Béu : Chapter 4 : Adjective

Welcome to béu

.. Adjectives => Verbs

..

Some concepts that are coded as adjectives in English, are coded as verbs in béu. Usually they are body internal processes or states. So joining "to sleep", "to love", "to hate" (which are stative verbs in English) we have concepts like "to be angry", "to be jealous", "to be healthy" encoded as verbs in their base state.

[Note ... most of these are mental states]

Now in béu all multi-syllable adjectives become verbs simply by adding the verb train to them. For example ...

coga = wide

coguran komwe = it seems they have widened the road

However ... to make the corresponding maŋga you must add the suffix do. For example ...

cogako = to widen

For the few mono-syllabic adjectives that exist, this suffix must be present all the time. For example ...

àu = black

auko = to blacken

aukuran komwe = it seems they have blackened the road

Notice that these derived verbs are all transitive. To have the intransitive sense, you must use the verb tezau "become" along with the adjective.

..

..... 4 adjectives => verbs via derivation

..

bòi^*	good
kéu^*	bad
fái	rich ^**
pàu	bland

..

The above adjectives have an "s" affixed and change into verbs. However the meanings derived are a bit quirky.

..

bòis^***	to be healthy/health	boizora	she is healthy
kéus	to be sick/illness	keuzora	he is ill
fáis	to be attentive/to like/attention	faizora	she is interested
pàus	to be bored/boredom	pauzora	he is bored

..

^* The adverb derived from these words are 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 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".

^**"rich" in its 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.

^***This appears in its subjunctive form as an expression often used when people are parting for what is expected to be some time. boiʒis => "may you be well".

..

... 10 adjectives which never appear as verbs

..

sài	young
gáu	old (of a living thing)
jini	clever, smart
tumu	stupid, thick
wenfo	new
yompe	old, former, previous
dìa	east, dawn, sunrise
cúa	west, dusk, sundown
bene	right, positive
komo	left, negative

..

Of course you can always use a periphrastic expression if you wanted. For example ...

sàr tumu = I am stupid

tezar tumu = I become stupid

gàr tumu = I make (someone) stupid

Some of the above can be considered more nouns than verbs. For example ... dìa and cúa.

These two are of interest for another reason ... dìa combines with día .. "to arrive" to make the word ... diadia .. "to happen". Also cúa combines with cùa .. "to depart" to make the word ... cuacua .. "to fade away".

Note that although the components going into these words have exactly opposite meanings, the compound words do not.

diadia appears in quite common expressions. For example ...

nén r diadila = "what's happening"

nén diadori = "what happened"

..

... 16 adjectives => verbs with zero derivation

..

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
coga	wide	deza	narrow

Note that the first two are irregular comparatives. The standard method for forming the comparative and superlative is ... ái = white : aige = whiter : aimo = whitest. ..

These adjectives directly become verbs. For example ...

bozor	he improves	kegor	he worsens	boʒido	to improve	kegudo	to made worse
faizor	she develops	paugado	she runs down	faizado	to enrich/develope	paugado	to run down

But notice that the infinitive form of this derived verb has the affix "do".

..

... 38 adjectives => verbs with derivation

..

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	clean	dacau	dirty
igwa	elegant	uʒya	crude

These adjectives do not become verbs directly, even as finite verbs (helgo form) they have the affix do.

aikor	he whitens	aukor	he blackens	aiko	to whiten	auko	to blacken
haikor	she raises/rises	ʔaukor	she lowers	haiko	to raise	ʔauko	to lower

So why do some verbs have ko in their finite form and others not. Well monosyllable adjectives always take ko. As for the rest, the ones that appear often as verbs, drop the ko in their finite form.

Notice that for multi syllable adjectives ending in a diphthong, the final vowel s dropped before appending ko.

..

However not quite all antonyms fall into the above pattern. For example ...

loŋga = tall, tìa = short

wazbia = far : wazbua or mùa = near : wazbi = distance : wazbai = about 3,680 mtr

..

..... The Family

..

Usually the words below are used to address members of your family (names are not usually used). All the words below have a special vocative case ... formed by prefixing a.

amama ... klogau dá = Mum, where are my shoes ?

..

There are 14 primary family relationships ...

..

mother	mama
son	yaya
daughter	jaja
grand-daughter	fafa
father	baba
older sister	gaga
older brother	dada
grand-mother	caca
female cousin	saza
younger sister	kaka
grandson	papa
younger brother	tata
grandfather	wawa
male cousin	nana

..

Below are 8 secondary family relationships.

