[For Beginners] FAQ

[Atanä mungeyu]

Does anyone have any tips for making the trilled "rr" sound?

i don't understand why so many people have problems with this..
the normal r is just any r like:great
the rr has no english example but is done with the tip of your tongue(a bit hard to explain)
well anyway eywa ayngahu

[Atanä mungeyu]

would: kemaweya tokx translate into uncalm body
irayo ulte eywa ayngahu

[kewnya txamew'itan]

Does anyone have any tips for making the trilled "rr" sound?

i don't understand why so many people have problems with this..
the normal r is just any r like:great
the rr has no english example but is done with the tip of your tongue(a bit hard to explain)
well anyway eywa ayngahu

the normal most certainly is not like an English r.

The r in English is [ ɹ ] whilst the r in Na'vi is [ ɾ ], an alveolar flap instead of approximant.

This is easier to explain to American English speakers so I'll address them first, in the words butter, latter, ladder and water, the tt in the first two, dd in the third and t in the last is an alveolar flap. If you're saying it right, your tongue should flap up to the roof of your mouth and hit the alveolar ridge (just behind your front teeth) before coming down again. If you try to voice this a bit more like an r than a t or d you should have it.

If you speak Spanish, the r in pero is also an alveolar flap like in Na'vi, if you're saying it right, your tongue should flap up to the roof of your mouth and hit the alveolar ridge (just behind your front teeth) before coming down again.

To non American English speakers or American English speakers who don't see what I mean, run your tongue up your mouth behind your front teeth. You should feel a ridge, this is the alveolar ridge, if you flap your tongue at this (you sort of hit it with your tongue then let your tongue fall again) you should have the sound.

this video can explain further


As for tips on trilling, place your tongue on your alveolar ridge (see above) and blow until it trills, then produce a vowel from your vocal cords at the same time and you have a syllabi alveolar trill (a Na'vi rr).

i don`t know if this has been posted somewhere but what does nge mean since i can`t find it.

nge doesn't mean anything, it appears in a few words such as munge and ngenga but means nothing on its own. Nga means you.

[Doolio]

ninja'd

[Taronyu]

would: kemaweya tokx translate into uncalm body
irayo ulte eywa ayngahu

I'm not sure about compound words. I would do it like this:

ke lemaweya tokx.

not calm-ADJ body.

As for nge: the above is correct, but also it is the first part of ngenga, the honorific form of 'you'.

[Atanä mungeyu]

would: kemaweya tokx translate into uncalm body
irayo ulte eywa ayngahu

I'm not sure about compound words. I would do it like this:

ke lemaweya tokx.

not calm-ADJ body.

As for nge: the above is correct, but also it is the first part of ngenga, the honorific form of 'you'.

irayo,
why would it be LEmaweya??
eywa ayngahu

[Taronyu]

Because it needs to be an adjective. le- is the adjectival making prefix.

[Atanä mungeyu]

irayo ulte eywa ayngahu

[Nawman]

Kaltxì! Srung, rutxe.
What means -vi in sivi?
For example:  Srung sivi tupe?
                   Who can help us?

[kewnya txamew'itan]

it's not actually -vi, instead it's <iv> which is the subjunctive and objective infinitive infix.

That sentence needs a tsun (can) in there as well.

[Txen Txelan]

I am nearly certain that people have asked this before but after searching the entire beginner forum I have yet to find it. So where should i start to learn Na'vi? Should I begin with vocabulary or what?

[Nawman]

Irayo kawng mungeyu!

[kewnya txamew'itan]

I am nearly certain that people have asked this before but after searching the entire beginner forum I have yet to find it. So where should i start to learn Na'vi? Should I begin with vocabulary or what?

You can start wherever you feel most comfortable. I started by reading and memorising the first half of the pocket guide (with all the grammar in it) and then reading the lexicon to improve my vocabulary.

If you think vocab would be a good place to start, start there.

[Txen Txelan]

Ok thanks 

[Tsyaltuan]

I think I finally got trilling my R's down after a week and I was going to post an audio sample to see if I'm doing it right but now I'm sick and it's affecting my trill... FML lol

[Tsamsteu]

Ma nìltsan! by the way, is lu always intransitive, as in it doesnt require nouns to add infixes and what not?

[Tsyaltuan]

I've seen people saying "is" in sentences but I can't seem to find what word it is. Also is there a way to say "are"?

[Tsamsteu]

the verb for to be (am, is, are) is represented by lu

[Tsyaltuan]

the verb for to be (am, is, are) is represented by lu

Can having lu just once in a sentence act as multiple parts in the sentence? Ex: I am wondering if you are ready to go outside. Could just having lu once in that sentence mean am and are? I've seen some sentences where people have done this.

[Tsamsteu]

the verb for to be (am, is, are) is represented by lu

Can having lu just once in a sentence act as multiple parts in the sentence? Ex: I am wondering if you are ready to go outside. Could just having lu once in that sentence mean am and are? I've seen some sentences where people have done this.

I'm not a heavily experienced speaker or master of this language, so take my advice lightly, with what you just said as a sentence, "I am wondering", that seems like it would be a progressive action, comparable to the progressive tense in english; therefore, i'm not sure if theres a verb in na'vi for "wonder" but if there were, I would use the infix <er> to suggest an ongoing action (aka progressive) rather than the verb lu

Regarding the second "are" in "are ready to go outside" you would be able to use the verb lu , but it may be put into a subjunctive tense (using the infix <iv>, because the action is not a certainty...sorry if that was too long or confusing?