Flavors & Roots
Zovu
Many translations include IPA phonetics using square bracket notation (“[]”).
See Phonetics for details on Zovu's spoken language.
4 Element Flavors
Seen Change
Unseen Change
Seen Continuity
Unseen Continuity
Zovu’s elements (see The Elements) include 4 flavors:
These flavors are the combination of 4 (quite obvious) complementary flavor roots:
Seen
Unseen
Change
Continuity
An element’s flavor is a description of it’s temperament. For each class (Wave, Matter, Nature, Spirit) there’s an excitation of each flavor.
4 classes, 4 flavors — 16 elements.
Being at the fundamental level of the language, flavors show up independently in Zovu as critical parts of speech…
Entity
The Entity (“[ð]”) root followed by one or more flavors (or the holistic representation of a class “[o]”) expresses the pronouns of Zovu:
Entity + Seen Entity = [ða] = I / Me (1st person sg. pronoun)
Entity + Unseen Entity = [ðu] = You (2nd person sg. pronoun)
Entity + Seen Change = [ði] = They (animate 3rd person sg. pronoun)
Entity + Unseen Change = [ðe] = It (inanimate 3rd person sg. pronoun)
Entity + Seen Change + Whole = [ðio] = They (animate 3rd person plural pronoun)
Entity + Whole + Seen Change = [ðeo] = They (inanimate 3rd person plural pronoun)
Entity + Seen Entity + Seen Change = [ðai] = We (1st person plural pronoun)
Entity + Seen Entity + Unseen Entity = [ðau] = We / Me and you (1st person plural pronoun)
Entity + Whole = [ðo] = All
Entity + Whole + Seen Change = [ðoi] = Everyone
Entity + Whole + Unseen Change = [ðoe] = Everything
Depending on the context, the Entity root on it’s own also acts as an article:
Entity = [ðə] = Entity / The
Change
The Change (“[θ]”) root followed by one or more flavors (or the holistic “[o]”) expresses the conjunctions of Zovu:
Change + Seen Entity = [θa] = But
Change + Unseen Entity = [θu] = Or
Change + Seen Change = [θi] = For / Because
Change + Unseen Change = [θe] = So / Thus
Change + Unseen Change = [θo] = And
Seen & Unseen
The Seen (“[m]”) and Unseen (“[h]”) roots are appended as suffixes to element morphemes to express certain phrases and relationships:
Possessive
Noun1 + [m] + Noun2 = Noun1 “ of ” Noun2
Gerund
Verb + [m] = Verb “-ing”
Plural
Noun + [h] = “Some” Noun
Participial Adjective
Verb + [h] = Verb “-ed”
Comparative Adjective
Adj1 + [h] + (Noun / Adj2) = Adj1 “-er than” (Noun / Adj2)
Comparative Adverb
Adv1 + [h] + (Noun / Adv2) = Adv1 “-er than” (Noun / Adv2)
In the same light as the Possessive phrase structure above, the Seen (“[m]”) root is used between morphemes of complex meanings for a larger-derived meaning:
Water = [zi] = Water
Water + Nature = [ziʒo] = Aquatic Environment
Nature + Life = [ʒoi] = Growth
Water + Nature + Life = Aquatic Environment + Life = [ziʒoi] = Coral Reef
Water + [m] + Nature + Life = Water + Growth = [zimʒoi] = Milk
The Unseen (“[h]”) root followed by a flavor, flavor morpheme, or element morpheme expresses the question words of Zovu:
Unseen + “They” = [həði] = Who
Unseen + “They / It” = [həðe] = What
Unseen + “Space” = [həʒa] = Where
Unseen + “Time” = [həʒu] = When
Unseen + “Life” = [həʒi] = Is it such that (questioning a situation)
Unseen + “Nature” = [həʒo] = How
Unseen + “Will” = [həve] = Why
Unseen + “Quantity” = [həvaʒa] = How much
Unseen + “Ownership” = [həvoɣa] = Whose
Unseen + “What” + Seen = [həðemə] = Which