[For Beginners] FAQ

[kewnya txamew'itan]

Is there a way to say 'i have an ikran' in na'vi???
(i know that we don't have a word for 'to have', but there might be...)

We're not sure. We know that "oe-ru ___ lu" can mean I have in some cases but we don't know if this works for physical objects/creatures/plants like an ikran.

It may be correct to say oery ikran lu but we don't know so I'd do as tsmukan ftu eywa suggests and say this is my ikran which would be "fìpo oeyä ikran lu".





Fìikran lu oeyä isn't "this ikran is mine", it is "this ikran is my". We don't know the Na'vi word for mine although I'd be willing to hazard a guess at oeyä'u (my thing).

[Hawnuyu atxen]

Oh, okay, irayo!!!
(mine and my... couldn't it be that 'oeyä' can be used to both? like with 'lu' (am, are, is))

[kewnya txamew'itan]

We don't know but I wouldn't think it likely (but that's just a hunch).

[Hawnuyu atxen]

Well, maybe is better than nothing (and 'fìpo oeyä ikran lu' is quite good), irayo again!

[Kaltxì Palulukan!]

Can I use Tawvrrtep to mean sky-demon? If not, can I use Taw Vrrtep?

Thoughts anyone?

[Hawnuyu atxen]

I can't see why not, but if i'm wrong, you still can use le-taw-a vrrtep (i think that's correct, but i'd say yours is better )

[kewnya txamew'itan]

Can I use Tawvrrtep to mean sky-demon? If not, can I use Taw Vrrtep?

Thoughts anyone?

Tawvrrtep is probably OK, otherwise you'd have to do as Hawnuyu suggests and go with le-taw-a vrrtep (or vrrtep a-le-taw)

[Hawnuyu atxen]

Don't you say i got something right?... man, i'm soooo good
( and not completly hopeless  )

[Lenewa txe'lan]

how do i say "All right thank you and goodbye" in Na'vi please help

[Tengfya swizaw]

Basically, all you would need to say is "Irayo, kìyevame." Which is pretty much "Thanks, Bye." You could substitute kìyevame for eywa ngahu, which is another common phrase.

[kewnya txamew'itan]

You might want an ulte in between irayo and kìyevame but otherwise Tengfya is correct.

[Panzerfaust]

Saw the example for how to properly say "good night" in the common mistakes thread, and noticed something a bit odd. The thread suggets you say "may you have a peacefull night"

txon     lefpom          livu                           ngar
night      peacefull       be (hopefull)       for-you
may you have a well/good night

i am assuming "ngar" is you-TOP, and am thus wondering why it is not written "ngari" as in nga-ri
my only thought is that "ngari" would be pronounced dangerously similarly to "nari" (eye) and thus is changed to "ngar" to avoid confusion. Is this correct?

[Kaltxì Palulukan!]

I think we still don't have a word meaning "have," but, is lu<yä> too much of a stretch? I was wrestling with it all day today and now I am confused. Part of me thinks that possessive "is", is a joke. But it just won't go away. Someone please help me disabuse myself of this idiot notion. (Just tell me I am dumb and I can forget this whole luyä thing once and for all).

Also, can we use "lu ke" (two words) to mean "is not"? Or "ke lu" if you likie. Anyway, thanks in advance.

[wm.annis]

Part of me thinks that possessive "is", is a joke. But it just won't go away. Someone please help me disabuse myself of this idiot notion. (Just tell me I am dumb and I can forget this whole luyä thing once and for all).

You are being dumb.



You did ask!  And if you have too much trouble with "possessive 'is'" try thinking about it more as "possessive dative."  That's the heavy-hitter in the construction.  And plenty of Human languages use similar constructions, so it's not really all that strange.

Also, can we use "lu ke" (two words) to mean "is not"? Or "ke lu" if you likie. Anyway, thanks in advance.

Right now it looks like ke lu is a more common order for that.

[Kaltxì Palulukan!]

Part of me thinks that possessive "is", is a joke. But it just won't go away. Someone please help me disabuse myself of this idiot notion. (Just tell me I am dumb and I can forget this whole luyä thing once and for all).

You are being dumb.



You did ask!  And if you have too much trouble with "possessive 'is'" try thinking about it more as "possessive dative."  That's the heavy-hitter in the construction.  And plenty of Human languages use similar constructions, so it's not really all that strange.

Also, can we use "lu ke" (two words) to mean "is not"? Or "ke lu" if you likie. Anyway, thanks in advance.

Right now it looks like ke lu is a more common order for that.

Okay, you asked for it: (I apologize for any mistakes in grammar--but I did try). Please note that the first line is possible, but like a lot of song adaptations/parodies/translations, one must squeeze in multiple sylables to fit the beat count. This first line works, but it took me all day, and a LOT of frustration to master it.

