Mawey Na'via, Mawey

Seze · December 23, 2009, 02:29:13 AM

Trying to translate this clip. Roughly I know its Calm people, Calm. However, I can't figure out the exact meaning of the middle word, which I believe is spelled Na'via.

Question has finally been answered, only took 4 months... link

omängum fra'uti · December 23, 2009, 02:47:12 AM

My thinking is it's..

Mawey, Na'vi a-maway. Something that's been forgotten most the times on this forum (By myself included) is that adjectives need to be tied to the noun they are modifying with a- (If the noun is the word before) or -a (In the noun is the word after).

The only problem with that theory is that the way she delivers the line, there is a pause between a and the second maway, which does not make it sound like it's being delivered as a prefix.

Eywayä mokri · December 23, 2009, 02:48:25 AM

I just thought about something.

I can remember that in the subtitles what she said was turned into (well from french into english) "Calm down my People, calm down."

So from this it could maybe be:

Mawey Na'vi-yä (gen), mawey.

Without any subject we can understand anyway that ths is her People..so.

That's just a suggestion.

The old Uriuujìn · December 26, 2009, 09:32:45 PM

My only problem with that solution is that the way she pronounces it, it sounds more like Na'vi-a, or Na'vi-ya. It doesn't sound like ä to me, which I have been given to understand is more of a long "a," something like ey does in Na'vi.
I may be wrong, though. And I couldn't find any other options, soo...
Good Luck ^_^

-Uryuujin

sefuheron · December 26, 2009, 10:12:52 PM

Oe mllte ma "Eywa mokriyä".

Mawey Na'viyä... Mawey.

Also, notice very closely how she separates "Na'" and "viyä" as shown by the apostrophe (glottal stop).

tsko · December 27, 2009, 04:22:46 AM

grr i think im going to go to the theater with a pen and paper and write down all the sub titles...

what i remembered was something like
calm brothers, calm, but its 2:30 am so i could be crazy.
i have a cam version of it on my phone (i know i know, i hate myself for doing it but if it was on dvd i would buy it) but the subs are in like Arabian.

The old Uriuujìn · December 27, 2009, 12:12:19 PM

I'm 99% sure that the subtitles were "Calm, Na'vi, calm." or perhaps my people instead. I think I may see it again today (3 times XD it's gonna be awesome, first time in IMAX if I do) and I'll keep a weathered eye out for it. Maybe I'll bring a pen and paper and write it down too.......

Eywayä mokri · December 27, 2009, 12:31:31 PM

We talked about that today on the skype chat again.

I think a solution could be Mawey, Na'vi a-mawey. As calm affects the Na'vi people. So calm down my people, calm down. So we do use the prefix of suffix -a- next to the adjective that modifies a noun.

omängum fra'uti · December 27, 2009, 04:10:08 PM

The delivery just doesn't sound like that... That's all that bugs me with that.

Mawey Na'vi a (pause) mawey

Fpeioyuyä 'ite · December 27, 2009, 04:16:27 PM

I remember the subtitles as saying, "Calm, people, calm."

But if it's the equivalent of "calm down, my people," then it wouldn't need the adjective marker, right? "Calm down" is an order, sort of a verb. In "be calm," calm is an adjective.
(Ugh, "calm" is starting to sound funny.)

I don't really hear the adjective marker in there. I agree that it sounds more like "Na'vi a" with a pause, and then "mawey." So maybe she's giving them an order of "calm!" and it's used more in the verb sense? But then the "be" would be implied, so it would still be an adjective, but then, why is the marker not there?

Aaah! My brain. It hurts.

...an alternative explanation is that even native speakers of Na'vi sometimes forget the rules. I mean, some native speakers of English still use double negatives...

EDIT: In regards to the possibility of it being "Na'vi-yä," as in the genitive case...it does sound like that, but why would it be in the genitive case? I don't entirely understand genitive case, but if it's a noun modifying another noun, and there's no other noun in that sentence...?

tute nuereime · December 27, 2009, 04:20:22 PM

no we dont

but could it be the ay- prefix by itself to represent all like (calm, people, all calm)?

dotster · December 27, 2009, 05:25:28 PM

It sounds like it is used again by Mo'at when she is trying to save Grace. Listen for it, it's near the end of the clip. She says something like na'vi-a-.

http://talknavi.com/audio/41/the-na%27vi-try-to-save-grace

Beduino · December 27, 2009, 05:44:49 PM

Quote from: dotster on December 27, 2009, 05:25:28 PM
It sounds like it is used again by Mo'at when she is trying to save Grace. Listen for it, it's near the end of the clip. She says something like na'vi-a-.

http://talknavi.com/audio/41/the-na%27vi-try-to-save-grace

yeah, sounded like "na Na'vi-a-(yä)

But, I still think its Na'vi-yä

Na'vi is the people, yä is the genitive prefix (possession)

so Na'viyä makes sense, as "My people".

I'm still thinking of this "ä" sound be like in "cat", because in this way (at least for me) it sounds more like an "eh"

Harliquinn · December 27, 2009, 07:13:20 PM

There's really no way for calm to make sense as an adjective in that sentence. I have to go with the "My People" explanation until Frommer stops by to give us the other half of the language.

