A Year Ago Today

Started by wm.annis, December 07, 2010, 05:51:43 PM

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wm.annis

A Year Ago Today
An Eccentric Account of a Year of Na'vi

I did a little digging through my old facebook statuses recently.  I was looking for my first post about Na'vi.  I remember being so surprised about the ejectives that I had to post a note.  That day, December 8th 2009, probably marks the beginning of my involvement with the language.  Here's the article that started it all for me: USC professor creates an entire alien language for 'Avatar'.  I don't remember how I came to read that article.  Obviously, it was published a few weeks before I even read it.  But anything related to invented languages comes to my attention eventually.

So, Na'vi had come to my attention — especially the ejective choice — even though I really knew almost nothing else about the language at this point.  Cameron's behavior at the Oscars when he won for Titanic had left him in bad aroma with me, and though I knew he had "Avatar" coming out eventually, I had no special urge to see it.

Then I read the NYT "Skxawng!" article, which had samples of Frommer speaking Na'vi.  I don't know exactly which day I finally got to that article, but whatever day it was, that was the instant I knew I had to learn more about this language.  Those three short sentences turned an interesting example of public language invention into something much more interesting.  Na'vi sounded really good — natural, not like a Euroclone, but not grasping at alienness.

Facebook groups appeared.  A mailing list popped into existence.  Someone transcribed the vocabulary list from the ASG and posted it to a forum, from which it migrated to a public blog post on December 9th.  The Wikipedia article on the Na'vi language, which was the repository of our earliest steps of decipherment, had its first commit on December 12th.  On December 13th, I added a note that längu might be lu with an infix.  :)  On December 15th, we discovered the agentive and patientive cases, which we were then still calling "ergative" and "accusative."  I thought this warranted a note with an explanation point in the wiki commit comment: commit - this was exciting!

At this point, I knew I would have to see the film.  I don't know how many people went into "Avatar" just because of the language, but whatever that count, I'm part of it.  I was lucky.  I saw it opening week in 3d (not IMAX), but the "Avatar" juggernaut wasn't yet up to full speed, so there weren't crazy lines or crowded theaters full of chattering kids.  Needless to say, I got an experience I wasn't expecting.  Any plans to pay most attention to the language would have to wait for a later viewing.  Instead, I was always staring at plants in the background — somewhat disorienting in 3d.

A few days after I saw "Avatar," this web site was born.  I joined on the day it opened, and my knowledge of linguistics somehow convinced Fish I'd be a decent moderator.  I'm not so sure that's the best judge of moderational expertise, but I hope I've done ok.  When the site first formed, I spent a lot more time on Skype with other members, helping people approach the challenge of ejectives and alarming linguistic vocabulary, though there was a great deal of silliness, too.  Unfortunately, there was no way I could sustain that much time in Skype and on Na'vi.  I have a little nostalgia about the early days, but it's nice now, too, when we know so much more about the language.

One of the constants I've seen in the lì'fyaolo' is the struggle between competing visions of the Na'vi language.  Some day I'm going to sit down and figure out all the axes along which people differ (cultural purity vs. human use; alienness vs. familiarity; conservatism vs. innovation in relation to Frommerian canon, etc).  Being a long-time language creator myself, I fall solidly on the conservative side of things, and I hope I was occasionally a useful wet blanket, rather than merely annoying, early in our history.  Some people were so eager about Na'vi that they were prepared to just start inventing things to fill in gaps, even though we knew there was so much more Frommer hadn't yet given us.  One of my favorite episodes was the person who wanted to stick a new word on our wiki.  They were upset that we didn't have a word for "love," which is certainly understandable.  I wouldn't let them put the word up as Na'vi, and a wiki edit war (well, skirmish) ensued.   I especially liked the end.  I wear the title, "the one who killed the love in Na'vi," with pride.  Even Frommer joked about it at the Workshop.

The first LEP project in March through May was a hothouse example of the different ways people had become attached to Na'vi and their ideas about it.  Some day a sociologist should read that entire subforum for the debates.  The Zeitgeist "Avatar" taps into is on full display there in so many ways.

I really had no idea what trip I was starting on when I made that first Facebook post, "ooh, hey, ejectives — cool."  I had no idea how many interesting people I would be interacting with online weekly, if not daily.  I had no idea I'd be the mod on a forum that would grow to a few thousand members, a forum which, despite it's size and a few missteps, would manage to be more consistently pleasant and drama-free than any forum I can think of.  I certainly had no idea I'd be traveling to California in October to hang out with other fans of an invented language, along with the inventor himself.  And I had no idea I'd still be at it a year later.

