Béu : Chapter 9 : Word Building
..... Word building
Many béu words can be analysed as being constructed from more basic elements.
In chapter 5 we showed how a noun could be made out of two basic nouns.
Here are some more examples ;-
bái | to raise | gwaino = | a machine | gwaino bái = | "a machine of levitation" | => | baino = | a lift or an elevator |
bái = | to rise | tagu = | a tool | tagu bái = | "a rising tool" | => | baigu = | a ladder |
nandau = | a word | toili = | a book | toili nandau = | "a book of words" | => | nandɘli = | a dictionary |
limba = | a tongue or language | megau = | a body of knowledge, | megau limba = | "the study of language" | => | limbəgau = | linguistics |
And below is a list of the most common words that are made this way. They are grouped according to their tail element.
Word or -DAU
A word = nandau
sky.sound = a vowel sky.sound.za = a diphthong or a triphthong sky.sound. nyo = a vowel OR a diphthong/triphthong
earth.sound = a consonant earth.sound.za = a consonant cluster earth.sound.nyo = a consonant OR a consonant cluster
Book or -LI
A book = toili
Machine or -NO
swé = to speak : sweno = the telephone
jwòi = to think : jwoino = a computer
pyá = to fly : pyano = an aeroplane
pyá = to fly : pyano = an aeroplane
bái = to rise : baino = an elevator
kwèu = to turn : kweuno = lathe
kyò = to use : kyono = a robot
bwí = to see : bwino = TV
and this suffix can sometimes be appended to nouns ...
wèu = a vehicle : weuno = a motor, an engine
Wagon or -WEU
A vehicle = wèu
Building or -DO
bundo = building ... from the verb ... bunda = "to build"
..
gaudo = workshop
Side or -ʔA
ʔà = side
aibaʔa = a triangle
ugaʔa = a square
idaʔa = a pentagon
elaʔa = a hexagon
ò atas nambo = he/she is above the house ... however if "house" is understood, and mention of it is dropped, we must add ʔa to atas ... for example ...
ò atasʔa = he/she is above
dauniʔa = underneath
liʒiʔa = on the left hand side
luguʔa = on the right hand side
noldo, suldo, westa, istu niaka, muaka faceside backside etc. etc.
Face (or 2D stretch but typically non-horizontal) or -ʔAU
daʔau = face
ugaʔau = a tetrahedron
elaʔau = a cube
ezaʔau = an octahedron
ajauʔau = a dodecahedron
ajauzaʔau = an icosahedron
Volume/Room or -ʔAI
daʔai = volume, room
moʃiʔai = water room = bathrooom
= bedroom
= cookroom
= livingroom
= store room
You can name the regular shapes in 4 dimensions.
idaʔai = a 5-cell
ezaʔai = an 8-cell
ajaugaʔai = a 16-cell
uvauʔai = a 24-cell
apauʔai = 120-cell
agaivauʔai = 600-cell
Something complex or -KAS
kòi = day, the time in which the sun is over the horizon
koikas = a 24 hour period
maŋga = infinitive verb
maŋkas = infinitive verb phrase
seŋko = object
seŋkas = noun phrase
helgo = a finite verb
helkas = a clause
A container or -COI
A container = mencoi
Stuff/powder ? or -YO
powder = ponyo
bunduyo = cement
wheatyo = flour
maizeyo = maize flour
ʔazwoyo = milk powder
Air/gas or -LU
Air/gas = kalu
..
hydrogen = first.lu
helium = koilu
neon = unmixinglu second
argon = unmixinglu third
krupton = unmixinglu forth
clean = cadai ....
chlorine = cadakuzlu < cadakuʒi-lu
bromine = cadakuze < cadakuʒi-ze
iodine = cadakuʒi- ???
strontium = caimoi fairy metal
Group -DE
This one deletes the last vowel of the root if attached to a diphthong ...... like -ko or -da or -la.
dode = a mountain range < dòi
alhade = a bunch of flowers
bodede = a flock of birds
gwade = an archipelago < gwái
fizade = a school of fish
ʔupode = forest
ampede = a society, an association < ampeu
lentode = a league
pullde = a team, a club
kodade = cooperative < kodai
treatyde = alliance
doikade = a gang, a band
Member -CO
This one deletes the last vowel of the root if attached to a diphthong ...... like -ko or -da or -la.
kuda = a shop
kudaco = a shop assistant
beco = an active member of the béu community ... as opposed to a beume who follows béu in a private manner ???
Shape/form or -PE
mepe = shape, form
We do not want a "unit", "boat".
⁕⁕nandauli is a good example of béu word building. toili = book, nandau = word, toili nandaun = book of words. However if two words such as these geudidau means extended word. It is also a good example of an extended word, in itself.
geuda is a verb meanbéuing to extend in one direction (usually not up). geudo is an noun meaning an extension or appendix. geudi is an adjective meaning extended.
nandau geudi = extended word ... now when a noun and a following adjective occur together a lot (and maybe take on a meaning slightly different) the concept they represent is normally upgraded to a word, by deleting all but the last CV (consonant vowel) in the first word, and sticking this CV on to the end of the second word.
