The EL Multi-method System

EL Dictionary . EL System . Poem . Meditation-Exercise . history . links . Author/Editor . Japanese

# Guide for the EL multi-method system
# The Vocal Symbols
# The hand-signs and other applicable methods

Guide

EL has other many methods based on the writing system, to make a communication possible under any conditions anywhere in the world among the future people.
There is the speaking method too. But that is the secondary way for communication,
and not the main system in EL. The main reasons are:

1) The visual bases are more stable than vocal ones for the universal standard.

2) To keep using all native languages not to destroy/forget them, having
two different measurements: the native speaking way and the EL visual symbols.

3) For everyone's speaking,  one's own native language is the most comfortable and natural. (For more details see the visual bases section)

Then EL vocal communications might not be so convenient.
For usual EL communications face to face, people speak each native language even with foreigners, interpreting each speech into EL hand-signs or writings by themselves.
Others get the meanings through the signs/writings, recognizing the culture differences between them.

When hand-signs don’t work so well, there are many applicable ways to show EL symbols.
The EL speaking system is considered mainly for a vocal computing method at least for the beginning. 

The Vocal Symbols

EL vocal symbols are actually the names of EL bases.
Don't confuse them with the phonetic symbols. Just like each Alphabet has one syllable name
besides the phonetic function, the EL basis has too.
A phonetic function of an Latin alphabet is used to send a message to others as a word in a language*.
Contrary to it, since each EL basis is a symbol of a meaning, names of EL bases can send a message by pronouncing them. EL phonetics are for just sending sounds only.
*E.g. "yes" is pronounced [jes] (the contents in the parenthesis is International Phonetic Alphabet),
but not [wai i: es] (names of y, e, s).

ABC is called [ei] [bi:] [si:] in English, but [a:] [be:] [tse] in German, [a] [bi] [t∫i] in Italian.
The same letters are called in similar but different names in each language, because
the source of the Alphabet is the same Greek but they have developed separately.
The phonetic function of each letter is also different. Then even if the vocabularies are
spelled in a similar way in Europe, they can hardly communicate with each other vocally.
The EL vocal symbols are fixed and stable mainly for communicating with a computer.
A stable vocal language is not so fun as a native language.

To make the EL vocal symbols easy and clear for understanding and memorizing

1) One syllable name was given for each basis distinguished clearly from others.
In Esperanto, the vowel bases are called the same as the pronunciation of each phonetic function,
and the names of consonant bases are each consonant + the vowel [o].
This naming way makes for very easy memorization, but some of the names are not clear
to distinguish: such as between [bo] and [vo], [lo] and [ro] for both human ears and a computer.
Easy memorization is important, but clear distinguishing is more important
for computing and sending correct messages.

2) The bases that represent the five main vowels are called
as the pronunciation of each phonetic function. (The same as Esperanto)

3) The basis that represents a consonant is named with the consonant or the close consonant,
adding a vowel as one syllable. Also the basis that has a phonetic function is also named relating
with the function when possible.

The ease of pronunciation is different by the language custom.
For memorizing the phonetic system and the name together,
using all consonants for the names might look good.
But in that case sometimes distinguishing the names can be hard;
and the image of the sound of a basis name and that meaning sometimes don't match:
e.g. we have to use click and ejective for (origin) and (heading to).
So the numbers of consonants to use for the vocal symbols are narrowed down.

In the future after people get used to the EL phonetic symbols and the sounds,
they might change the names with more types of consonants.
Even if they change the vocal symbols, the visual bases are kept in the original way.
So not much confusion would happen like changing of traditional words.

4) The bases that have similar shapes are named in a similar way
Basically a general basis except the five vowel bases has the name of {a consonant + a vowel}.

5) For each name of numerals, [N](SAMPA)/[ŋ](IPA) (velar nasal) is added on the end, and a larger number is pronounced with a larger opening, also the vocal organs used for 1 to 5 are from outer to inner.
Brackets are named as {a consonant + an extended vowel + [t] }.
These tricks make distinguishing them from other symbols easier.

6) About a vowel in a vocal symbol:
The EL vocal symbol works to call the shape of the basis and the meaning.
So it would be used more naturally if the image of the sound and the meaning of
a basis were harmonious. By the culture, each one gets a different image through a sound,
but the basic feelings from a vowel are said to have some psychological similarity beyond the background. So I carefully chose a vowel matching the image of each basis, to avoid confusion between other names.

I set the relations of an image and a vowel as the following combination,
referring to Rudolf Steiner's “Eurhythmy” and
“KOTODAMA” in Japanese old tradition (by Oishigori Masumi) and my own senses.

[a]: large, expanse of space or feeling,  life, nature, warm, capacity
[e]: positive, resistance, plane extent, combustion
[i]: line, thin, light (about weight), controlling power, will, continuation, connection
[w]: origin, secluded, inner, patience, reduction
[o]: formed, total, individual, solemn, stopped

(N.B.) Sometimes a basis has plural meanings when it's combined with others. So this idea is just for a standard.

The following table shows the name of bases classified by the attached vowel
Most alphabets in [ ] are IPA (Inter National Alphabet).
Also sometimes parts of English words are used for explanation.
The words in ( ) are the main image of each basis.
The EL dictionary shows the names using EL phonetics.
　

7) The way to pronounce a compounded-character:
The name of gf (grammatical notation; hyphen) is [n@](@: schwa without stress accent):
This sound works as bond/glue between syllables showing its former syllable basis
and its next one are compounded into a character. An EL sonic word processor, if it is, stops with this syllable to go forward, and types the next basis on top of the former one.

The sequence of the elements might not be so important as a traditional word,
because all are compounded anyway. But as the feeling of sound for a meaning,
later each sequence naturally might be fixed in one way.

If reading only the elemental symbols in a c-c without this bond sign,
sometimes the syllables easily make a liaison.
E.g. {62,34}( I/my/me ) must be read as two syllables { [mw] for and [o] for };
this could be easily shortened into one syllable [mwo].
The bond sign named [n@] to protect against this kind of changing, and to make
the EL vocal communication sounds sunnier by this frequent appearance.
So is read [mu-n@-o ], {44,33}(the sun): [pa-n@-wa],
{01, 34,33}(the earth): [po-n@-o-n@- wa], {66,68}(flower): [za-n@-ha]

The vocal symbols of a C-c can't recall the image directly with a natural feeling,
and the listener has to combine the images of the bases by oneself until he/she gets used to it.
The visual communication is much more convenient than the vocal in EL.

8) The vocal symbol [not] is for the vocal commandment to type an empty space to computer.
This sound is shortened from the combination of [noŋ] (empty) [ta] (cover).
(NB) The EL dictionary shows the vocal symbol of each basis in EL phonetics too.

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