Olo'eyktan-l   t<ol>ìng   oe<ti>  turkru
Iray--Iray--oooo

Ulte fa oeyä tukru Oe-l tskxekeng
Iray--Iray--oooo

hu takuk takuk fìtseng

ulte 'eko 'eko tsatseng

fìtseng takuk, tsatseng 'eko

frapeseng() takuk takuk

Ulte fa oeyä tukru Oe-l tskxekeng
Iray--Iray--oooo

Yaay!   

[Arthur]

> Hmm... So many people dedicated to help...
> Very well... I hope you guys got some time to read and help me on this:
> First, I'd like to point out that english is not my maiden language, and I don't have an extensive knowledge of the English Grammar. So, as I learn Na'Vi, I need to translate from english to portuguese, then from portuguese to na'vi, and vice versa, which is 1. time-consuming, and 2. a step on one's tail

> So far I've been dealing with Na'Vi fairly well, and I can construct standard phrases with little difficulty. But, there are a few matters I've been postergating for too long, and now they are becoming a barrier for further Na'VI lessons.

1. Topic Marker.
> I, unfortunately, haven't got the faintest idea on how to apply (-ri) on common phrases. Nor the english neither the portuguese languages make use of that. And the guides out there are written in such an english that only native english speakers can understand its use and examples with little difficulty. So, the problem is: I don't know how to use the topic marker. How do I use it? (Despite the embarrassement, I would like the explanation to be as detailed as possible, like if you were teaching your little brother).

2. Syntax
> So far the only syntax stuff I managed to learn is that "usually" the verb's subject comes first (with an adjective before or after), then the verb's direct object (with the adjetive before or after), the verb itself, the verb's adverb, the indirect object (aka locative, dative, (in portuguese we call these simply as "indirect object". I don't know about English), and the adequate prepositions.
> Of course, using the correct infixes, the syntax (apart from the adjective's location) is somewhat free. Is that right?

3. Tense and Aspect
> In portuguese we don't have the distinction between tense and aspect. We incorporate aspect on different tenses. So, we have: Past Imperfect (Was doing), Past Perfect (Did), Past more-than-perfect (Had done) Present (Do) Future of Present (Will Do) Future of Past (Was going to do), Present Subjective ([I hope that they] do), Past Subjective (Would do), Future Subjective ([if he's there, I] will do), Imperative (Do~order), Infinitive (to do), Participle (done) and Gerund (doing). As you can see portuguese is WAY too different from english, and even more different than Na'Vi. Could someone spare some time and help me associate Na'Vi tenses and aspects with portuguese ones?

4. Vocabulary
> Lately I've seen two vocabularies coming up. One, made of canon words, taken from the movie, book or Frommer's message(s). The other is a non-canon vocabulary with includes non-Na'Vi words like "computer", "mp3", or "internet", all this stuff that is not part of the Na'Vi culture. On the near future, are you going to separate those two wordlists, or going to merge them into one? I personally think a canon wordlist with words from the movie, and eventual words that Frommer may release be kept, as I don't find it real for the Na'Vi to need a word for "computer"

> I'd also like to point out that by helping me, you are going to help many other portuguese speakers, as well other latin language speakers, as I'm part of a community eager to learn Na'Vi.
> Thanks for your time and consideration.

[Hikyuuri]

are you guys seriously on teamspeak, cuz i have that on my pc,
could you tell me the room etc?
eywa ayngahu,
unilyu

Not sure if anyone answered this question yet, but yes, there is a TeamSpeak server online for learnnavi.org.  However, it is a TeamSpeak 3 server, not a TeamSpeak 2 server, and the two are not compatible, so you will need to download and install TeamSpeak 3.

For full instructions and server address information, go to http://forum.learnnavi.org/website-info/if-i-was-to-host-a-teamspeak-server/.

[Atanä mungeyu]

are you guys seriously on teamspeak, cuz i have that on my pc,
could you tell me the room etc?
eywa ayngahu,
unilyu

Not sure if anyone answered this question yet, but yes, there is a TeamSpeak server online for learnnavi.org.  However, it is a TeamSpeak 3 server, not a TeamSpeak 2 server, and the two are not compatible, so you will need to download and install TeamSpeak 3.

For full instructions and server address information, go to http://forum.learnnavi.org/website-info/if-i-was-to-host-a-teamspeak-server/.

irayo, but i'm already on the server etc, but i mostly use skype anyways XD
eywa ayngahu,
unilyu

[Arthur]

> As for the topic marker thing, Kaltxì Palulukan has helped me, so that issue has been solved. Irayo.
> I just need help with syntax and tense/aspect now.
> Nice community here btw.

[HTML_Earth]

If i were to say "Aysawtuteyä kifkeyä ayioang"

How would that work with the free word order?

It would be "Skypeople's world's animals" but if we can switch the words around, could it be percieved as "The world's skypeople's animals"?