3) ---

4) Merge the components : kwò fan => kwofan

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... head 1 : attribute 2

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And when the head is a monosyllable ...

wé plus deuta : "manner" + "soldier"

1) Swap positions : wé deuta => deuta wé

2) ---

3) Vowel becomes schwa : deuta wé => deutɘ wé

4) Merge the components : deutə wé => deutəwe

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... head 1 : attribute 1

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wèu plus sò : "vehicle" + "row"/"series"

1) Swap positions : wèu sò => sò wèu

2) ---

3) ---

4) Merge the components : sò wèu => soweu

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sword.spear => weaponry ... shield.helmet => armour, protection ... knife.fork => cuttlery ... table.chair => furniture

There are no cases where both contributing words are monosyllables.

As with the schwa-form and the i-form verbs ... the schwa is represented by cross.

When spelling words out, this cross is pronounced as kano ... meaning "link", "connector", "connection", "association" or "relationship".

Notice that when you hear nandəli, deutəwe or peugəgau you know that they are a non-basic words (because of the schwa).

This method of word building is only used for nouns.

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* Actually there are three words that can be used to bind the two words together ... perhaps if you want to make the relationship between the two more concrete. These words are yó "property, gù "master"/"lord" and kài "kind"/"type"

waudo yó bàu = "the man's dog", bàu gù waudo = "the man who owns a/the dog", loweu kài hauheu = "a/the school bus"

But as I said before, usually speakers are happy to drop these linking words.

By the way "whose" can be translated into béu using the gù construction ... "the man whose dog bit me" => bàu gù waudo nài pà ilkori ... in theory this construction is ambiguous ...

1) the man (who owns a dog) bit me

2) the man whose dog bit me

Actually easy to tell apart as 1) is a complete clause and 2) is only a part of a clause. Also if 1) was meant a pause would be introduced. That is 1) = bàu gù waudo_nài pà ilkore

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... The particles làu, kài, "wé nài" and ?à ... this is quite complicated

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There are 4 main uses for làu

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1] The first use is when we are using the extended number set. làu stands between the noun (senko) and the extended number ...

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3,051₁₂ elephants => sadu làu uba wú odaija

sadu	làu	uba	wú	odaija
elephant	"partitive particle"	3	123	51

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Note ... the singular form of senko always used when quantity is given by this method.

We have already touched on this in the previous chapter [ see the section Numbers ... (the extended set) ].

I call làu a partitive particle when it is doing this function.

To the left of làu, the noun always has a generic meaning hence in this position it would never take the kai prefix. [ cf. sadu = elephant : kaizadu = elephant-kind, "the elephant" (as a species) ... see the next chapter ]

So *kaisadu làu uba wú odaija is illegal.

This construction is often seen with "magnifier" duplication ...

sadu làu wú wú = thousands of elephants : sadu làu nàin nàin = millions of elephants : sadu làu hungu hungu = billions of elephants

When specifying an amount of an olus, làu is use with any number, not just with an extended number ...

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Two cups of hot milk => ʔazwo pona làu hói hoŋko

?azwo	pona	làu	hói	hoŋko
milk	hot	"partitive particle"	3	cup

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2] I also call làu a partitive particle when it is doing its second function ...

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Three of these doctors => moltai.a dí làu léu

moltai.a	dí	làu	léu
doctors	this	"partitive particle"	3

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Note ... the plural form of senko is always used for this construction.

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Two cups of this hot milk => ʔazwo pona dí làu hói hoŋko

?azwo	pona	dí	làu	hói	hoŋko
milk	hot	this	"partitive particle"	3	cup

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Of course, for an olus there is no plural form.

This second construction is used when we are taking a portion of a larger amount. The first construction is used when we are taking a portion of X out of the sum total of all the X in the universe.

For the olus, there is not so much difference between function 1) and function 2).

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3] I also call làu a qualitative particle when it is doing its third function. Here làu is equivalent to English "as" in some of "as"'s functions ...

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Question ... tomo r jutu láu => "how big is Thomas ?"

Answer[A] .... tomo r jutu làu jono => "Thomas is as big as John"

Answer[B] .... tomo r wì jutu jonowo => "Thomas is less big than John"

Answer[C] .... tomo r yú jutu jonowo => "Thomas is bigger than John"

Answer[D] .... tomo bù r jutu làu jono => "Thomas is not as big as John"

Notice that D, invariably in English, makes Thomas smaller than John. Not so in béu. A B and C tend to be used a lot more than D.