..

daba	uncle	the older brother of your father
taba	uncle	the younger brother of your father
gaba	aunt	the older sister of your father
kaba	aunt	the younger sister of your father
dama	uncle	the older brother of your mother
tama	uncle	the younger brother of your mother
gama	aunt	the older sister of your mother
kama	aunt	the younger sister of your mother

..

And below are a further 8 secondary family relationships.

..

yaja	offspring
maba	parents
cawa	grandparents
data	brothers
gaka	sisters
daga	elder syblings
taka	younger syblings
fapa	grandchildren

..

It is worth mentioning that theae 30 words are all automatically taken as related to the speaker if no other possessor is mentioned. For example ...

..

..... Numbers

..

The standard set comprises of the numbers from 1 to 1727₁₀ (which is 1 to 1000₁₂ in base twelve). Every number in the standard set has a unique form.

Five random numbers are given below to demonstrate ...

oila	= 6
eucaifa	= 72₁₂
odauba	= 503₁₂
odaugaiba	= 543₁₂
oilaugai	= 640₁₂

..

And below is how these numbers are written within a body of text.

..

Within a body of text ("textblock" from now on) a number written vertically and is headed up by a special three sided bracket. The only use of this bracket is to indicate a number within a textblock.

Below this bracket, the number is written with a letter representing each digit of the number

Under the bracket the number is written using a letter symbol.

letter		digit	.....	letter		digit	.....	letter		digit
J	=>	1		D	=>	5		K	=>	9
F	=>	2		L	=>	6		P	=>	10
B	=>	3		C	=>	7		T	=>	11
G	=>	4		S	=>	8

You can see that base 12 is being used. (just for explanatory purposes I will use "T" for 10 and "E" for 11)

More or less the same symbols is used for the number digit as for the letter. They take their initial, medial or final form, depending on whether the are the first, second or third number of the three digit group. táu ʔusʔa is used for inserting zeroes. táu ʔusʔa is never pronounced, it is only a place holder as number magnitude depends on position.

Although there is a unique word for 1727 numbers, it is not necessary to memorize 1727 unique forms. The 1727 numbers are built up from smaller elements. These elements are shown below ...

..

100₁₂ =	ajau	10₁₂ =	ajai	one =	aja
200₁₂ =	ifau	20₁₂ =	aifai	two =	ifa
300₁₂ =	ubau	30₁₂ =	ubai	three =	uba
400₁₂ =	egau	40₁₂ =	egai	four =	ega
500₁₂ =	odau	50₁₂ =	odai	five =	oda
600₁₂ =	oilau	60₁₂ =	oilai	six =	oila
700₁₂ =	eucau	70₁₂ =	eucai	seven =	euca
800₁₂ =	aizau	80₁₂ =	aizai	eight =	aiza
900₁₂ =	aukau	90₁₂ =	aukai	nine =	auka
T00₁₂ =	yapau	T0₁₂ =	yapai	T =	yapa
E00₁₂ =	watau	E0₁₂ =	watai	E =	wata

..

To construct a number from the above ...

1) Select which elements you need. For example, for 543₁₂, you will need the elements odau + egai + uba

2) If the element is non-initial, delete the initial vowel of the element => odau + gai + ba ... (note that ya and wa were originally ia and ua ... they should be deleted)

3) Join the elements up => odaugaiba

..

There is a soecial form for 1, 2 and 3 ... aja, ifa and uba, while used for building up larger numbers, are never used by themselves when qualifying animate things. Instead we use ...

..

ʔà	one
hói	two
léu	three

..

ʔà along with its plural form ʔài are also used to code indefiniteness.

..

Numbers are never written out in full. Always the method given above is used. It is as if in a body of English text you never came across the "seven" but only "7".

With fractions, cardinal numbers and numbers denoting group size, there is the choice of writing 7^th or seventh. That is you can either use the symbols given below or you can write out in full ... in this example sega, nega and bega.

..

Note ... If you had a leading zero you would use the word jù. 007 would be jù jù euca (three words). To deal with a telephone number, you would lump the numbers in threes (any leading zero or zeroes by themselves though) and outspeak the numbers. If you were left with a single digit (say 4) it would be pronounced egau. If you were to pronounce it ega, it would of course mean 004. Also you would probably add the particle dù at the end.

..

..... Numbers ... (the extended set)

..

So far we have covered the standard set (1 -> 1727). To expand this into "the extended set" we use "magnitude" words. There are seven of these.

..

The first column gives the magnitude symbol, the second ... how the symbol is pronounced, the third ... the meaning^*, and the last ... the magnifier that the symbol represents.

