Conceptual Phonetics

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Conceptual Phonetics

In the ideal universal language the exact phonetic sound combinations of words would actually correspond with exact conceptual meanings. Each consonant and vowel would have a specific elemental meaning and by combining the letters into simple words and then longer more complex words we would represent progresively more and more complex concepts. This idea was known to the ancient Hebrews and others but I believe that the understanding, as a unified whole, has become lost over thousands of years.

The English language, like other modern languages, displays more or less arbitary/random connections between the letters in words and their specific meaning. Similarily the English Alphabet is also a distorted and poor copy of the timeless alphabet which is inherently beautiful and logical.

However I feel that a large database of simple english words based on their phonetics (ie the way they sound) rather than the way they are spelt, cross referenced with their definitions would reveal patterns and clues leading back to a full unified understanding of the connection between the elemental vocal sounds and the elemental concepts.

This is because the Law of Sympathetic Vibration has influenced over time the countless minds which have shaped the language that we have in use today. That is: the intrinsic connections between specific letter combinations and particular meanings are made manifest whenever the complex mass of personal and cultural biases of the contributers are not too strong.

A second reason is that the ancient languages from which our modern languages have "evolved" had a greater understanding of the phonetics/concepts connection. Therefore some of that understanding has been carried forward, all be it largely unseen, into our modern languages.

Thirdly certain conscious masters, enlightened groups and other extraordinary intelligences may have knowingly shaped parts of our language for specific purposes in relation to the universal set of correspondences between phonetics and the elemental matrix of concepts.

In theory then specific connections or at least rough patterns should show up in a large enough well organised database of english words.

If I had the time and technical expertise to set up such a database I would start with simple 1 or 2 phonetic combinations, seperating the consonants along one axis and the vowels along the other. More complex combinations of phonetic consonants and vowels would be organised similarily.

Then we look for sound combinations that share similar meanings according the definitions of conventional dictionaries. For example the consonant combination tr*k has the words track and truck in it which convey similar meanings of transport. Of course the etymology of the words should also be taken into consideration.

When the vowels are changed within particular consonant patterns naturally many of the resulting combinations will not be actual words in english. The ideal database would include all the languages of the Earth but as English has a particularily large vocabulary it should be sufficient to find general patterns.

Table of Basic Phonetic Combinations

........

bE
Bee
Be

bI
Buy
By
Bye

bA
Bay

baa
Baa

bO
Bo

boo
Boo

bow
Bow

kE
Key

kA
Bay

kaa
Car

koo
Coo

kow
Cow

dI
Die
By
Dye

dA
Day

daa

doo
Do

dow

fE
Fee

fA
Fay

faa
Far

fO
Foe

foo

fow

gI
Guy

gA
Gay

gaa

gO
Go
Be

goo
Goo
Be

bow
Bow

hE
He

hI
Hi
High

hA
Hey
Hay

ha
Ha

haa

hO
Hoe
Ho

hoo
Who

how
How

jA
Jay

jaa
Jar

jO
Joe

joo
Jew

jow

lE
Lee

lI
Lie

lA
Lay

laa

lO
Low

loo
Loo

low

mE
Me

mI
My

mA
May

maa
Ma

mO
Mow

moo
Moo

mu
Mu

mow

nI
Nigh

nA
Neigh

baa

nO
No

noo

now
Now

pE
Pee

pI
Pi
Pie

pA
Pay

paa
Par

pO
Poe

poo
Poo

pow
Pow

rI
Rye

rA
Ray

raa
Ra

rO
Roe
Row

roo
Rue

row
Row

sE
See
Sea

sI
Sigh

sA
Say

saa

sO
So

soo
Sue

sow
Sow

tE
Tee
Tea

tI
Tie
By
Bye

taa
Tar

tO
Tow
Toe

too
Too
Two
to

tow

vaa

voo

vow
Vow

wE
We

wI
Why

wA
Way

waa

wO
Woe

woo
Woo

wow
Wow

yE
Ye

ye
Yeah

yA
Yay

yaa
Ya

yO
Yo

yoo
You

yow

zaa

zoo
Zoo

zow

shE
She

she

shI
Shy

shi

shA

sha

shaa

shO
Show

sho

shoo
Shoe
Shoo

shu

show

chE
Chi

che

chI

chi

chA

cha

chaa
Char

chO

cho

choo
Chew

chu

chow
Chow

thE
Thee

the
The

thI
Thy

thi

thA
They

tha

thaa

thO
Though

tho

thoo

thu

thow
Thou

The Table above is likely to contain errors and it deals with only very simple combinations and in one language the connections cannot be seen very clearly.

Here is an example of a slightly higher complexity table consonant combination: b*t with each of 12 vowel sounds replacing the star symbol:
Bat, Bet, Bit, Boat, But, Beet, Bait, Bite, Bout, Boot, Bought, Baht
(Baht is a unit of currency in Thailand. The "a" is pronounced as in "father".)

There are many other methods to try and uncover the intrinsic meanings of letter sound combinations. For example one could do a statistical analysis of word meanings based on the starting sounds of words, of which a traditional dictionary would be useful. One could do a similar analysis based on the sound endings of words for which a rhyming dictionary would be useful. A thesaurus would be useful when looking from the viewpoint of the basic concept and analysing the associated words.

Is there a relationship between "opposite" consonant patterns ie c*t and t*c? And what about the more inclusive equivalent groups ie 123, 132, 213, 231, 312 and 321.

There are many possible relationships that could be discovered by isolating particular vocal charateristics and cross referencing them with particular conceptual groups. By encompassing all languages we could shed light on the psychological differences and similarities between cultures.

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