Ma

[GEOvanne]

I understand that 'Ma' is equivalent to 'O' in english.
But can it be use in the place of 'Oh' also? As in 'oh my gosh' or 'Oh, I get it know'.

[Tirea Aean]

I understand that 'Ma' is equivalent to 'O' in english.
But can it be use in the place of 'Oh' also? As in 'oh my gosh' or 'Oh, I get it know'.

I DONT like the "O" translation. I like the  "'@' from Twitter" translation.

waht it IS, is something you have to say before someone's name or title to signify you are DIRECTLY ADDRESSING them, and NOT just talking ABOUT them.

hope this makes sense. The closest thing in English is actually a comma:

Mike: I saw you yesterday, John.
John: Yes, Mike, you did.

but be warned. this does NOT mean that every time you use a comma in english taht it translates to ma. like i said above, Mike would say it so that John(and vice versa) knows he is being spoken TO, not spoken ABOUT.

--TA

[GEOvanne]

Oh, so its kinda like specifying how you are talking to in a crowd?

Because I see it get used around here a lot and get a little confused.

[Kemaweyan]

"Ma" is a vocative marker (or vocative case as it's in some other languages). You can read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocative_case

[Tirea Aean]

Oh, so its kinda like specifying how you are talking to in a crowd?

Because I see it get used around here a lot and get a little confused.

even if you are the only two people in miles you still say ma before [the person who you are talking to]'s name to let [the person who you are talking to] know that you are talking TO them, not ABOUT them. its more grammatical than anything. but it does help prevent ambiguity in some cases. if you leave off ma, it is pretty much taken as that you are NOT talking TO the person, but ABOUT them and thus leads to possible confusion.

[Tirea Aean]

"Ma" is a vocative marker (or vocative case as it's in some other languages). You can read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocative_case

please note at that one section of this it Does bring up the "O" example. and then says that "O" and "Oh" USED TO be the same thing, but now are not, since Oh took on an interjective meaning. so that answers one of the original questions here: ma does not mean "oh(!)"

[GEOvanne]

Ok, I think im starting to get it.
Does it have to do with na'vi not having a particular way of making sentences so you put 'Ma' in front of who you are talking to. Just like how you'd put '-l' and '-ti' to show 'who' is doing something to 'thing'?

[Tirea Aean]

Ok, I think im starting to get it.
Does it have to do with na'vi not having a particular way of making sentences so you put 'Ma' in front of who you are talking to. Just like how you'd put '-l' and '-ti' to show 'who' is doing something to 'thing'?

not sure what you mean by that...

the use of ma is very simple.

IF you are going to mention the name or title of someone:

       IF you are speaking directly TO them:
               say ma before a person's name or title

       ELSE IF you are speaking ABOUT them:
               do not say ma before a person's name or title

lol hope that makes sense

thats pretty much it.

[GEOvanne]

Ok, but do I ALWAYS have to do it?
Like lets say we just started a conversation (just me and you), we both used 'Ma' already, can the rest of the conversation go on without it assuming that it applies any time we call each others name?

Or, lets say a mother is about to announce something to her 5 children, does she put 'Ma' in front of each child she address before starting the speech?

[Tirea Aean]

Ok, but do I ALWAYS have to do it?
Like lets say we just started a conversation (just me and you), we both used 'Ma' already, can the rest of the conversation go on without it assuming that it applies any time we call each others name?

Or, lets say a mother is about to announce something to her 5 children, does she put 'Ma' in front of each child she address before starting the speech?

Ma GEOvanne, even in english we do not address a person's name every single sentence. buT any time that me and you DO call each other's name, we are still required to say ma. does that make sense, ma GEOvanne?

she would say ma eveng. AFAIK if she REALLY wanted to do each one, it is distributive: ma*(kid1, kid2, kid3, kid4, and kid5) just put ma before all of them. = ma 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

[Kemaweyan]

"Ma" is a vocative marker (or vocative case as it's in some other languages). You can read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocative_case

please note at that one section of this it Does bring up the "O" example. and then says that "O" and "Oh" USED TO be the same thing, but now are not, since Oh took on an interjective meaning. so that answers one of the original questions here: ma does not mean "oh(!)"

Yeah, I understand it very well We have vocative case in ukrainian and it does not mean "Oh".. I even can't imagine how we could translate it in english.. just as name. There is the same thing in Na'vi - we can't translate ma separately and ma tsmukan means just "brother" when you call him

[Tirea Aean]

"Ma" is a vocative marker (or vocative case as it's in some other languages). You can read more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocative_case

please note at that one section of this it Does bring up the "O" example. and then says that "O" and "Oh" USED TO be the same thing, but now are not, since Oh took on an interjective meaning. so that answers one of the original questions here: ma does not mean "oh(!)"

Yeah, I understand it very well We have vocative case in ukrainian and it does not mean "Oh".. I even can't imagine how we could translate it in english.. just as name. There is the same thing in Na'vi - we can't translate ma separately and ma tsmukan means just "brother" when you call him

precisely. it just bugs some people and messes them up when there is no direct translation of something into English. and it  happens often. English and Na'vi are very different langauges, tho they do have a few similar properties.

[GEOvanne]

Ok I think is get it now Ma Tirea Arean.

[Tirea Aean]

Ok I think is get it now Ma Tirea Arean.

Cool! exactly. glad you understand.

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

Ma GEOvanne, another way of looking at this is to realize that the Na`vi culture is very different than ours. Their language arose to support their culture. There, they use Ma as others have very adequately described. If you are going to become good at speaking Na`vi, you have to respect that culture difference (even though we do not yet fully understand it), and start thinking 'tall and blue'. There are a number of other things you will have to adjust to, such as the lack of words like 'the', 'an' and 'have'. There are things that do not work in their preferred syntax that work perfectly fine in English. So one of the biggest challenges here is learning these language differences, and applying them appropriately. I bring this up because I stumble over it regularly.

I am not saying this to discourage you from learning Na`vi. Just the opposite. Read the examples of things others have sritten. Read posts where the 'masters' here have corrected those who are still fairly new at this (including me). Learning any language takes time and perserverance. It is hard to believe I have been at this for 9 months now, and I still love every minute of it!

latsi nerume!