Note ... in English, in the negative, "so" can be used instead of "as" .... "not as good as" = "not so good as"

[Note to self : get rid of -ge ? .... use it only in NP ? an alternative to C ? ]

This usage is not just for copula+adjective constructions, it can also be used for verb+adverb constructions ...

Thomas thinks as fast as John => tomo wòr sacois làu jono

Also ... Thomas thinks faster than John => tomo wòr yú sacois jonowo etc.

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4] In most languages you can drop certain components if they are obvious from the context. And when you do this there is no other differences to the sentence (as far as I know). Not so in béu. Sometimes làu must become jía when a verb/copula is overt. Take the example tomo wòr sacois làu jono "Thomas thinks as fast as John" ... obviously "John thinks" is underlying here. However if you want to make "John thinks" overt you must change làu to jía ...

Thomas thinks as fast as John thinks => tomo wòr sacois jía jono wòr

Now why have I set things up like this ... well in béu it is quite easy to define a clause. A clause is a chunk that contains one active verb (one verb containing a verb). It is to firmly draw a line between one clause constructions and two clause constructions that I insist on làu => jía

Here is an other example of jía in action ...

tomo r jini jía bù byór jò banhain = Thomas is so clever that he doesn't have to go to school

Here is the above in different words (a bit of revision) ... tomo r jini jía bù r neʒi gò jòr banhain ... but in béu the shorter version is always preferred.

And another example of the làu/jía split ...

Thomas walks as much as John (walks) => tomo doikor làu jono or tomo doikor jía jono doikar

And I think I should mention the construction ... tomo doikar hè jía jono doikar. This means the same as above plus the information that they both walk a lot.

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1] I also call kài a qualitative particle when it is doing its first function ...

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jono	r	kài	dada	ò
john	is	like	older brother}	his

=> John is like his older brother

jono	r	kài	dada
john	is	like/as	older brother}

=> John is like my older brother

[Note to self : get rid of the above example]

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2] Sometimes kài can best be translated as "made of" ...

a/the wooden house => nambo kài wuda

the house is made of wood => nambo r kài wuda

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3] Sometimes kài can best be translated as "for" ...

water for drinking => moze kài solbe

water for washing clothes => moze kài laudo

this water is for washing clothing => moze dí r kài laudo

(in the above three examples, kài and what follows it can be considerd an adjective)

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4) In the fourth function kài actually merges with a following senko ...

elephant = sadu

elephant-kind = kaizadu

this is actually a noun, the idea being something like "that which is like an elephant"

[ Note ... it is interesting that the béu word for "species" is kaija. Probably from " kài aja ", aja being an obsolete word for "one". ]

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5) In its fifth function kài actually merges with a following saidau ...

red = hìa

reddish = kaihia

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6) And the sixth function ...

gì	r	gombuʒi	kài	jono
you	are	argumentative	like	John

=> you are argumentative like John .............................. i.e. in the same manner ... for example ... shouting over other people when they try and put forward their arguments

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This only is applicable to "complicated "adjectives ... adjectives that like have internal structure. I find it difficult to imagine a situation where this construction would be suitable for an adjective like "short".

I see short as one dimensional while I see gombuʒi as multifaceted.

You are treating gombuʒi ss one dimensional when you say ...

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gì	r	làu	gombuʒi	kài	jono
you	are	as	argumentative	like	John

=> you are as argumentative like John ................ (function 4 for làu and function 1 for kài)

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So there we have it ... 4 functions for làu and 7 for kài. It is fitting to introduce wé nài at this point because wé nài's usuage overlaps with kài.

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gì	r	gombuʒi	wé	nài	jono
you	are	argumentative	manner	that	John

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This means exactly the same as the last example for kài

The above can be considered a contraction of gì r gombuʒi wé nài jono r or gì r gombuʒi wé nài jono r gombuʒi

We can see that now we have two clauses. In béu, one active verb means one clause ... very simple. So in the béu linguistic tradition ...

gì r gombuʒi wé nài jono r = 2 clauses : gì r gombuʒi wé nài jono = 1 clause ...... even though both these examples mean the same.

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Now the wé nài construction has no subtle way to indicate whether we are thinking of gombuʒi as a one dimensional concept or as a multifaceted concept.