Here's to another year of Na'vi!

Brainiac

Hear hear. It's actually been exactly one year for me, too. I miss ye olden days too, but I like the fact that it's actually a community now. Also, I still don't know what possessed the Bass to Mod-ify me.
Speed is a ppoor sbubstitue fo accurancy

Check out my blogif my presence on this board isn't weird enough for you.

Nìwotxkrr Tìyawn

I joined on January 6th, and had lurked for about 2 weeks before that, so I too know about nostalgia.

I remember first seeing Avatar not knowing anything about it, I hadn't seen any advertising at all amazingly, at least none that I can remember. It was more or less a split second decision after going to the theater to see another movie (I forget what) but I just saw the poster out side and I said to myself "I think I'm going to see that instead."

I instantly fell in love with the movie, not yet knowing that the language was an actual language until a few days later when I learned it from my cousin Chad who found out about from one of his friend's from out of state when they met up in Chicago to see Avatar in Imax.

It's only by shear dumb luck that I'm here now. If I hadn't seen the movie when I did or the conversation with my cousin never took place (or his meet-up with his friend for that matter) I have no idea where I'd be.

I also remember my printer being busted and I ended up having to hand-write the entirety of a certain someone's newly formed dictionary in a notebook that I still have, though I don't update it.  :)

Hopefully, I too will have the pleasure of meeting you all in person one day.

I also recall a comment about "hollywood bosses" or some such thing that I believe was one of the first if not the first fan-made comment in Na'vi, but I can't for the life of me remember whether it was you (wm) or Prtton.
Naruto Shippuden Episode 166: Confession
                                    Watch it, Love it, Live it

Swoka Ikran

A good read on the history of Na'vi. :)

I didn't discover Avatar until January 9th (and that was because I was bored and a snowstorm was coming the next day). Never saw any commercials, and didn't know anybody who'd seen it. I saw it only because nothing else good was playing.

I found this site some time in February after seeing it for the sixth time...came home and googled "Na'vi". Joined April 5th, after lurking for the better part of 2 months. I was hesitant to sign up, but now regret not joining sooner. I still can't speak/compose in Na'vi, but I can read a lot of it now.

Quote from: Nìwotxkrr Tìyawn on December 07, 2010, 08:19:51 PM
I also remember my printer being busted and I ended up having to hand-write the entirety of a certain someone's newly formed dictionary in a notebook that I still have, though I don't update it.  :)
Has something similar happen when I finally discovered the dictionary and nutshell guide - No working home printer, so I ran off the ~70 pages in the library at my HS (school had free printing). The librarian yelled at me for hogging the printer.
2010 was the year of the Na'vi.Vivar 'ivong Na'vi!


 
Avatray | NWOTD Sigbars | Sacred's Sigbar Tool | My collection of Avatar merchandise

Seze

It will be a year for me a day or two before this site turns a year old.  I don't exactly recall what made me look up the language of Avatar, but I do remember seeing the film on opening night then wanting to see it again but had to wait till the next day because the theater was now closed for the night.  I found the soundtrack online that night, my favorite soundtrack ever btw, and I stayed up late listening to it.  I think I searched for the language of Avatar on a whim thinking that maybe it would be something like Klingon, where it would be an actual language.  I was amazed that it actually was a real language, and I've been hooked on it ever since.   
Raises glass...


Learn Na'vi Mobile App - Now Available

wm.annis

Quote from: Nìwotxkrr Tìyawn on December 07, 2010, 08:19:51 PMI also recall a comment about "hollywood bosses" or some such thing that I believe was one of the first if not the first fan-made comment in Na'vi, but I can't for the life of me remember whether it was you (wm) or Prtton.

That was Prrton.

Tsuksìm atsawl (KaPTan)

oh i remember how my story went, not the exact dates but oh well.