Hence we get geudidau. In theory there is no limit to the combinations that can occur. However in practice (outside of technical language) there are slightly under a hundred different CV's, and the number of elements that every CV can combine with, varies from 3 or 4 up to about 40.
In English we have a number of common endings, such as "-ism", "-ology", "ist", etc. etc. In béu the end-stuck CV's can be thought of as equivalent to these English endings : the main difference is that this word building process is much more prevalent in béu.
The CV -dau (from nandau) is found in combination with a number of other elements. For example ;-
Note that in the last example, the meaning of the extended word has shifted a bit with respect to the meaning of the original words.
It is possible to extend further an extended word. For example ;-
kaza is an adjective meaning compicated and also is a noun meaning "a complicated thing" or "a complex".
kaza cwipadaun = a complex of a noun => cwipadauza = a noun phrase
..... More word building
The above are examples of non-basic words originating from two nouns.
There is also another kind of non-basic word. This one originating from a noun and a particle.
The particle is not an independent word and usually only exists as a suffix ( -da is an exception to this, it can occur as a prefix as well)
Note that in some occasions a bit of erosion has occurred. For example ...
"bee" = habis and not *alhabis
"society" = peugan and not *ampeugan
The reason for this ... well common words should not be to long. But why did I not just create a new short word for the concepts "bee" and "society". It was not that I am trying to construct a language family with a different set of phonological rules to derive each of the daughter languages from the Ur-language. The fact is that I expect people (on some level at last) to associate the first syllable in "bee" with the last syllable in "flower", first syllable in "society" with the last syllable in "associate". Also I expect people to associate the concept of "bee" to the concept of "flower", the concept of "society" to the concept of "society" (again probably at a subconscious level).
I feel that in doing things the above way makes béu more "poetic". Also that it holds the whole thing together.
..
Nominalizer -FAN
..
This suffix usually produces an uncountable tangible nouns ... well sort of tangible.
..
yái | to have | yaifan | gear, moveable property |
wàu | to own | waufan | possessions, property |
flò | to eat | flofan | food |
dó | to do, to make, to produce | dofan | products, produce (the noun) |
náu | to give | naufan | tribute, tax |
glà | to store | glafan | reserves, stores |
..
Nominalizer to make uncountable intangible nouns -GAN
..
This suffix is sometimes used to make a more complex concept from a simple concept. Of course there must be some relationship between the base concept and the derived concept, however tenuous.
Also it is used in a few instances to give a sort of "collective" meaning. The items in the below table all have a "collective" derivation.
hái | high, tall | haigan | the first dimension |
joga | broad | jogan | the second dimension |
guboi | deep | gugan | the third dimension |
xxx | position | xxgan | space |
kyù | occasion (time) | kyugan | time (in the general sense) |
And not forgetting dekogan meaning "spacetime".
Also (very important) ...
béu = A culture, with the speaking, reading and writing the béu language having a significant roll.
beugan = The community of béu. That is the sum total of all people who follow béu together with all written texts, buildings and other artifacts to do with béu
Another important one ...
peugan = society at large, society in general, the entirety of humanity
..
Used to derive names of states or dynasties -TUN
..
No longer a word in its own right. It might originally have meant something like "power" or "rule". Now used purely as an affix. A number of countries that have a capital city a lot bigger that any urban center are named after their capital. For example ...
londontun = The United Kingdom
palistun = France
baŋkotun = Thailand
Also used for naming dynasties. For example ...
yuantun = The YUAN dynasty in China
wilyamtun = The system of government in England after the Norman Conquest.
..
Person or -BU
..
This affix is used with the 5 correlatives ubu jubu ibu ebu and embu
Also it is used for paid professionals. For example ....
ʔazwo = milk => ʔazwobu = milkman
pulis = the police => pulizbu = a policeman .... pulizbu galai = a police woman
-bu and -me also impinges on -tai "a professional" and -vau "a craftsman"
Note ... heume = farmer, the owner of a farm ... heubu = a farmer, a farm laborer ... heuvau = farm hand, seasonal farm laborer
..
Person or -ME
..
beume = a follower of béu
to compete, to struggleme = a capitalist
to shareme = a socialist
ʔài = same => ʔaimai = equality => ʔaimaime = a communist
..
Something more complex -SA
..
Surely this is done by KAS now.
Something more complex OR the original thing -NYO
Index
- Introduction to Béu
- Béu : Chapter 1 : The Sounds
- Béu : Chapter 2 : The Noun
- Béu : Chapter 3 : The Verb
- Béu : Chapter 4 : Adjective
- Béu : Chapter 5 : Questions
- Béu : Chapter 6 : Derivations
- Béu : Chapter 7 : Way of Life 1
- Béu : Chapter 8 : Way of life 2
- Béu : Chapter 9 : Word Building
- Béu : Chapter 10 : Gerund Phrase
- Béu : Discarded Stuff
- A statistical explanation for the counter-factual/past-tense conflation in conditional sentences