Syntax & Idioms
Zovu
Many translations include IPA phonetics using square bracket notation (“[]”).
See Phonetics for details on Zovu's spoken language.
Sentence Structure
Zovu’s syntax has a VSO word order (that’s Verb, Subject, Object). A little like Yoda, but not quite. For example:
“Enjoy I cake”
I enjoy cake
From there adjectives directly follow the nouns they describe, and adverbs their verbs:
“Enjoy really I cake pink”
I really enjoy pink cake
Questions
A question is formed starting with a Question Word (see “Seen & Unseen” section of Flavor Roots). Which question word depends on what isn’t known by the user. From there the sentence continues in the normal VSO structure. Some common question words:
Who
What
Whose
Where
When
How
Why
So a typical Zovu question would look like the following (with the unique word structure, keep in mind):
“Which eat you type of cake”
Which type of cake do you eat?
Time
Time is expressed by time-element derived adverbs. No conjugation involved. Add the right adverb to describe a verb, and it becomes the right tense. (To understand Elements and Elemental Morphemes see Elements):
“Eat <past-adverb> I cake”
I ate the cake
Any verb without a time-descriptive adverb is also grammatically correct and simply taken as a general statement.
Commands
Commands are formed by using the appropriate pronoun (e.g. you, you all) sometimes with a time-derived adverb (either present or future). Again, no conjugation takes place, just the correct combinations of the pronoun and time adverb:
“Eat now you this cake”
Eat this cake now
“Eat <future-adverb> you this cake”
Eat this cake in the future
“Eat you this cake”
Eat this cake (at some point)
Negation
To express negation or the lack of something, a Negation Morpheme is used (“[r]”) preceding whatever is being expressed as negated:
“<negation> will I”
I won’t
To see more clearly with Zovu’s phonetic structure (see Phonetics), here’s the verb in Zovu broken down:
[fe] = To Will
[rəfe] = To Not Will
Zovu also has a concept of Opposite Elements where the original elements + this Negation Morpheme express a whole new element. This is done by preceding the morpheme’s vowel with the negation (instead of the entire morpheme):
[rəfe] = To Not Will
[fre] = To Stop
The subtle difference in meaning here is that this use of negation isn’t a passive lack — it represents an active opposite meaning. Think “anti-matter” instead of just “no matter”.
For combined element morphemes:
Passive Negation + Heat = [rəɣe] = Lack of Heat
Active Negation + Heat = [ɣre] = Cold
Water + Heat = [ziɣe] = Steam
Passive Negation + (Water + Heat) = [rəziɣe] = Lack of Steam
Water + (Active Negation + Heat) = Water + Cold = [ziɣre] = Ice
For same-class Elemental Morphemes the consolidation is kept (see Phonetics). Just as before, add the negation before the element’s vowel:
Water + Earth = [zia] = Salt Water
Water + (Active Negation + Earth) = [zira] = Fresh Water
Idiomatic Phrases
There are some particular phrasings in Zovu that describe the lens of the language. Here are some literal and figurative translations:
“Gravity is in the sky”
It’s a cloudy day
“Compress the will”
Focus
“Of air and spirit”
Beautiful (as in a song)
“It’s by 3 not 4”
It doesn’t make sense
(referencing if each Element Class had 3 elements instead of 4)
Circling back to Negation, Zovu’s terms for “yes”, “no”, and “maybe” embody the same concept.
“It is seen”
Yes
“It is not (active negation) seen”
No
“It is not (passive negation) seen”
Maybe
“It’s unseen”
It’s unknown