[For Beginners] FAQ

[Doolio]

you don't need the topic marker in that sentence, also, tseoyu need to be put accusative, and nga in ergative, as they are object and subject of a transitive verb.

nga-l tseoyu-ti lu
you<ERG> artist<ACC> be

[Rika]

After a moment's thought, I realized that makes a lot more sense.

Irayo!

[Kìte'eyä Aungia]

http://forum.learnnavi.org/index.php?topic=81.0

I'm a bit confused about the Na'vi a. The IPA symbol given in the alphabet thread appears to be the unrounded open front vowel, but as far as I know the example word "father" has an open back vowel in most English dialects. Can someone confirm for me which one it is?

[Taronyu]

See the phonetics section in this document. I think I covered it pretty well.

[Kìte'eyä Aungia]

Indeed you did, that definitely cleared it up for me. Thanks!

[Doolio]

yes, try to use english approximations as a somewhat rough guide, do not take it for granted. if you would spell na'vi 'a' as in 'father', you would not be making a big mistake and would be clearly understood by na'vi:)
but still, try to think of a na'vi as a whole new language and throw of your native language phonetic legacy. for instance, 'u' is explained in examples such as 'soon' or 'boom'. although this is the most correct example you will find in english, the pronunciation in na'vi is a lot more "raw" considering vowels. it is more similar to how it is being pronounced in "raul" - in spanish.

taronyu:
i must say that the example for "o" is not correct (pope). in pope, we hear a diphthong, like "oh" or "ow", and na'vi 'o' is a monophthong, more as in 'caught' spoken the british way.

[Taronyu]

taronyu:
i must say that the example for "o" is not correct (pope). in pope, we hear a diphthong, like "oh" or "ow", and na'vi 'o' is a monophthong, more as in 'caught' spoken the british way.

Will look for an american alternative. Thanks.

[damp]

I have a question, how I can say "What are you doing?"

[thedavemonster]

Hey, I just joined and was checking out the ADP section of the grammar page.

I was under the impression that the rallying cry in the film was "mak't'ok'o" - which I understood as 'for/with the makxtxo' but can't see a mention of "k'o" anywhere: has this been covered somewhere else or did I hear it wrong?


Also, in the phrase, "Oeri ontu teya längu" - would it be classed as wrong to say "Oeyä ontu ..."? Or would you use that to say, for example, 'this is my nose'? (Incidentally, how would you say 'this'?)

[Doolio]

considering the 'my nose is full' phrase:
yes, oeyä ontu would be 'my nose'. but, 'oe' has been marked with a topic marker '-ri' which overrides any existing grammatic cases in a word.

[Arlindi]

Hey, sorry if this has already been asked but i have listened to as much Na'vi as i can (primarily http://forum.learnnavi.org/index.php?topic=201.0) and have read the phonetics document but  i am having a lot of trouble with the "ng" sound. In the link, the quality is sketchy which may explain it but it sounds like the "g" sound in it is almost completely omitted. Can anyone give some tips on how to make this sound?
Irayo

[Kìte'eyä Aungia]

The sound you want is the "ng" in "ring" and the "n" in "drink". If you're having trouble making it, say the word "ring" a few times and then try to say just the bit after the vowel. Once you feel comfortable with that, try actually starting words with the sound.

[Atanä mungeyu]

it's like the -ng of doing,moving and anything like that
it's just this ng can be placed anywhere in a word in na'vi,in english it can't be at the beginning
eywa ayngahu

[Fpom-a-Orinblac]

Is there a straight-up table or list of any kind just listing off the prefixes suffixes and infixes in some sort of order? I hate reading over the documents to look at the different meanings and functions. It would be so much less confusing if i just had a "here's the prefix, here's what it's used for, here's an example or two." does anyone know of one or could there be one made?

[Eywayä mokri]

Is there a straight-up table or list of any kind just listing off the prefixes suffixes and infixes in some sort of order? I hate reading over the documents to look at the different meanings and functions. It would be so much less confusing if i just had a "here's the prefix, here's what it's used for, here's an example or two." does anyone know of one or could there be one made?

Someone is actually making a document with all the affixes you can find in Na'vi, with examples and so. The document is not finished yet, and it seems I can't find it anymore. You should try to find it on the forum.

[Arlindi]

The sound you want is the "ng" in "ring" and the "n" in "drink". If you're having trouble making it, say the word "ring" a few times and then try to say just the bit after the vowel. Once you feel comfortable with that, try actually starting words with the sound.

aight so u actually kinda pronounce the g like in the video it sounds like he says nn ah u for ngahu  which is whats throwing me off, cause if you say the ng like in sing u can def hear the g though it may not be a hard g for lack of a better term.

srry if thats kind of stream of consciousness, in other words should you be able to hear the g sound when you pronounce ngahu and other words similar to that

[Kìte'eyä Aungia]

I guess you can think of it like that if it helps, but keep in mind that it's a single consonant. It's neither an "n" nor a "g", but a nasal, like "n", with the same place of articulation as "g". This means that when you pronounce the Na'vi "ng", your tongue should be in roughly the same position as it is when you make a "g", and the air should come out through your nose and not through your mouth like it does for an "n" or an "m".

[Atanä mungeyu]

omg eywaya mokri it's a jigsaw puzzle XD,cool 
how'd you make that ??

[Eywayä mokri]

omg eywaya mokri it's a jigsaw puzzle XD,cool 
how'd you make that ??

I made it using photoshop.

[Atanä mungeyu]

cool,nice work !
eywa ngahu