Béu : Chapter 4 : The Adjective

..... 72 Adjectives

..... 4 of which serve as intransitive verbs

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bòi *	good	boizora	she is healthy	bòis	to be healthy/health
kéu	bad	keuzora	he is ill	kéus	to be sick/illness
fái	rich **	faizora	she is interested	fáis	to be attentive/attention
pàu	bland	pauzora	he is bored	pàus	to be bored/boredom

^* Note that the adverb version of this word is slightly irregular. Instead of boiwe it is bowe. People often shout this when impressed with some athletic feat or sentiment voiced ... bowe bowe => well done => bravo bravo

Also instead of keuwe we have kewe. People often shout kewe kewe kewe if they are unimpressed with some athletic feat or disagree with a sentiment expressed. Equivalent to "Booo boo".

^**In a non-monetary sense. If applied to food it means many flavours and/or textures. If applied to music it means there is polyphony. If applied to physical design it means baroque.

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... 12 of which don't serve as any type of verbs

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igwa	equal, the same
uʒya	different, not the same
sài	young
gáu	old (of a living thing)
jini	clever, smart
tumu	stupid, thick
wenfo	new
yompe	old, former, previous
cùa	east, dawn, sunrise
día	west, dusk, sundown
bene	right, positive
komo	left, negative

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(Of course you can always use a periphrastic expression if you wanted.)

... 54 of which serve as transitive verbs

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boʒi	better	kegu	worse	bozor	he/she improves	kegor	he/she made something worse	boʒido	to improve	kegudo	to made worse
faizai	richer	paugau	blander	faizor	she developed	paugau	she run something down	faizaido	to enrich/develope	paugaudo	to run down
maze	open	nago	closed	mazori	he opens	nagori	he closes	mazedo	to open	nagodo	to shut
saco	fast	gade	slow	sacori	she speeds up	gadori	she slows down	sacodo	to accelerate	gadedo	to decelerate
fazeu	empty	pagoi	full	fazor	he empties	pagor	he fills	fazedo	to empty	pagodo	to fill
hauʔe	beautiful	ʔaiho	ugly	hauʔor	she beautifies	ʔaihor	she makes ugly	hauʔedo	beautify	ʔaihodo	to make ugly
ailia	neat	aulua	untidy	ailor	he tidies up	aulor	he messes up	ailido	to tidy up	auludo	to mess up
joga	wide	teza	narrow	jogor	he widens	tezor	he narrows	jogado	to broaden	tezado	to narrow
ái	white	àu	black	aidor	he whitened	audor	he turned something black	aido	to whiten	audo	to blacken
hái	high	ʔàu	low	haidor	she raised	ʔaudor	she lowered	haido	to raise	ʔaudo	to lower
guboi	deep	sikeu	shallow	gubodor	she deepens	sikedor	she makes shallow	gubodo	to deepen	sikedo	to make shallow
seltia	bright	goljua	dim	seltidor	he brightens	goljudor	he dims	seltido	to brighten	goljudo	to dim
taiti	tight	jauju	loose	taitidor	she tightens	jaujudor	she loosens	taitido	to tighten	jaujudo	to loosen
jutu	big	tiji	small	jutudor	he expands	tijidor	he shrinks	jutudo	to enlarge	tijido	to shrink
felgi	hot	polzu	cold	felgidor	she heats up	polzudor	she cools down	felgido	to heat up	polzudo	to cool down
baga	simple	kaza	complex	bagador	she simplifies	kazador	she complicates	bagado	simplify	kazado	to complicate
naike	sharp	maubo	blunt	naikedor	he sharpens	maubodor	he blunts something	naikedo	to sharpen	maubodo	to blunt
nucoi	wet	mideu	dry	nucodor	she makes wet	midedor	she dries	nucodo	to make wet	midedo	to dry
wobua	heavy	yekia	light	wobudor	he loads up	yekidor	he unloads	wobudo	to load up	yekido	to unload
pujia	thin	fitua	thick	pujidor	he makes thin	fitudor	he thickens	pujido	to make thin	fitudo	to thicken
yubau	strong	wikai	weak	yubador	she strengthens	wikador	she weakens	yubado	to strengthen	wikado	to weaken
fuje	soft	pito	hard	fujedor	softens	pitodor	she hardens	fujedo	to soften	pitodo	to harden
gelbu	rough	solki	smooth	gelbudor	she roughens	solkidor	she smoothes	gelbudo	to roughen	solkido	to smooth
ʔoica	clear	heuda	hazy	ʔoicador	she explains	heudador	she confuses	ʔoicado	to explain	heudado	to muddy the waters
selce	sparce	goldo	dense	selcedor	he prunes	goldodor	he intensifies	selcedo	to prune	goldodo	to intensify
cadai	fragrant	dacau	stinking	cadador	she make fragrant	dacador	she makes stinky	cadado	to make fragrant	dacado	to make stinky
detia	elegant	cojua	crude	detidor	he decorates/embellishes	cojudor	he spoils	detido	to decorate	cojudo	to decorate in a gauche style