A month before the movie came out I saw the commercials for the movie and i thought to myself oh hey look, its a movie based off of that one anime my friend was just telling me about, might be interesting to go see. well as my friend let me know a little later on it wasn't based off of the anime and so i was thinking oh, then there is no real point in seeing it.  then i saw another commercial and i saw blue people.  i was like: oooooooooooooooooooooo blue people... that's terribly sexy, i gotta go see that.  however no one in my family really wanted to go see it, but i got through to them eventually and we went to go see it in IMAX 3D on January 1st.  i saw it and was totally amazed, i wanted to go back and see it again.  i saw it a week later after that with my brother and his friends and yet i still wanted to see it again.  the next weekend my parents were gone and i was staying at a friends house, he wanted to go see a movie and he told me he hadn't seen avatar yet... so naturally i told him we had to go see avatar.  every time i saw avatar i wanted to see it again.  eventually it became april and i was on google looking for images for my desktop.  however, one day i forgot to switch the tabs to images before i typed in navi to the search.  learnnavi.org was the first hit and i was thinking NO FU**ing WAY.  so me being myself i clicked on the link thinking that this was total BS right?  i found out that na'vi was an actual language and i was bored so i started perusing some of the words and thought they sounded pretty BA.  ever since then i have been on the forums.  however, i have not devoted much time to learning na'vi since i have to learn spanish for school, and sadly know very little about na'vi even though i keep it in my heart.  however, once this school year ends and i no longer need to learn spanish its going to be na'vi all the way.

oh such wonderful times.
Also a member of the podcast known as Avatar Nation.  Come listen to our stuff! like us on facebook and chech out our blog at Avatar-Nation.net.

'Oma Tirea

Quote from: Swoka Ikran on December 07, 2010, 08:58:18 PM
I found this site some time in February after seeing it for the sixth time...came home and googled "Na'vi". Joined April 5th, after lurking for the better part of 2 months. I was hesitant to sign up, but now regret not joining sooner.

I only lurked as a guest, and was surprisingly reluctant to join LN back then :P I too, kinda regret the fact that I did not join earlier, although I had some reason for it:

  • I didn't want this place to sidetrack from what I do in school, kinda like it does now :P
  • I wanted the language to develop a little more before I come in & commit myself to this place that I somehow can't seem to leave.

Quote from: Swoka Ikran on December 07, 2010, 08:58:18 PM
I still can't speak/compose in Na'vi, but I can read a lot of it now.

I'm the exact opposite of that :P

[img]http://swokaikran.skxawng.lu/sigbar/nwotd.php?p=2b[/img]

ÌTXTSTXRR!!

Srake serar le'Ìnglìsìa lì'fyayä aylì'ut?  Nari si älofoniru rutxe!!

Eanikran

I joined on January 7, but I lurked here for probably 2 or 3 weeks, yep I was one of those creepy 'guest' things ;D
I can't really remember how I found the forum, but I think I might have been just looking around at avatar related stuff on the interwebz and I foundthis link on google that said "learn the Na'vi language!". I followed it and found so many different resources I was amazed. At first when I saw the link, I thought Na'vi would be just like one of those secret codes you made up when you were a kid, where there was just a word for every word, I had no idea there would be a full set of grammar rules and such. I remember printing out one of the guides the first time I was here, I can't remember which one it was (color coded dictionary in the back) and Skxawng's worksheets, and that's what got me hooked. I've been here ever since, I'm a numeyu on PNgN, and I still have everything I've ever printed from here in a 4 inch thick binder. Not only that, I've met some really awesome sute here :D

Raise your glass to another great year :D


Mako

My year anniversary will be January 3rd. That means I lurked for about 2 weeks before joining (Saw Avatar on the 19th, joined Jan. 3rd *shrugs*). Only now am I finally making progress though :P

A congratulatory kiva then? *raises glass*

Kì'eyawn

I'm not entirely sure how long i've been doing this. 

I know i saw Avatar for the first time in December of 2009 (there are various reasons why i remember the occasion distinctly, which i won't go into here).  I also know i encountered the NPR article about Karyu Pawl in the same month, but i don't know which happened first—although i'm inclined to think i saw the film first. 

In any case, i know after i heard him on NPR i looked up the Na'vi language, which brought me to the Learn Na'vi website.  I followed all the links posted there, and at some point ended up on Wikipedia, where at the time there was a steadily-growing article on the Na'vi language (now contained in this Wikibook).  I saw that there was a forum, but having had largely unpleasant experience with internet forums i went nowhere near it; but instead quietly worked through the Wikipedia page, hunting through the old dictionary on the Learn Na'vi website and slowly building up a foundational understanding of the language.  I was currently in a state of mind in which i desperately needed a pleasant distraction (like i said, won't go into it right now). 