J.

dotster · December 27, 2009, 08:03:59 PM

I agree, I think it's something like that, but if the genitive suffix(-yä ) was attached to Na'vi it would not mean "my people" nor "my na'vi".

To mean "my", the possessive suffix must be attached to the pronoun "oe". oeyä = my

If you attached it to Na'vi (which could use either the suffix "-ä" or "-yä", we don't really know the rules for this yet) you would have Na'viä/Na'viyä it would signify that something belonged to the Na'vi. For instance:

atxkxe Na'vi(y)ä - The Na'vi's land.

In the audio file that I mentioned previously of Mo'at, I do agree with you. I believe she IS using the genitive suffix, but again, not to mean "my people". I have my theories as to what she is saying, but I'm not confident in it yet so I don't want to share it until I feel more secure about it haha.

MasterEro · December 28, 2009, 04:06:18 PM

Quote from: dotster on December 27, 2009, 08:03:59 PM
I agree, I think it's something like that, but if the genitive suffix(-yä ) was attached to Na'vi it would not mean "my people" nor "my na'vi".

To mean "my", the possessive suffix must be attached to the pronoun "oe". oeyä = my

If you attached it to Na'vi (which could use either the suffix "-ä" or "-yä", we don't really know the rules for this yet) you would have Na'viä/Na'viyä it would signify that something belonged to the Na'vi. For instance:

atxkxe Na'vi(y)ä - The Na'vi's land.

In the audio file that I mentioned previously of Mo'at, I do agree with you. I believe she IS using the genitive suffix, but again, not to mean "my people". I have my theories as to what she is saying, but I'm not confident in it yet so I don't want to share it until I feel more secure about it haha.

ä makes the same sound as in cat, so what Mo'at is saying doesnt make sense to be anything but an adjective. Most likely, it is an adjective.

Mo'at at says "Na na'vi-a." I cant understand most of the rest of her chant, but I assume she is calling to aywa to turn Grace from a tawtute to one of the Na'vi, and at the end she says "become na'vi" na'vi being an adjective, like if I was describing myself as human. I could say " I am a human(n)" Or "I am human(adj)."

As for neytiti, thats a bit tougher. It sounds like a mispronunciation of the genitive -(y)ä. If that is the case, then the problem arises about who's possession it is. The Na'vi are a very spiritual bunch, and they believe in eternal life through the forest etc, like with the tree of spirits. It could be a cultural phrase to say Na'vi-yä. Just like I am "of the human race," they are all "of The People." So it could mean "Calm, people of the people, calm," srak? I think that the most likely situation is that it is native slang of some kind. Natives always butcher their own languages with slang and little sayings. I know native speakers from mexico that struggle to pass high school Spanish because they are so used to their own methods,so something outsiders have trouble understanding wouldnt be uncommon.

Just my thoughts. Ngai oeru ketìng ayzoploti (dont hate on me)!

edit: where's Prrton when you need him?!

edmoreira · December 28, 2009, 04:27:40 PM

I have my theory about mawey, na'via mawey
It's totally unfounded but i'd like to share it with you anyway
First let me say that I don't think it could be the genitive yä for the reasons stated above calm, of the na'vi, calm? Unless it's a very complex explanation as proposed by MasterEro above. But let me remind you that Frommer has repeated in many interviews that he didn't think of the culture of the Na'vi to create the language only for the vocab, not for the morphology!
So here is my theory
we now that many case markers are currently unknown and we sort of know they change
look at:
http://forum.learnnavi.org/index.php?topic=70.0
second statement

We also know that the Na'vi language uses the vocative marker ma. This is an example where a vocative marker should be used!
Mawey ma Na'vi, Mawey!
Now, what if ma Na'vi could be Na'vi-a ?
maybe -a is the vocative case ending?
just saying...
what do you think?

Eywa ngahu
Etx

wm.annis · December 28, 2009, 04:34:33 PM

Quote from: edmoreira on December 28, 2009, 04:27:40 PM
Now, what if ma Na'vi could be Na'vi-a ?
maybe -a is the vocative case ending?
just saying...

Unfortunately, we've accounted for all the cases Frommer has told us exist. For this to be a vocative case ending Frommer would have to be actively misleading people. That seems unlikely.

Frommer ngahu.

edmoreira · December 28, 2009, 04:45:56 PM

Quote from: wm.annis on December 28, 2009, 04:34:33 PM

Unfortunately, we've accounted for all the cases Frommer has told us exist. For this to be a vocative case ending Frommer would have to be actively misleading people. That seems unlikely.

Frommer ngahu.

I agree with what you say but you do agree that ma is a vocative marker, right? and that ma Na'vi would probably work in that sentence, right?

ma is listed as an adposition such as hu

now, hu nga and ngahu both work, so why not ma na'vi and na'vima? i know she doesn't say na'vima but maybe there is a rule we're still not aware of.

Again, i'm just being the devil's advocate, I stated before that it is an unfounded theory so you're probably right and i'm probably wrong, but I like the discussion anyway.

Eywa ngahu
Etx

wm.annis · December 28, 2009, 05:18:39 PM

Quote from: edmoreira on December 28, 2009, 04:45:56 PM
ma is listed as an adiposition such as hu

Listed as such where? Everything we know about ma comes from interviews with Frommer and people listening to the Na'vi dialog in the film. Claiming it as an adposition seems unjustified. A vocative particle is not really like an adposition.