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The top 4 adjectives in the table above are actually irregular comparatives.

The standard method for forming the comparative and superlative is ... ái = white : aige = whiter : aimo = whitest

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However not quite all antonyms fall into the above pattern. For example ...

loŋga = tall, tìa = short

wazbia = far, mùa = near ... wazbo = distance, wazbai = about 3,680 mtr (the unit of distance)

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... Antonym phonetic correspondence

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In the above lists, it can be seen that each pair of adjectives have pretty much the exact opposite meaning from each other. However in béu there is ALSO a relationship between the sounds that make up these words.

In fact every element of a word is a mirror image (about the L-A axis in the chart below) of the corresponding element in the word with the opposite meaning.

ʔ
m
y
j		ai
f		e
b		eu
g		u
d		ua		high tone
l	===========================	a	============================	neutral
c		ia		low tone
s/ʃ		i
k		oi
p		o
t		au
w
n
h

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Note ... The original idea of having a regular correspondence between the two poles of a antonym pair came from an earlier idea for the script. In this early script, the first 8 consonants had the same shape as the last 8 consonants but turned 180˚. And in actual fact the two poles of a antonym pair mapped into each other under a 180˚ turn.

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An adjectives is called moizana in béu .... NO NO NO

moizu = attribute, characteristic, feature

And following the way béu works, if there is an action that can be associated with noun (in any way at all), that noun can be co-opted to work as an verb.

Hence moizori = he/she described, he/she characterized, he/she specified ... moizus = the noun corresponding to the verb on the left

moizo = a specification, a characteristic asked for ... moizoi = specifications ... moizana = things that describe, things that specify

nandau moizana = an adjective, but of course, especially in books about grammar, this is truncated to simply moizana

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..... Adverbs

There are 4 types of word that function as adverbs in béu.

1) There are adjectives which are changed into adverbs by suffixing -we. For example ...

saco = quick

sacowe = quickly

THIS type of adverbs can have any position within a sentence. However if they immediately follow the verb which they are qualifying, the suffix is deleted. For example ...

doikora saco namboye = doikora namboye sacowe = sacowe doikora namboye = she is walking quickly home

2) There are nouns which are changed into adverbs by suffixing -we. For example ...

deuta = soldier

deutɘwe = "in the manner of a soldier"

Note that the final vowel in deuta changes here. This is because as well as being a suffix, wé is a noun in its own right meaning "way" or "method" (see the section on word building)

Just as saco is an adjective which is considered an adverb when immediately following a verb, so deutɘwe is an adverb that is considered an adjective when immediately following a noun.

Also a noun is formed by suffixing -mi to the end.

deutɘwemi = soldierliness

3) One of the functions of a nouns with pilana 1 => 8 + 15 is as an adverb. This type of adverb must follow the verb immediately. In a similar manner to type 2), if this form comes after a noun it is considered an adjective. For example ...

