Phonetics
Zovu
Many translations include IPA phonetics using square bracket notation (“[]”).
See Phonetics for details on Zovu's spoken language.
IPA System
Below are charts of the International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA) system’s consonants and vowels highlighting Zovu’s phonetics in coded colors.
Consonants
Vowels
Parts of Speech
Zovu’s parts of speech are phonetically represented by the type of consonant being used for the elemental classes (Wave, Matter, Nature, Spirit). Each class has a set of 4 consonants for each part of speech:
| Wave | Matter | Nature | Spirit | Class | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noun | [ɣ] | [z] | [ʒ] | [v] | |
| Verb | [x] | [s] | [ʃ] | [f] | |
| Adjective | [g] | [d] | [dʒ] | [b] | |
| Adverb | [k] | [t] | [tʃ] | [p] | POS |
For example, the knowledge + space morphemes in each POS:
[vaʒa] = Quantity (Noun)
[faʃa] = To Quantify (Verb)
[badʒa] = Numerous (Adjective)
[patʃa] = Many Times (Adverb)
Flavor Vowels
[a] = Seen Entity
[u] = Unseen Entity
[i] = Seen Change
[e] = Unseen Change
Each flavor of Zovu is expressed a vowel.
[ɣa] = Gravity
[ɣu] = Sound
[ɣi] = Light
[ɣe] = Heat
[za] = Earth
[zu] = Air
…
Add these as a suffix to the element class consonants above, and you express the 16 elements:
[ɣo] = Wave
[zo] = Matter
[ʒo] = Nature
[vo] = Spirit
To express the classes themselves as morphemes, you use the vowel “[o]” in place of the other four:
past = time (“[zu]”) + knowledge (“[va]”) = [zuva]
memory = knowledge (“[va]”) + time (“[zu]”) = [vazu]
When combining the element morphemes, you append each in order of significance to the meaning of the new word:
When two morphemes of the same elemental class and POS, are adjacent to each other, they condense into a single morpheme, removing redundant consonants:
Mud = earth (“[za]”) + water (“[zi]”) = [zai]
Salt Water = water (“[zi]”) + earth (“[za]”) = [zia]
Flavor Roots
Each Flavor Root (see Flavors & Roots) have an associated consonant. In the next section you’ll see how these are extended with another sound for natural pronounciation:
[ð] → Entity
[θ] → Change
[m] → Seen
[h] → Unseen
[ə]
The phonetic [ə] is used throughout Zovu’s speech to create a natural flow. When adjacent consonants are strained when transitioning between them, it’s commonly added between them.
[rəfe] = To not will
[həðe] = What
[ðə] = Entity / The
[θə] = Change / To
[mə] = Seen
[hə] = Unseen
Similarly, consonants used independently will be followed by [ə] for added weight.
In-Depth
POS Consonants
The phonetics of the elements, flavors, and flavor roots were decisively chose based on the meaning represented. This goes beyond what’s needed to speak Zovu but is helpful to intuitively pick up the language. Or more importantly — to nerd out.
Each consonant is a combination of 2 characteristics: the element class and the POS. In the elemental philosophy (we’ll pretentiously call it) the classes are arranged in a specific order you might have guessed by reading other sections:
Wave → Matter → Nature → Spirit
This order is represented by where each class’ consonants are placed in the mouth. Wave consonants are the furthest back with a gradual transition to Spirit consonants at the lips. Make your jokes now.
Concurrently, each POS has it’s own traits represented by the consonants. Big twist here — each POS correlates with a Flavor. This is not to be confused with deriving element, just another depth to the theme of the flavors and their roots:
Noun → Seen Entity
Verb → Seen Change
Adjective → Unseen Entity
Adverb → Unseen Change
From there the POS’s correlating roots (Entity, Change, Seen, Unseen) are expressed by 4 complementary (like the roots) characteristics:
Entity → Voiced
Change → Voiceless
Seen → Fricative
Unseen → Plosive
Noun → Seen Entity → Voiced Fricative → ([ɣ]. [z], [ʒ], [v])
Verb → Seen Change → Voiceless Fricative → ([x]. [s], [ʃ], [f])
Adjective → Unseen Entity → Voiced Plosive → ([g]. [d], [dʒ], [b])
Adverb → Unseen Change → Voiceless Plosive → ([k]. [t], [ts], [p])
Quickly we have:
Voilà — a POS for each class.