.^* Yes all the magnitude words double up as animal names. But actually this never causes any problem. If you hear huŋgu huŋgu you know it means "5,159,780,352 Swans" ... there is no ambiguity.

To demonstrate the use of the magnitude words, let's take a long number ... 1,206,8E3,051.58T,630,559

Which is written as ...

and pronounced as ... aja huŋgu ifaula nàin aizautaiba wúa odaija ʔomba odauzaipa yanfa oilaubai mulu odaudaika ʔiwetu dù

You can see that the digits are still grouped into bunches of three. Within the triplets, leading zeros can be dropped ... giving doublets or even singletons.

All the magnitude words are spoken out. Notice the final dù. This means "exactly". You usually add this when pronouncing numbers from the extended set.

When you write an extended set number, you must finish the number off with a bracket. (in contrast the final bracket is never used if the number is from the standard set)

Anyway ... the above is only an example. You are unlikely to find something with so big a dynamic range within a textblock.

Below are examples of numbers which you would more typically find in a text block ...

Pronounced uba wúa odaija dù and odaija ʔomba odauzai respectively.

(a) uba wúa odaija dù is an whole number.

odaija ʔomba odauzai is not a whole number. Notice that the 4 versions of odaija ʔomba odauzai have been given different kinds of final brackets.

(b) This one shows that 51.58₁₂ is an approximation to the actual value. (pronounced daula)

(c) This one shows that 51.58₁₂ has been rounded down. That is .. if A = "actual value", then 51.59 =< A =< 51.58

(d) This one shows that 51.58₁₂ has been rounded up. That is .... if A = "actual value", then 51.58 =< A =< 51.57

(e) This one shows that 51.58₁₂ has been rounded up or down to the nearest digit. That is .... if A = "actual value", then 51.585 =< A =< 51.575

..

dù and daula ( plus ? plus ? plus ?) as well as giving information about the accuracy of the number, also lets the listener know that the speaker has finished.

..

..... Numbers ... (free form + plus mathematical notation)

..

The numbers considered above were all in what is called "block form". That is ... the form they appear as within a body of text. There is also a way to write numbers when they are not inside a text block. That would happen on a page given over to mathematical formula. In this environment the numbers are written horizontally ... from left to right. There are some slight differences between the free form version of the numbers and the block form versions. The free form version of the numbers are ...

As with the block form, they always occur in triplets. However their form doesn't vary depending on which one of the triplets the character is ... the digits are always exactly the same. There is a special egg-shape symbol for zero (actually called táu kyái, where kyái means "egg"). In free form it is not permitted to drop leading zero's ... well not triplet leading zero's, word leading zero's can of course be dropped.

Below is how the five numbers given previously appear in free form ...

And that long number mentioned in the previous section (a number from the extended set) ...

It is, of course, pronounced exactly as the block form number. That is ... aja huŋgu ifaula nàin aizautaiba wúa odaija ʔomba odauzaipa yanfa oilaubai mulu odaudaika ʔiwetu dù

..

Below are some more symbols used in mathematics. These would appear in a free form page (or part of a page).

..

The top 3 symbols in the leftmost column designate "operations". These modify a number and are placed immediately left of the number they modify. If a number has more than one operator they come in the order "minus sign", then "i", then the inverse ("1/x") symbol.

..

And below is a few examples of equations written in this notation.

..

..... Fancy Semantic Bits

..

This section is just me thinking allowed. I reckon it is finally time to get to the bottom of the English Modal Verbs.

At the start of Chapter 3 ... 3 verb forms and 3 verb constructions were given (apart from the base form ... maŋga. However these forms/constructions don't quite cover everything that needs to be expressed ... specifically we need to express possibility and obligation.

First let us look into possibility. In the diagram below the black boundary encloses all the situations where it is the ability of the subject which are relevent. Between the black boundary and the red boundary are situations where it is conditions outwith the subject which are relevant.

..

There is commonly reckoned to be 9 modal verbs in English. I have shown them below in the black boxes. I have put a red cross next to "may" and "shall". This is because they are not in the English I speak. I guess I recognize and process these words successfully. But they never come out my mouth.

I have taken the etymology back as far as possible [ using http://www.etymonline.com ]. The red spiral things represent a shift in meaning. (Actually I am not sure about the meaning of Proto-Germanic willjan , it seems a bit suspect if you ask me).

..

:

Actually I do not use "might" very often ... usually a clause initial "maybe" is preferred. So this leave only six of them.

..... 14 important verbs

..

