Foundations
Technical Summary
Ododu is a constructed language that is based on the following presumptions.
The universe is comprised of conscious entities that create and use language.
The universe can be described in terms of certain foundational characteristics or relations. These characteristics are elemental in that they comprise units of meaning called foundational morphemes, that cannot be subdivided into any combination of smaller units of meaning.
Each foundational morpheme can be optimally represented by a foundational grapheme that is both an ideogram and a pictogram. Such a grapheme is independent of any particular language and it conveys some sense of its meaning through a pictorial resemblance of that fundamental unit of meaning.
Each foundational morpheme – grapheme pair can also be represented by a unique sound unit called a phoneme.
The Ododu language comprises four primary vowels each of which represents a foundational morpheme – grapheme – phoneme unit. These four primary vowels represent the four foundationally different types of relation and hence denote the initial and most primordial characterization of ourselves and the universe. They can be viewed as representing my personal reference frame or a view of the universe from my perspective.
There are also four additional secondary vowels which also represent foundational morpheme – grapheme – phoneme units, and which are, in a sense, reflections of the four primary vowels. They can be viewed as an external reference frame or a view of the universe from a different perspective than mine. For example, the two perspectives might describe the differences in how you and I look at the universe and/or each other.
Each of the four primary vowels can interact with each of the four secondary vowels to generate 16 consonants. In our example, this will describe how each of the elements in my reference frame (my language) will change with respect to changes in the elements in your reference frame (your language) when we both look at and describe some other event in the universe. Each consonant has a unique phoneme and is represented by a unique pictogram. The consonants also are associated with unique morphemes that are related to interactions of the morphemes of the constituent vowels, but which stand alone as archetypal concepts that transcend the meanings of the constituent vowel morphemes or various combinations of the constituent morphemes.
All 24 single letters are represented by graphemes that are non homeomorphic or topologically invariant with respect to each other. Thus no single letter grapheme can be converted into any other single letter grapheme by manipulation of its shape or size. It is further assumed that the eight vowel graphemes are the most fundamental archetypal symbolic forms that can be produced and that consequently they represent the foundational structure and form of the universe itself.
The 16 single letter consonant graphemes are constructed via a serial subsumptive procedure wherein each subsequent consonant grapheme contains all prior graphemes. This process is analogous to the initial morphogenetic development of living cells in biology and hence represents a linguistic process for the development of a language that approaches the goal of a universal language. As the complexity of each sequential grapheme increases they begin to look like the hieroglyphs of many of the languages of ancient peoples and cultures.
The universe is comprised of conscious entities that create and use language.
The universe can be described in terms of certain foundational characteristics or relations. These characteristics are elemental in that they comprise units of meaning called foundational morphemes, that cannot be subdivided into any combination of smaller units of meaning.
Each foundational morpheme can be optimally represented by a foundational grapheme that is both an ideogram and a pictogram. Such a grapheme is independent of any particular language and it conveys some sense of its meaning through a pictorial resemblance of that fundamental unit of meaning.
Each foundational morpheme – grapheme pair can also be represented by a unique sound unit called a phoneme.
The Ododu language comprises four primary vowels each of which represents a foundational morpheme – grapheme – phoneme unit. These four primary vowels represent the four foundationally different types of relation and hence denote the initial and most primordial characterization of ourselves and the universe. They can be viewed as representing my personal reference frame or a view of the universe from my perspective.
There are also four additional secondary vowels which also represent foundational morpheme – grapheme – phoneme units, and which are, in a sense, reflections of the four primary vowels. They can be viewed as an external reference frame or a view of the universe from a different perspective than mine. For example, the two perspectives might describe the differences in how you and I look at the universe and/or each other.
Each of the four primary vowels can interact with each of the four secondary vowels to generate 16 consonants. In our example, this will describe how each of the elements in my reference frame (my language) will change with respect to changes in the elements in your reference frame (your language) when we both look at and describe some other event in the universe. Each consonant has a unique phoneme and is represented by a unique pictogram. The consonants also are associated with unique morphemes that are related to interactions of the morphemes of the constituent vowels, but which stand alone as archetypal concepts that transcend the meanings of the constituent vowel morphemes or various combinations of the constituent morphemes.
All 24 single letters are represented by graphemes that are non homeomorphic or topologically invariant with respect to each other. Thus no single letter grapheme can be converted into any other single letter grapheme by manipulation of its shape or size. It is further assumed that the eight vowel graphemes are the most fundamental archetypal symbolic forms that can be produced and that consequently they represent the foundational structure and form of the universe itself.
The 16 single letter consonant graphemes are constructed via a serial subsumptive procedure wherein each subsequent consonant grapheme contains all prior graphemes. This process is analogous to the initial morphogenetic development of living cells in biology and hence represents a linguistic process for the development of a language that approaches the goal of a universal language. As the complexity of each sequential grapheme increases they begin to look like the hieroglyphs of many of the languages of ancient peoples and cultures.