TABLEmau can be a noun meaning the space above the table. But in the sentence "monkey eats apple tableMAU", TABLEmau is an adjective describing the apple (i.e. where the apple is). However in the sentence "monkey eats tableMAU apple" TABLEmau is an adverb (describing where the "eating" takes place).

Note ... In English, the sentence "the monkey eats the apple on the table" is ambiguous. (as is "john eat the apple on the table")

Go thru the other pilana ???

4) This type of adverbs are nouns that are stand for time periods. For example tomorrow, yesterday, the past et. etc. Basically when they are not copula subjects, copula complements or in the ergative case, they are adverbs.

5) Words such as "often" ??? ( = many times ???) ... a particle ???

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..... The Way

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"béu" specifies certain "best practices" for many many aspects of life. These "best practices" encompass many varied aspects of life.

For example the manner in which the 5 yearly festivals should be celebrated, what screw shapes and sizes should be used, how a man should treat his wife and a woman her husband, the periods of fasting and dietary restrictions that each individual should undertake.

These are just some examples of these "best practices". Actually each of these "best practices" are given a level of importance. There are 3 of these levels ... "recommended", "highly recommended" and "an absolute must".

These "best practices" are set out in various books. Theses books are held to be "canonical" or holy. However these writings are not set in stone, and there are mechanisms where by these books are updated and also new books can be added to the "special books".

Some people consider these "special books" to constitute a religion that has no god. However other people follow these "best practices" as just "cool things to do" and fit them in to their lives under another over-reaching belief system, such as Christianity or Islam (in much the same way that the early Buddhist adherent were free either to forget the old hindu gods or to continue to venerate them).

At the centre of this body of work defining the "best practices" there are 3 important concepts.

1) angwa The closest translation is "harmony"

When used in relation to motion it can be translated as "grace" When used in relation to design it can be translated as "elegance" When used in relation to text it can be translated as "poetry"

The adjective corresponding to angwa is angwai

angwa is considered getting the right balance between "order" and "chaos"

2) honda This can be translated as "order"

3) aska This can be translated as "chaos"

I suppose the above 2 concepts can be considered the Yin and Yang of "béu"

However the secondary concepts that are associated with Yin and Yang, for the most part, do not fit into the honda/aska dichotomy.

Just for ease of reference I have listed the secondary concept associated with Yin and Yang below.

YIN	YANG
femininity	masculinity
soft	hard
yielding	solid
passive	aggressive or active
fast	slow
the moon	the sun
black	white
cold	hot
wet	dry
water	fire
nighttime	daytime
the earth	the sky
diffuse	focused

However "order" and "chaos" are associated with other concepts. They have each 2 "under-concepts" ...

honda is associated with the colour "sky blue" suna and "tranquility"

aska is associated with the colour "orange" nela and "activity"

And each under-concept is associated with one under-under-concept

And the under.concepts, have in turn, underconcepts of their own ...

sky blue => the sky

orange => the sun

tranquility => dead

activity => alive

As well as no associations (for the most part) with the concepts linked to Yin and Yang ... also there is strictly no association with

good/bad, truth/falsehood, right/wrong, north/south, beauty/uglyness, positive/negative, right/left ... etc etc etc

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Minor points pertaining to honda and aska

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The "béu.symbol" is a orange disk with a sky blue background (the "béu.symbol" has both a simple and a complex representation)

This imagery continues into the way that machines are marked ...

To show that a machine is working, an orange disc is illuminated To show that a machine is switched off, a sky blue square is illuminated

The button to switch a machine on, is an orange disk with a black ring on it The button to switch a machine off, is a sky blue square with a black ring on it

( Of course the functions of indication and switching are often combined in one button )

For rocker switches ( such as light swithes ) the top part is square and you push this to switch off ... the bottom part is semicircular and you push this to switch on

By the way "red" is associated with danger and "green" is associated with safety So for example traffic lights are exactly the same ( including the orange in the middle )

By the way there are no other associations with colour ... you do not talk about a blackheart or a yellow streak etc etc ... kids are not split up according to pink or blue clothes, etc etc

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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