Vowels

What is the smallest carrier of information in a language?  Is it possible that the the main carriers of information are individual sounds, vowels and consonants? Is it possible that syllables are already carriers of complex combined information? Is it possible to reconstruct the meaning of words from their building blocks, syllables and sounds?

The original vocal language developed out of simple grunts, cries which accompanied simple actions which were performed in response to the presented situation. We see this grunt, cry language among animals and particularly among other primates and we can see how different grunts are used to express different emotions as an accompaniment of different actions. All these grunts and cries have a dominant vowel and this vowel varies depending on the emotional charge which is being expressed. Is it possible that this role of vowels, as the carriers of the emotional charge in the language, was preserved even today in our modern languages?

My analysis of the vowels in Serbian language seems to be confirming that this is true, at least for Serbian language.

Vowel formants are the distinguishing or meaningful frequency components of human articulation and of singing. By definition, the information that humans require to distinguish between vowels can be represented purely quantitatively by the frequency content of the vowel sounds. In speech, these are the characteristic overtones that identify vowels to the listener. Do the vowel frequencies correspond with the meaning of the vowels?

If we look at the vowel formant frequencies we see something very interesting. It seems that E frequency is higher than I which means that it carries more emotional charge. This mean that killing is more emotionally charged then dying. That outward aggression that we direct towards others is more emotionally affecting us than inward aggression that others are directing against us. Isn't this what Buda taught us? And Christ? Isn't this what epigenetics is also telling us?

This is the proposed list of emotions carried by each pure vowel:

O - Neutral emotion. Used in pointing at objects that are not threatening or at people or animals under our control. Also used for ordering direction of movement. Gave rise to letter o from shape of the our mouth when we say o. Sound "ooooo" when we see something. In Serbian root sound for o (about, around), ko (who, like), oko (eye)...Root sound of word "go" and "to" meaning neutral object and also an order to someone or something to move in horizontal direction...

U - Raised emotional state, desire, want if positive, pain, discomfort if negative. Used to describe penetrating movement and actions as well position of something inside of something else. Used to describe emotion of want, desire, greed, lust. sound "uuuuuuuuu" when we admire something that we want for ourselves. Gave rise to letter U, Y, V. The shape of valeys (uvala in Serbian) and other holes including our mouth. Shape of female pubic area (Y) and vagina (UV) as well as male organ used to penetrate into vagina (UV). Serbian word for in (u), uvo (ear), usta (mouth), both things where things go into our body...Root sound for word "gu" and "tu" meaning her, female and for pointing downward

A - The sound of high levels of agitation, aggression, rising tension, warning. Used to describe emotion of aggression inspired by fear, defensive aggression. If positive it describes assertion, bravery, fearlessness. If negative it describes dismay, panic, fear. Used for pointing upwards, and at distance, at things, people animals we fear, like enemies or wild beasts. Because it describes raising emotions and things which are more powerful then us, above us, it represents up, growth, sky. Gave rise to letter A from a point of a spear, aroused penis head, pointing upwards, mountain peaks. Sound "aaaa" when we figure something out. Shout "aaaaaaaa!" when we are trying to scare something the we can not control and we can't just kill. Sound "aaaaaaaaa!" when we are running scared from that same thing, after our fake attack didn't scare it. Serbian word "na" (meaning on up) as opposed "un" (in down). Root sound for word "ga" and "taj" meaning him, male.

E - The meaning is "is, it is, here it is" (je in Serbian). A natural sound of presenting something to someone. Short sound "e" when you give something to someone. Serbian word "evo, eve, eto ete" meaning there you go. Pronounced deeper, e means highest possible aggression with intent to gain, kill, and pronounced higher means highest possible sorrow, pain caused by severe illness which looks as if it is going to kill us, or by loss of someone very precious, like a member of a family or something very precious like a home. So gaining, loosing and presenting = is, it is, here it is. Shout ej = e + j = e + ja = it is + me. Sound of growling, showing your teeth before immanent attack. Gave rise to letter E ш, from the shape of bared teeth. Root sound for Serbian words "ge, ke, gde, de" meaning where is it (what we want) and "te" them (feminine)?

I - Highest possible level of emotion. Hysteria, utter devastation, loosing your mind, ecstasy. Used to express extreme emotional states usually group emotional states, where emotions of each individual feed the group emotional flame. Like during funerals, processions, religious celebrations, births. Connected with death and birth, continuation. Used to release the worst emotions and to allow us to continue with our life. Word "i" means "and, continue" in Serbian. Gave rise to letter I from a post, mark, stake, totem pole, around which ceremonies are held. Sound of sqeeeeling, waiiiiiiling at funerals, but also the sound of the scream of a mother giving birth, which is a mixture of a and i...root sound for word "gi" meaning them, group, family and "ti" meaning them masculine.

This is the base of Serbian language, sounds expressing emotions. These sounds are then mixed with consonants to create words carrying meaning. But hidden under a meaning we still have emotions, carried through these five vowels. We can see how emotionally tainted the language is from just these words used for pointing (looking at) in the southern dialect of Serbian:

go - neutral, child, domestic animal, something we control
gu - female, woman, desire, things we want
ga - male, man, aggression cause by fear, things we don't control
ge, ke, gde, de - where is the thing we want. give it to us.
gi - group, group emotions, family, cooperation, sacrifice,

This is another set of pointing words:

to - neuter
tu - feminine
ta(j) - masculine
te - those (we want)
ti - those (we see)

The vowels are the same, but the consonants are different.
The first set of words start with "g" and are used only for living beings, people and animals.
The second set of words start with "t" and are used only for inanimate objects.