So, i plodded through what was known of the language, and then finally decided to join the forum so that i could post my first attempt at a translation—part of a poem by St. Teresa of Avila.  That was on 2nd February.  At the time, "IANAL" was my Greek chorus.  My dominant thought was, "I suck at languages," but i wanted to do this; i wanted to learn this language, more than any i'd tried my hand at before.

Looking back, it's amazing to me how completely my life has changed since then, and how many good things have happened since then—not the least of which was the unexpected honor of being invited to take part in the meeting with Karyu Pawl and so many excellent members of the lì'fyaolo'. 

It's been a great year, ma smuktu, and i am hopeful and excited for what's to come.
eo Eywa oe 'ia

Fra'uri tìyawnur oe täpivìng nìwotx...

Txonä Unil Stä'nìyu Rolyusì

#11
Oh wow, reading this thread was fun! I just wish I wasn't so much of a latecomer to the world of Pandora and this wonderful site! I hadn't heard anything about Avatar or especially about Na'vi at all! I only just started hearing about the movie like a week before it came out, and it was only word of mouth. Very little, I might add. Still hadn't heard anything about a language. I was supposed to go see it with a friend on the 18th of December but on my way home from work the night of the 17th, my bus pass got stolen. I didn't get another chance to see Avatar until March flipping 23rd!!!! But y'all know what? That day was absolutely perfect! It was like fate or something. I hadn't actually planned to see Avatar that day or looked at any bus schedules or movie listings. I was just going out casually thinking "Hmm, I still haven't seen Avatar, I might see it today perhaps." But still, all my bus schedules fell into place perfectly and I got to a theater 15 minutes before a showing was going to start. Not having seen trailers or previews or ANYTHING, I had no idea what to expect. And OH MY GOD!!!! After the movie....I didn't know what had hit me. I had to literally catch my breath then peel myself out of my seat. I stumbled down the hall in a daze, somehow made it to the bus stop, then got on the bus without showing my pass! I immediately downloaded the soundtrack as soon as I got home then went and saw it again in just over 24 hours. I remember raving about it on Facebook. I said something like "OMG EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO SEE AVATAR NOW!!!!!!" Totally not realizing that Avatar had been out since December. (I'm always among the last to find out about things, if I ever find out at all.) I spent tons of time on the Avatar movie website, I got a Na'vi-fied picture of me and a "Na'vi" name. Shortly after that was when I met Tirea Aean on Facebook :) He saw my name and asked what it means (On the site I had entered "Dragon Singer" as my name) and I'm like "Uhhh it should mean Dragon Singer." My name (at the time) was "Eytu'teri" and Tirea said, "No....that doesn't really mean anything" At that time I had NO idea who I was talking to...bear in mind that I still knew nothing about the language. At this point I probably knew that it existed though. Thinking back, I'm sure it was Tirea who introduced me to this site. By the time I joined, it was April 27th. I started looking at Na'vi in a Nutshell, but there was SO MUCH stuff in there and I didn't understand a lot of it. I got a few words down though, and I used them all the time. However, Tirea soon started Project NgayNume. That, and some 1 on 1s with him are what taught me just about everything I know about Na'vi. I'm surprised at how quickly I picked up on it. Some things took a while to click, but I got them down. I can't believe I've only been at it for just over 8 months! I've come so far and made so many amazing friends. Tirea Aean, if you're reading this......I can't thank you enough. It was you who first introduced me to the wonderful world of Na'vi and it was your idea of Project NgayNume that taught me what I know. Nga lameiu oeyä 'awvea 'eylan aean. Oel ngati kameie, ulte ngaru siveiyi irayo. It truly fills me to be a part of this community :) It has been a wonderful year (8 months for me) and I am looking forward to spending another one with you all :)

-Txonä Rolyu  




AvatarMeet was fantastic. Thanks to all who attended :D

Avatar Nation Karyu :D

Na'vi Kintrrä #70° :D

Keyeyluke ke tsun livu kea tìnusume

Oeri Uniltìrantokxìl txe'lanit nì'aw takeiuk nì'ul txa' fralo

Fpìl na Na'vi. Plltxe na Na'vi. Tìran na Na'vi. Kame na Na'vi

Taronyu

Really enjoyed reading that, Annis.