Hence gì r gombuʒi wé nài jono also means "you are argumentative to the same degree as John"

You must use your knowledge of the situation to disambiguate. For example in ...

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jono-s	huz-o-r	wé	nài	kulno
john-ERG	smoke-3SG-IND	as	chimney

=> John smokes as a chimney

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It is obvious that John's smoking can in no way resemble a chimney, and we must be talking about "degree" here.

jono-s	huz-o-r	sù	kulno
john-ERG	smoke-3SG-IND	like	chimney

=> John smokes like a chimney

sù = like, as much as

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XXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXX

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Note ... all the above should be actually two clauses but because of truncation ... [ a chimney ] <= [ a chimney smokes ] ... [ before ] <= [ she used deceit before ] ... [ John ] <= [ John is argumentative ] ... [ agreed ] <= [ all parties agreed ] ... [ John ] <= [ John is ] ... these constructions often appear as if only a NP follows kài.

Usually for particles that can either be followed by a NP or a clause, I add gò after the particle when a clause follows. This is to prevent errors in comprehention. For example jì means "for" and is followed by a NP (usually a person). I have jì gò meaning "in order that" ... jì gò being followed by a clause. In béu the first word of a clause is often a noun. If I had jì meaning "in order that" there might be misunderstanding (albeit temporary). English does this also in many constructions [ I should go into this more fully ??? ]. Of course I could have a totally different particle for "in order that" but I wanted to emphasis the semantic overlap between these to constructions.

But there is no chance of misunderstanding when kài is heard ... it is always followed by a clause. Even in (5) what we have is a clause. The clause is jono r (with the r dropped). Actually kài means "in the manner or roll specified" ... the last bit added to include cases like (5).

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Note ... kài can not be followed by an adjective.

There are 5 nouns that are associated with 5 of these above question word / indefinite pairs. làus = amount, quantity : kàin = kind, sort, type : dàs = place : kyùs accasion, time : sàin = reason, cause, origin

These 5 nouns are never followed by nài. The table below is interesting. It shows the logical equivalence of a hypothetical expession (on the LHS) and the logical equivalent actually used (on the RHS).

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*làus nài => làu

*kàin nài => kài

*dàs nài => dà

*kyùs nài => kyù

*sàin nài => sài

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There are two adjectives associated with these question word / particle pairs. laubo meaning "enough" and kaibo meaning "suitable".

Also there are two nouns associated with these question word / particle pairs. lauja meaning "level" and kaija meaning "species/model".

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sài = because of

dari solbe sài ò = I started to drink because of her .................................................. sài ò can be considered an adverb of reason.

Note ... sài means "because of" ... sài gò means "because"

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To say something like "john is as good at writing as jane" you have to use ʔà (or ʔàbis) ... see the next section.

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Note that 3) and 8) do not mean the same thing ... kài defines a multi-characteristic concept (thing or action) while làu specifies position* on a uni-characteristic scale. [* or "degree" or "amount"]. So làu introduces only a quantity and kài intruduces a quality or manner.

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I find the above table interesting. It is skewed ... OK pí wé nài ("in the manner that") can be used but it hardly ever is. Usually kài = "in the manner that". Why is it skewed ? My answer is ...

"For everyone the most important things around them are other people. And the most important "attribute" of a person is "how" they behave."

Hence kài has supplanted pí wé nài.

Also notice that any adjective outwith a NP has to be introduced by the copula, hence sàu kài instead of simply kài.

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Note ... nù r làu jutu saduwo and nù r jutu kài sadu do not mean the same thing ... nù r làu jutu saduwo would be said when you have one specific sadu "elephant" in mind.

So nù r làu jutu saduwo => "they're as big as the elephant" ... nù r jutu kài sadu would be said when you are talking about elephants in general. So => "they're as big as elephants"

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jono-s	klud-o-r	wé	nài	tomo-s	klud-o-r
john-ERG	writes-3SG-IND	like/as	thomas-ERG	writes-3SG-IND

=> John writes like Thomas writes ........................................................ in the following examples kài and what follows can be considerd an adverb of manner.

jono-s	klud-o-r	wé	nài	tomo-s
john-ERG	writes-3SG-IND	like/as	thomas-ERG

=> John writes like Thomas ...........................................Note ... the final verb has been dropped but Thomas keeps the ergative marking.

