Béu : Chapter 4 : The Adjective: Difference between revisions

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However the above two suffixes don't appear that often. The most common adjectives have polar forms. And it is usual to switch to the form which will allow you to express yourself using the '''ge''' or the '''mo''' suffix. But here is an example from an adjective that doesn't have a polar form.
However the above two suffixes don't appear that often. The most common adjectives have polar forms. And it is usual to switch to the form which will allow you to express yourself using the '''ge''' or the '''mo''' suffix. But here is an example from an adjective that doesn't have a polar form.


'''dè è mutuzo''' = that one is not so important
'''dè r mutuzo''' = that one is not so important


'''dí è mutuzmo''' = this one is the least important
'''dí r mutuzmo''' = this one is the least important


..
..

Revision as of 21:32, 5 December 2015

..... 72 Adjectives

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

..

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

**boizis is commonly said upon parting for what is expected to be some time. It means "may you be well".

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

..

(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
faizai richer paugau blander
maze open nago closed
saco fast gade slow
fazeu empty pagoi full
hauʔe beautiful ʔaiho ugly
ailia neat aulua untidy
joga wide teza narrow
ái white àu black
hái high ʔàu low
guboi deep sikeu shallow
seltia bright goljua dim
taiti tight jauju loose
jutu big tiji small
felgi hot polzu cold
baga simple kaza complex
naike sharp maubo blunt
nucoi wet mideu dry
wobua heavy yekia light
pujia thin fitua thick
yubau strong wikai weak
fuje soft pito hard
gelbu rough solki smooth
ʔoica clear heuda hazy
selce sparce goldo dense
cadai fragrant dacau stinking
detia elegant cojua crude

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bozor he improves kegor he worsens boʒido to improve kegudo to made worse
faizor she develops paugau she runs down faizaido to enrich/develope paugaudo to run down
mazor he opens nagor he closes mazedo to open nagodo to shut
sacori she speeds up gadori she slows down sacodo to accelerate gadedo to decelerate
fazor he empties pagor he fills fazedo to empty pagodo to fill
hauʔor she beautifies ʔaihor she makes ugly hauʔedo beautify ʔaihodo to make ugly
ailor he tidies up aulor he messes up ailido to tidy up auludo to mess up
jogor he widens tezor he narrows jogado to broaden tezado to narrow

..

aidor he whitens audor he blackens aido to whiten audo to blacken
haidor she raises/rises ʔaudor she lowers haido to raise ʔaudo to lower
gubodor she deepens sikedor she makes shallow gubodo to deepen sikedo to make shallow
seltidor he brightens goljudor he dims seltido to brighten goljudo to dim
taitidor she tightens jaujudor she loosens taitido to tighten jaujudo to loosen
jutudor he expands tijidor he shrinks jutudo to enlarge tijido to shrink
felgidor she heats up polzudor she cools down felgido to heat up polzudo to cool down
bagador she simplifies kazador she complicates bagado simplify kazado to complicate
naikedor he sharpens maubodor he makes blunt naikedo to sharpen maubodo to blunt
nucodor she makes wet midedor she dries nucodo to make wet midedo to dry
wobudor he loads up yekidor he unloads wobudo to load up yekido to unload
pujidor he makes thin fitudor he thickens pujido to make thin fitudo to thicken
yubador she strengthens wikador she weakens yubado to strengthen wikado to weaken
fujedor softens pitodor she hardens fujedo to soften pitodo to harden
gelbudor she roughens solkidor she smoothes gelbudo to roughen solkido to smooth
ʔoicador she explains heudador she confuses ʔoicado to explain heudado to muddy the waters
selcedor he prunes goldodor he intensifies selcedo to prune goldodo to intensify
cadador she make fragrant dacador she makes stinky cadado to make fragrant dacado to make stinky
detidor he decorates/embellishes cojudor he spoils detido to decorate cojudo to decorate in a gauche style

..

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

..

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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..... Quantity

... many, a lot

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haì = many

haì bawa = many men

This word is only used with countable nouns. With un-countable nouns we use .

comes after the noun that it qualifies.

moze hè = a lot of water

also can qualify verbs and adjectives. As with normal adverbs, if it doesn't immediately follow the verb it must take the form hewe.

glá doikori hè = the woman has walked a lot

glá (rò) hauʔe hè = the woman is very beautiful

hewe glá doikori = the woman has walked a lot

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... few, a little, a bit a little bit

..

uhai = few

uhe = a little

However a word meaning the same as uhe is iyo (also iyowe, when used as an adverb separated from the verb). iyo occurs twice as much as uhe.

hemai = amount, quantity .... there is no word *haimai

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... to a greater degree

..