I still can't believe you killed the word for love. :P

Swoka Ikran

    Quote from: Sxkxawng alu 'Oma Tirea on December 08, 2010, 03:49:34 AM

    • I didn't want this place to sidetrack from what I do in school, kinda like it does now :P
    I can agree with that. Had the same feeling, thinking it'd hog a lot of time I should be spending on homework.

    My other reasons:

    • I was already spending hours on 3 other sites at the time:

      • An internal forum at my HS. (This sucked up time, since I was one of the few student mods...I killed hours some days cleaning up...for some reason, I actually miss doing this :P )
      • A Wii homebrew site - I was a mod there too...owner closed the forum portion in late March and gave the admin-ship of the wiki part to another mod.
      • A large Nintendo-centric forum (have ~1,300 posts there)
      I'm no longer on 2 of those: I don't have access to the HS forum anymore (graduated), and I've abandoned the wiki (new admin condones things I don't support)...

    • Practicing for drivers license test
    • "New user" feeling. :P
    • Worrying that friends would think I'm crazy (I got over it...)
    2010 was the year of the Na'vi.Vivar 'ivong Na'vi!


     
    Avatray | NWOTD Sigbars | Sacred's Sigbar Tool | My collection of Avatar merchandise

    Txur’Itan

    I remember so much of the vast knowledge you unfurled onto unsuspecting laymen, to crush their dreams and hopes, it was glorious and humbling.
    私は太った男だ。


    Txantslusam Skxawng

    First time I saw Avatar was january 21 and I joined here on january 26. Before this I had never heard of Avatar, only the epic mysterious trailer version. Before Avatar, I had never had a feeling of loving a movie so much, that I could see a movie so many times without getting bored, every time when I watch the DVD and Jake runs in his avatar for the first time I always think "I still can't believe I'm not bored of this movie."

    It was mostly the language why I wanted to see it again, I found it so amazing, I found this site when I was looking on the vocabulary on learnnavi.org, there was a tab with forum, I got to the forum and this is how I joined: How I made my account is pretty funny, first I looked as a guest for a Na'vi name as username, the first time I made the account, I got the name wrong, second time also wrong, then the third time I got it correct and then I also found out that you can change your forum name at the profile settings. xD

    Almost a year over for me and plenty off 'em to go!
    WirelessTsaheylu=Bluetooth
    Inventor of the word NARF


    Taronyu

    A year ago today I signed onto LN.org. I've spent 25 days on the site since then. I've made friends, learned a language, made a dictionary, networked like all hell, been to california, gotten internships and jobs, raised my grades, narrowed down my interests for future research, broadened my general interests. I've still seen the movie less than 10 times.

    Glad to be here.

    guest2859

    Quote from: Taronyu on December 23, 2010, 07:10:03 PM
    A year ago today I signed onto LN.org. I've spent 25 days on the site since then. I've made friends, learned a language, made a dictionary, networked like all hell, been to california, gotten internships and jobs, raised my grades, narrowed down my interests for future research, broadened my general interests. I've still seen the movie less than 10 times.

    Glad to be here.

    You should write a letter to the government and tell them that Avatar can save the economy.

    HRH, a year ago today (And every day before the DVD release), I was searching Google like hell looking for the release to buy. Then once I found out it was April, I died inside, then was revived when I finally got a copy.

    Tiaothi

    Quote from: Taronyu on December 23, 2010, 07:10:03 PM
    A year ago today I signed onto LN.org. I've spent 25 days on the site since then. I've made friends, learned a language, made a dictionary, networked like all hell, been to california, gotten internships and jobs, raised my grades, narrowed down my interests for future research, broadened my general interests. I've still seen the movie less than 10 times.

    Glad to be here.

    Awesomeness. :D
    "Of everything I've lost, I miss my mind the most"

    Kayrìlien

    Yeah, I'd say a year ago today, I was probably so engrossed in OMFG IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE mode that I hasn't even paying much attention to "that movie with the blue aliens getting all the hype", as I referred to Avatar back then. (How naive, lol...) It wasn't until January 20th that I went to see it. Maybe in a month or so I'll be able to start reminiscing about anniversaries, but right now I'm still only 11 months into the madness. (And, due to school being, well...important, I've basically taken the last three months off. I'd say 7 or 8 months of madness, tops.)

    NEED THAT YEAR!

    Kayrìlien