taud-o-r-a	wé	nài	hunwu	tú	húa	gayana
to be annoyed-3SG-IND-PRES	like/as	bear	with	head	aching

=> he/she is annoyed like a bear with a headache

(Note to self .... is gayana still valid)

bù	?oim-o-r-a	wé	nài	fiʒi	mù	moze
not	to be happy-3SG-IND-PRES	like/as	fish	out	water

=> he/she is unhappy like a fish out of water

Note ... the wide variety of things being compared ... clause to clause : clause to noun : noun to noun

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Good, Better, Best

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làu is part of a larger paradigm ... the comparative paradigm ... demonstrating with the help of bòi ("good") ...

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>>>	boimo	best
>	boige	better
=	làu bòi	as good
<	boizo	less good
<<<	boizmo	least good

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The top and the bottom items are the superlative degree and so have no "standard of comparison".

The fourth one down is used less frequently than the second one down. This is because its sentiment is sometimes expressed by negating the third one down. For example ...

gì bù r làu bòi pawo = "you're not as good as me" can be used instead of gì r boizo pawo "you are less good than me"

[ actually gì r boizo pawo would be the normal way to express this sentiment. But gì bù r làu bòi pawo would be used, for example, as a retort to "I'm as good as you" ]

The superlative forms are found as nouns more often than as adjectives. That is boimo and boizmo are rarer than boimos and boizmos. (see table below)

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boimos = the best : bàu boimo = the best man

boizmos = the least good : bàu boizmo = the least good man

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[ you are argumentative like John but you are even worse ] ... explain this more

... ?ài

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The same or not the same

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ʔài = "same"

bù ʔài = "different"

Note ... for "the other", NP before the verb : for "another", NP after the verb)

1a) jono lé jene sùr ʔài bèn = "John and Jane are the same" ... logically the bèn is unnecessary, but it is often included ... euphony.

1b) jono r ʔài jenewo = "John is the same as Jane"

The above two examples are ambiguous as to whether John and Jane are the same w.r.t. one characteristic or the same w.r.t. all characteristic.

2a) jono lé jene r ʔài jutuwo = "John and Jane are the same size"

2b) *jono r ʔài jenewo jutuwo = "John is the same as Jane, sizewise" = "John is the same size as Jane"

The above is not allowed ... there is a rule saying that you can't have two consecutive -wo endings. So 2b) has to be re-assembled as ...

jono r làu jutu jenewo .... see Ch2.11.1

[Note jutuwo is derived from jutumiwo but the mi "ness" is invariably dropped.

ʔàibis = similar

ʔài dù = exactly the same

ʔaimai = similarity

lomai = difference

To say something like "John is as good at writing as Jane" we can not say *jono r làu bòi jenewo kludauwo [ ??? ] [ two consecutive -wo no good ? ]

You must use a sort of topic comment construction.

wo kludau bòi_jene r ʔài jonowo or wo kludau bòi_jene lé jono r ʔài

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... The 7 types versus basic types

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I have heard of people constucting languages and their main aim from the start was to create a language that contained only nouns or only verbs or what have you. I have always considered this a bit silly ... however it appears that I have arrived at such a position myself ... well at least as to the non-derived (basic form) of the words*.

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The base form of béu verbs are the manga which you can consider an "infinitive" or a "verbal noun". "MaSdar" if you will. To get a finite verb [called a "hook word" in béu] it must go through a derivational process [see Ch 3.1 for more information].

The béu adjectives seem to straddle two categoties ... nouns and adjectives. For example gèu means both "green" and "greenness" ("the green one" is represented by the saidaus gèus). But this is similar to many languages. For example in the English phrase "green is good", "green" must be a noun.

In béu (as in English) gèu will most often occur as an adjective. In béu when gèu must appear as a noun in a position where it might be mistaken for an adjective it is put into a NP with head kuwai ... kuwai = property, quality, attribute, characteristic, feature. So kuwai gèu is a NP meaning "greenness". In English when "green" must appear as a noun in a position where it might be mistaken for an adjective, it is changed into a noun with the affiX "ness" of course.

By the way ... there is one sure way to check if a word is saidau or not. If a word can take the intensifier sowe then the word is saidau (or a saidaun but you know it is saidau if it doesn't end in n)

(Note to self ... what béu word class is kuwai )

As a theoretical basis I am following Basic Theory as forwarded by RMW Dixon in his trilogy of the same name. I don't consider béu to diverge from Basic Theory. Just some of my categories are sub-categories of Basic Theory categories.