The above chart gives 14 important (and common) verbs. They can all take nouns as objects. However they can also take complement clauses (CC from now on) instead of objects. In béu there are four types of complement clause. Three of them are shown above.

...... represents a tà CC. This is more or less equivalent to a CC in English introduced by "that". This béu CC is introduced by the particle tà, and the CC itself is identicle to a normal clause.

...... represents a maŋga CC. There is no particle to introduce the clause and the verb ... as you would suspect, is in its maŋga form. The maŋga always starts a maŋga phrase (MP from now on). This is immediately followed by by the subject ... with -s appended if an A argument.

Note ... The structure of a maŋgas phrase (MsP from now on) is the same as a MP. However this is a 100% noun, and a MsP can wrap itself in all the things that a seŋko can.

Also Note ... Because the verb comes first in a MP and MsP ... the distinction between definite and indefinite can not be maintained.

... represents a gò CC. English has no equivalent to this CC. The introductory particle is gò but this is often dropped. The verb form is the same as maŋga but with -n appended.

This CC requires a bit of an explanation. It always follows a verb* such as mài, yái, byó, gàu and penau. When the subject is the same as the main clause it is ... as you would expect, dropped. When a gò CC has no subject, it is permissible to drop gò. In fact is would be usual ... the only reason to retain it would be emphasis or euphony. When a subject is necessary in a gò CC, I use the symbol

As can be seen from the chart mài, yái and byó never take a subject-containing gò CC ... whereas gàu and penau always take a subject-containing gò CC.

gò jù = lest ???

yái is a transitive verb and the O argument is usually filled by an object. For example ... toilia yár = I have the books

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case yái means "mild obligation".

For example ... yír (gò) jòn nambo = "You should go home"

byó is a transitive verb and the O argument is usually filled by an object. For example ... jenes byór wèu = Jane owns a car

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case yái means "strong obligation".

For example ... byír (gò) jòn nambo = "You must go home"

cùa is a transitive verb and the O argument is usually filled by a location. For example ... jonos cori london = John left London

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case cùa means "to stop". For example ... jonos cori solbe = John stopped drinking

día is a transitive verb and the O argument is usually filled by a location. For example ... jonos dori london = John arrived in London

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case día means "to start". For example ... jonos dori solbe = John started to drink

As another example ... ROTATE??no dori doika = The engine started ... here doika "to walk" is a sort of dummy verb meaning to operate/run. It is necessary since día is a transitive verb.

liga is a transitive verb and the O argument is usually filled by a location. For example ... jonos ligor london = John stays in London

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case liga means "to continue". For example ... jonos ligori solbe = John carried on drinking

There is no verb liganau.

dwài is a transitive verb and the O argument is usually filled by an animate object. For example ... waulois fanfa dwura = The wolves are chasing the horse

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case dwài means "try". For example ... jonos dwora nyáu nambo = John is trying to go home

holda is a transitive verb and the O argument is usually filled by an object. For example ... nùa holdarua = I intend to catch the mouse

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case holda means "manage". For example ... holdari holda nùa = I managed to catch a/the mouse

blèu is a transitive verb and the O argument is usually filled by an object. For example ... biabia blari = I held a butterfly

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case blèu means "to be able physically to do something". For example ... blàr doika nambo = I can manage to walk home

glù is a transitive verb and the O argument is sometimes filled by a subject. For example ... laigau glòr = He/she knows calculus

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case glù means "to know how to. For example ... glòr bunda nambo = He knows how to build a house

The two words above and the one below, are equivalent to the English word "can" meaning "to have the ability to". When this ability is due to physical strength, blèu is used. When this ability is due to knowledge or skill, glù is used. When this ability is due to general factors external to the individual, mài is used.

mài is a transitive verb and the O argument is usually filled by an object. For example ... toilia mare nufi = I have received the books from them

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case mài means "to be allowed to" or "circumstances are such that it is possible for me to"

For example ... màr (gò) doikan jə nambo = "I can walk home" ... maybe because my parents gave me permission, or maybe because the rain has abated.

It is nearly always . Only in the rare occasion when some person is directly responsible for another person (like a parent to a child) and they receive permission from a higher authority (like a school, or government wellfare agency), would you have .

náu is a ditransitive verb and the O argument is usually filled by an object. For example ... nari òn solbu = I gave him a drink

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case náu means "allow". For example ... nari òn jòn nambo = I let him go home

In usage it is about 50% and 50% . When the person receiving the permission is highly topical, the form is enough.

náu is one verb that doesn't have a passive form ... one would use mài instead. If you wanted to specify who was doing the allowing, you would use the 14th pilana ... not the particle hí (the particle that is used to specify the former subject in a passive construction).