Appended to an adjective, ge indicates to a greater degree.

Appended to an adjective, mo indicates to the greatest degree.

When we have this sort of construction, we are usually comparing to people or things. The background person or thing has the pilana wo. For example ....

jene jutuge jonowo = Jane is bigger than John

jene jutumo = Jane is biggest

Note ... In English the words "more" (also "most", "less" and "least") can occur with multi-syllable adjectives. Also "more" can qualify nouns and verbs as well. The béu equivalent of "more" when qualifying nouns (non-countable) and verbs is hege. haige is used for countable nouns.

[ haige would translate Thai " ììk ", as in " ììk nɯɯŋ bìa " ]

..

... to a less degree

..

Also we have zo which indicates a lesser degree.

Plus we have zmo which indicated the least degree.

However the above two suffixes don't appear that often. The most common adjectives have polar forms. And it is usual to switch to the form which will allow you to express yourself using the ge or the mo suffix. But here is an example from an adjective that doesn't have a polar form.

dè r mutuzo = that one is not so important

dí r mutuzmo = this one is the least important

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... to the same degree

..

As well as ge, mo, zo and zmo there is one more suffix that is appended to adjectives. It is la (note this is a pilana when appended to nouns)

jene jutula jonowo = Jane is as big as John

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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



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.


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, 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 ...

moŋgos flora ama pazbamau (the gibbon is eating an apple on the apple) pazbamau is an adjective describing where the apple is (or was).

moŋgos flora pazbamau ama (the gibbon is eating an apple on the apple) pazbamau is an adverb describing where the "eating" is taking place.

Note ... In English, the sentence "the monkey eats the apple on the table" is ambiguous.

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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..... Signage

... Road

..

TW 232.png

TW 233.png

TW 240.png

The above is what you pass through when you enter a town. There can be no "Welcome to Pleasantsville" written. It should just be a plane red colour on top. The name of the town on the sides.

On the opposite side of this sign, the red colour will be green. There will be nothing at all written anywhere on the other side ... next town ???

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... Major Buildings

..

Quite similar to the node sign for roads is the sign giving directions in major buildings (such as airports, train stations etc.). However the position of the coloured circles does not show the angle that the joining road takes at the intersection. It shows the angle from the reader to the destination beacon. Actually there is a big black ring on the floor and it is assumed that the reader is within this ring. It is the angle from this ring to the destination beacon that is represented by the position of the coloured circles.

At the bottom of the below diagram, can be seen the destination beacon. It is a sphere about 50 cm in diameter. It is supported by a black pillar which is about 6 foot high. The beacon colour follows the colour of the circle in the sign. The beacon should be located in a clear (unobstructed) area maybe about 20 or 30 mtrs from the destination (for example toilets, information desk, screens displaying timetables, passport control etc. etc.). For course the destination should be clearly visible from near the beacon.

TW 241.png

The signs at the middle of the above diagram are found near stairways and escalators. Upon stepping off a stairway the sign on the LHS should be clearly visible. This shows what floor you are on (ground floor is floor one by the way). The other two signs are positioned near the entrance to a stairway and tell you where the stairway is going.

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... Streets

..

TW 244.png

Above can be seen a street sign. These street signs are placed in from the corner, a distance equal to half the width of the street (measured building wall to building wall). They are well above head hight and offset from the wall by 60 % of their width. In the middle section is written the name of the street.

In the top section there is the distance along the street of the nearest corner. In the bottom section is the distance along the street of the next corner (measured in units of 2.13 mtrs ... houses do not have numbers as such ... they are all addressed as to how many mtrs they are along the street). Now the sign shown is what you see looking from the corner towards the street. What is written on the back side of the sign is exactly the same as you would see if you looked over directly behind you and saw the sign across the street (i.e. at an intersection you will see eight signs, but they come in pairs that are exactly the same).

One side of the street will have negative numbers. If you are walking away from the centre of town, then the negative numbered side will be on your left. If you are walking around the centre in an anti-clockwise direction, then the negative numbers will be on your left.

The start of the street is marked will the symbol for zero (a black dot), and no black triangle.

The end of the street is marked by that part of the sign having a red background (and no triangle).

TW 245.png

To try and give you an idea of the system, I have drawn the diagram above. The signs 1, 2 and 3 are what you see on "olive street" at positions 1, 2 and 3.

What I have shown as pink should actually be red. I have done a bad drawing. Every instance of "olive" should be the exact same size. A lot of the signs will be different heights as no blank spaces are allowed inside a sign. Only one font and font size are allowed for every sign in a town.