The gradation of emotion carried by consonants is:

Increase of emotional charge: O U A E I
Decrease of emotional charge: I E A U O

We can see this clearly from the exclamation sounds used by people every day:

The following are active sounds, used while the situation is happening, to describe our emotions triggered by the world around us:

ooo - o there it is, o I see (acknowledgment)
uuu - u this is great (i want it)
aaa - a! you scared me, aaa there it is, aaa so that's the secret (surprise, scary or nice)
eee - e! aggression, eee growling  (threat), e disbelief, rejection.
iii - hysteria, uncontrollable fear or happiness, total disbelief

You can here these active sounds here.

These are different laughs carrying different emotional message:

hohoho - Santa Clause, pretend
huhuhu - naughty, mischievous
hahaha - laughing without caring what people think, laughing at people
hehehe - sinister, dangerous, conspiratorial, mean
hihihi - just before you pee in your pants, when something is "fall on the ground funny" or when someone is tickling you, sniggering in a group behind someone's back

You can here these laughs here.

There are two sets of sighing sounds.

First describes the reaction to problems while they are happening. They convey frustration, disbelief that something bad is happening...

hoooo - mild frustration with small problem
huuuu - lots of problems, hard work, but still not giving up
haaaa - too many problems, giving up
heeee - overwhelming problems, dangerous problems, people getting hurt, things get broken
hiiiiiiii - disasterous problems, catastrophe, people dying, homes getting destroyed

You can here these sighs about current situation here.

Second describes the reaction to problems after they happened. They convey regret, loss, missed chance, what could have happened, disbelief that something bad has happened:

oh - mild frustration with small loss or missed chance, not affecting us much, nice to have. oh well...
uh - big enough frustration with big enough loss or missed chance, affecting us significantly, good to have. Uh, I can't believe...
ah - big frustration with big loss or missed chance, affecting us greatly, must have. Ah! Why didn't it work...
eh - remembering something that failed recently and you wish it worked, feeling sorry for yourself. Recent past, your are still affected, you are thinking about it all the time, but you are accepting it. Eh, if only it had worked...
ih - remembering something that failed long time ago. feeling bitter, sad. distant past. Ih, when I remember...

You can here these sighs about past situation here.

You can see that the position of consonants is reversed to reflect the time. Consonant is at the beginning of the sigh in the first group which is used for current emotion, and at the end in the group used for passed emotions.

What is also amazing is that we can find that the vowel symbols found in Vinča script, the oldest sound based writing system in the world, actually correspond with the emotional charge carried by the vowels. We can see that correspondence when we compare the vowel symbols and the hands positions and actions which accompany each emotional state which the vowel represents. Have a look at this:

Vowels O,U,A,Eшm,I and their symbols from Vinča script, describe life in it's entirety:

O - seed, egg (round, enclosed)
UVY - hole, womb, planting, fertilization (in, into, downward)
A - birth, sprouting, growth (upward)
Eшm - existence in this world. E - human, ш - plants, m - animals (exists, it is)
I - group, tribe, descendants, continuation, death, god, sky (stake, direction, one)

Vowels O,U,A,Eшm,I and their symbols from Vinča script correspond to the basic hand positions and gestures and hand movements and actions:

Hand positions, gestures:

O - hand wrapped around something we own and control, like object, animal, child, possession of something, someone
U - hand pointing forward, palm in a cup shape, facing up, holding something in it, supporting something or someone
A - hand pointing forward, palm vertical facing away from the body,with fingers together pointing upward, like stopping someone, pushing something or someone away
E - hand pointing sideways or upwards, palm facing away from the body, fingers spread like in a grabbing clawing action, acquiring, grabbing, snatching something
I - hands pointing down, next to the body, palm vertical facing the center of the body, or hands pointing up above the head, palms vertical facing each other like in resignation, surrendering to a people or god.

Hand movements, actions:

O - hugging, wrapping your arms around someone
U - holding someone in your arms
A - stopping someone, pushing something or someone away
E - grabbing, bringing, pulling something towards us, acquiring something
I - surrendering

Vowels O,U,A,E,I correspond to the basic primary colors: black, red, yellow, blue, white

Black - E - violence, anger - extreme negative (Hell)
Red - U - desire - mildly negative (Fire)
Yellow (orange, brown, green) - O - calm, neutral (Earth)
Blue - A - high, positive (Sky)
White - I - tranquility, acceptance (God)

These colors can be found on color scale of good and evil in Christian church for instance.

I will finish with OM - the sacred sound of Vedas.

In Serbian "Budi" means "Be, Exist". "Budan" means awake.  Buda was the awaken one, he was Budan (awake).

Buda claimed that "being awake" was "all knowledge"...

The holy sound of Vedas which is said to represent "the whole of Vedas", is OM, pronounced as "AUM"

I actually believe that this sound was originally AOUM but that O was lost first only for AU to be later replaced with O.

And here is something very interesting:

AOUM consists of these vowels: A - outside, O surface of the body, U inside of the body, M core. M is one of the only two sounds that can be made with your mouth closed. And the only one that produces the vibration of the whole central cavity, our core. This is why M is the core sound of words that mean me, my, myself (me, mene in Serbian), the words whose meaning is directed inwards. So the above mantra brings our focus from outside into our core, (m)ind by using emotional discharge through descending vowels. The word for mind in Serbian is UM. This word derives its meaning from U + M = inside + me = mind. This is probably the old "AOUM" shortened down to the absolute minimum number of sounds necessary to convey the intended meaning of internal me, real me....mind, UM.

I think this is an interesting picture showing relationship between the sounds AOU in nature:

I hope you liked this. I believe that this idea needs a lot more work and investigation but this is a good starting point for discussion. Let me know what you think.