In about nine out of ten cases ... for example ʔár jòn nambo = I want to go home.

In about one out of ten cases ... for example ʔár gò jonos jòn nambo = I want John to go home

penau

gàu is a transitive verb. For example ... mín gira = What are you doing ... [ usually pronounced míŋ gira ]

However the object slot can be filled with a in which case gàu gives us the causative constuction.

For example ... gare gò jonos jòn nambo = "I sent John home" or "I made John go home" or "I forced John to go home" .... [ jò can be intrantitive or transitive with a location as the O argument ]

Compare the above with ... nare jò jonos nambo = "I let John go home" .... [ Note ... this can also be expressed as nare jonon jò nambo]

And with ... penare gò jonos jòn nambo = "I got John to go home" = "I persuaded John to go home"

..

... Negating a Complement Clause

..

In English usage (in fact all the Germanic languages) ... the way to negate modal words is a confusing. Consider "She can not talk". Since the modal is negated by putting "not" after it and the main verb is negated by putting "not" in front of it, this could either mean ...

(a) She doesn't have the ability to talk "or" (b) She has the ability to not talk

Note ... Only when the meaning is (a) can the proposition be contracted to "she can't talk". In fact, when the meaning is (b), usually extra emphasis must be put on the "not". (a) is the usual interpretation of "She can not talk" and if you wanted to express (b) you would rephrase it to "She can keep silent". This rephrasing is quite often necessary in English when you have a modal and a negative main verb to express.

In béu a negative on the active verb and a negative on the maŋga is perfectly possible. The maŋga negator is jù. This is shown below ...

jenes bù blòr flò cokolate => Jane can't eat chocolates (Jane lacks the ability to eat chocolates) ... for example she is a diabetic and can not eat anything sweet.

jenes blòr jù flò cokolate => Jane can not eat chocolates (Jane have the ability not to eat chocolates)... meaning she has the willpower to resist them.

jenes bù blòr jù flò cokolate => Jane can not not eat chocolates (Jane lacks the ability, not to eat chocolates) ... meaning she can't resist them.

[ Note ... the construction of MsP follows the construction of MP. So we have ... flòs cokolate = a/the eating of chocolate ... and also jù flòs cokolate = no eating of chocolate]

Also a negative on the active verb and a negative on the gò CC is perfectly possible. The gò CCnegator is jù. This is shown below ...

màr (gò) jù jòn igleʒia = "I am allowed to not go to church"

bù màr (gò) jù jòn igleʒia = "I am not allowed to not go to church"

[The above example would, of course, normally be expressed as byár (go) jòn igleʒia ... but it is possible to imagine situations in which bù màr (gò) jù jòn igleʒia would be appropriate]

And another example ...

bù byér (gò) flayon jodoi = You lot don't have to feed the animals

byér (gò) jù flayon jodoi = You lot mustn't feed the animals ... (this is for a general/timeless situation ... kyà flayo jodoi would be used for a "here and now" situation)

bù byér gò jù flayon jodoi = You lot can feed the animals if you want

For a tà CC the negator bù is used.

..

... Other

..

..... The 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 ...

doikor saco nambon = doikor nambon sacowe = sacowe doikor nambon = she is walking quickly home

2) There are nouns which are changed into adverbs by suffixing -we. For example ...

deuta = soldier

deutəwe = "in the manner of a soldier"

Note that the final vowel in deuta changes here. This is because as well as being a suffix, wé 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 deutəwe is an adverb that is considered an adjective when immediately following a noun.

Also a noun is formed by suffixing -mi to the end.

deutəwemi = 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 flor halma pazbamau (the gibbon eats an apple on the table) pazbamau is an adjective describing where the apple is.

moŋgos flor pazbamau halma (the gibbon is eating an apple on the table) 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 ???

..

..... Quantity

... many, a lot, very

..

haì = many

haì bawa = many men

..

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

hè comes after the noun that it qualifies.

moze hè = a lot of water

hè also can qualify verbs. 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

hewe glá doikori

báus timpori glá hewe = the man hit a woman a lot

..

glá r hauʔe sowe = the woman is very beautiful

..

... 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

..

... 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 r jutuge jonowo = Jane is bigger than John

jene r 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

..

... 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 r jutula jonowo = Jane is as big as John

jene r ʔes jutumi jonowo = Jane is as big as John

jene r uʔes jutumi jonowo = Jane is not the same size as John

..

... Antonym phonetic correspondence

..

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

..