One further point. If you are walking from the centre of town, and the street you are on is within 18 degrees of directly out from the centre, then every street name you see will have a green background (However the red background has precedence when green and red both apply).

No street can be longer than 1,872 units long (about 4 km)

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..... Symbols

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Words are not always written out in full. Certain common words have their own special symbol. For instance the ergative pronouns ...

TW 234.png

And the non-ergative pronouns ...

TW 235.png

The words "table" = pazba, "bracket" = gizgi, "interior wall" = ozdo and "chair" = yuzlu have probably got some relationship with the above symbols.

And the determiners ...

TW 236.png

Note that looks similar to the sign for dùa ... similar but not exactly the same. The two slanting strokes meet the vertical stroke exactly halfway along for .

And the particles "and" and "or" ...

TW 243.png

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..... Some Musings

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* WHAT  ??? ... To get enough food ... is that it ??

it is not a complete answer ... but it is about 80% or 90% of the answer)

E) ... Other bits and pieces ... but really, they pale into insignificance compared to D).


However that fact should not condemn it to disregard. By arranging the beukia in such a way that people of "compassion" and "taste" always rise to the top of the organisation and and also by having a method that allows for continuous revision of every aspect of itself, béu should produce truths and ways that are very worthy of regard.


"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).



béu place great importance upon education and lifelong learning. There is a core body of work that all béume must read. Also there are a great many “recommended works” that they are encouraged to study.

The most important “daily ritual” is 15 minutes given over to the study of these books..

béume are expected to show generosity, hospitality, and to constantly pursue of social justice and reform of poor institutions. They are discouraged from the excessive pursuit of luxury and status.

Rather … they believe that in order to be happy, you need …

1) A community of good friends

2) To be engaged in work that gives satisfaction (as part of this self-empoyment is look favourably on)

3) To spend a part of each day in contemplation (reading the holy books is believed engenders this contemplation) ... beume believe that the highest calling in life is to expand the body of knowledge that humanity possesses ( peugəŋgau) ... to accomplish addition or amendment to one of the treasure of books that are considered "cannonical" is to gain the greatest regard possible from fellow beume.


For the harmonious functioning of society as a whole, everybody should follow the rule …

1) What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others


Probably the most detailed part of béu is beuba (the language of béu).

First some new words concerning béu ...

beuki = a person that follows béu and takes part in the community of béu

beume = a person that follows béu but follows in a private manner.*

beugan = all the people that follow béu plus all the paraphernalia of béu (i.e. buildings, flags, clothes, etc. etc.)

Note ... I will not use the term beuba from now on ... I shall simply say béu. This is sufficient since it is obvious that I am talking about the language. In a similar way, in a book about language you do not continuously come across the term "the English language" ... but rather "English".


The foundations of béu

Some questions and answers ...


Question ... What is béu ?

Answer ... béu is a way of life.


Question ... Where does béu come from ?

Answer ... Well béu was wilfully constructed here, down on earth, by humans. But actually béu is designed to evolve over time, so maybe it is better to say that béu is "being constructed", rather than "was constructed".


Question ... Why was béu constructed ?

Answer ... béu was constructed to fill a gap in the life of a man. Or perhaps it would be better to say ... béu was constructed to fill a gap in the lives of men.


Question ... What was the starting point in this construction ?

Answer ... The starting point for constructing béu was to ask two questions. Which were ....


What is a human being ?

What is the point of life ?

After some thought the first question was answered on three different levels …

A) ... A collection of genes.

B) ... A collection of urges ... to eat, to drink, to have sex, etc etc etc

C) ... A network of friends and family … loved-ones.

And after some further thought the answer to the second question was answered …

D) … To get enough food.*


béu is an attempt to build a "framework" for life. A framework that is compatible with the 4 answers given above. But why a framework, you might ask. Well it seems to be a psychological need. Because people are happier when they are told what they can and can not do, what goals are worth striving for and which are worthless. And also as part of this "framework" ... well people like "ritual", they like purposeful action without too much thought, they like the thought that they are part of something bigger than themselves, they like to feel meaning in their lives, they like to feel that they are part of a tradition that stretches back eons and eons. ( OK ... béu can not fulfil the last item ... or at least, not at the moment)

In short béu is a gigantic collection of meme's ... aesthetically pleasing and slotting together harmoniously with each other.

..

Three basic concepts ... angwa, honda and aska

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

angwa can best be translated as "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"

angwai is an adjective meaning "graceful", "elegant" or "poetic"

angwa is considered getting the right balance between honda and aska

honda can best be translated as "order"

aska can best be translated as "chaos"

..

..... 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