*In the chart we are ignoring grammatical words ... the fengi.

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..... The 7 types of word

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All words belong to one of the following 7 categories ...

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1) fengi = particle ... this is a sort of "hold-all" category for all words (and affixes) that don't neatly fit into the other categories. Interjections, numbers, pronouns, conjunctions, determiners and certain words that would be classed as adverbs in English, are all classed as fengi.

An example is Í .. the preposition indicating the dative.

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2) senko = object

An example is bàu ... "a man"

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3) olus = material, stuff

An example is moze ... "water"

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4) saidau = adjective

An example is nelau ... "dark blue"

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5) manga = a noun ... closest to the infinitive in English ... also I call it "verb base" as finite verbs are built up from this form.

An example is twá ... "to meet" (the concept of "meet" disassociated from any arguments, tense, aspect or whatever).

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6) mangan = a noun. A mangan represents one instance of the activity denoted by the manga. For example ...

twán ... "a\the meeting"

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7) saidaun = a noun derived from an adjective. The saidaus means an object possessing the property denoted by the saidau.

An example is nelaun = a/the dark blue one : nò nelaun = a/the dark blue ones

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The mangan and saidaun are transparently derived from manga and saidau so there is no need to list them separately in a dictionary.

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..... Correlatives

I GOT RID OF THE CORRELATIVE SPECIAL SYMBOLS ... TO CLEVER BY HALF

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uda	everywhere	uku	always	ubu	everybody	ufan	everything
juda	nowhere	juku	never	jubu	nobody	jufan	nothing
ida	anywhere	iku	anytime	ibu	anybody	ifan	anything
eda	somewhere	eku	sometime	ebu	somebody	efan	something

The above 16 correlatives all have a special symbols (ignore the blue and red squares).

If you wants to make plural any word from the last two rows, you must revert to the nearest generic noun available and build up a NP in the normal way..

ida	anywhere	iku	anytime	ibu	anybody	ifan	anything
nò dà ín	any places	nò kyù ín	any times	abua ín	any people	fanyoi ín	any things
eda	somewhere	eku	sometime	ebu	somebody	efan	something
nò dà èn	some places	nò kyù èn	some times	abua èn	some people	fanyoi èn	some things

A further 3 of these special symbols are shown below ....

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The short-hand forms are always used.

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(Note to self : resolve the stuff below)

The columns are related to the words ... dàn = place ... kyùs = time/occasion ... glabu = person ... fanyo = thing

ubu can mean "each person" and "all the people". If they act together uwe can be added. If they act individually bajawe can be added.

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..... Some anaphora rubbish

WELL I MIGHT GET A PARTICLE OR TWO FROM THE BELOW ... SO ???

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ò is used to represent an person, mentioned before, and still current in everybody's mind.

ʃì is used to represent an object, mentioned before, and still current in everybody's mind.

só is used to represent an scenario, mentioned before, and still current in everybody's mind.

The above would be used in such sentences as ... "She acquiesced to return to Crosby's hotel room ... which was a very bad idea".

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Four (five with nai.as ?) other particles also take -as. They are ...

lau.as	to that degree, as much as .... will not
kai.as	thus, so, in that way
sai.as	for that reason

English uses that for anaphora in the above examples.

All these words are overwhelmingly/always ? utterance final.

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..... Old morning/afternoon

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falaja = afternoon : falajas = in the afternoon/every afternoon .... (jé) falaja = in the afternoon ......

yildos = morning : yildozas = in the morning/every morning ....... (jé) falaja = in the afternoon .......

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..... Index

1. Introduction to Béu
2. Béu : Chapter 1 : The Sounds
3. Béu : Chapter 2 : The Noun
4. Béu : Chapter 3 : The Verb
5. Béu : Chapter 4 : Adjective
6. Béu : Chapter 5 : Questions
7. Béu : Chapter 6 : Derivations
8. Béu : Chapter 7 : Way of Life 1
9. Béu : Chapter 8 : Way of life 2
10. Béu : Chapter 9 : Word Building
11. Béu : Chapter 10 : Gerund Phrase
12. Béu : Discarded Stuff
13. A statistical explanation for the counter-factual/past-tense conflation in conditional sentences