Our Dictionary

[Swoka Swizaw]

Tìtaron lu lehrrap. 'Hunting is dangerous.'

:/ Weird, huh.

Strangely, I might understand that, but I don't want to. It's a general word for the concept of "hunt". BTW, who is Roger?

What?

http://wiki.learnnavi.org/index.php?title=Canon#More_extracts_from_various_emails

OK, my bad for a weak statement...might you be willing to provide me with an apt example of the proper usage of each? Ngaytxoa for taking this a little further than you might prefer.

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

Tìtaron lu lehrrap. 'Hunting is dangerous.'

:/ Weird, huh.

Strangely, I might understand that, but I don't want to. It's a general word for the concept of "hunt". BTW, who is Roger?

What?

http://wiki.learnnavi.org/index.php?title=Canon#More_extracts_from_various_emails

I wondered if this was wrong for several minutes, but then realized that it is a somewhat odd, but ok use of tìtaron.

There are three ways to make a 'gerund' in Na`vi:

1. Use the tì-<us> form. This is a true gerund. Na`vi gerunds cannot take an argument. But in the case of tìtaron lu hrrap, I don't think that tìtaron is taking an argument. It is acting as a noun here. So I think that tì-<us> would work.
2. Use the <er> infix in a verb to indicate an ongoing action.
3. Use a 'nouned' form of a verb. This is one sneaky way to get around the fact that Na`vi does not have infinitives (i.e. 'to hunt'). And this is what K. Pawl chose to use here.

[Plumps]

There are three ways to make a 'gerund' in Na`vi:

2. Use the <er> infix in a verb to indicate an ongoing action.
3. Use a 'nouned' form of a verb. This is one sneaky way to get around the fact that Na`vi does not have infinitives (i.e. 'to hunt'). And this is what K. Pawl chose to use here.

That's English thinking, I'm afraid the imperfective ‹er› is not the Gerund. It has the same from in English but it's not the same.
I hope William can shed some light on that.

[Taronyu]

Tìtaron and tìtusaron both function as nouns - any example with one could be switched to also be an example of the other.

The only way to make a verb function as a noun grammatically in Na'vi is to use the tì- «us» pair. Frommer can, if he likes, create words as well using tì- alone, but we can't do that, as it isn't productive. This is the first case where we have a verb that has been converted into the abstract noun form, tìtaron, and can be seen elsewhere with the tì- «us» form.

Using «er» does not make a noun a verb. It may seem like it, because in English the gerund-participial form of the verb doesn't have a difference to the present imperfective form. Thus:

• Seeing is believing. - verb in gerund-participial form functioning as a gerund (verbal noun)
• I love the seeing-eye dog. - verb in gerund-participial form functioning as a participle (verbal adjective.)
• I am looking at the lake. - verb in the present imperfect form

The «er» infix can only be used for the last example.

[Tanri]

Allow me one short note about tìtaron / tìtusaron.
I think that both of them have a slightly different meanings and they aren't absolute synonyms. Look at this example:

While i am on the hunt, the name of the action i am doing there is "the hunting".

The word tìtaron - "the hunt" really deserves to be in dictionary, as a noun derived by non-productive prefix tì-. Unlike this, the word tìtusaron - "the hunting" is just a noun generated by well known and productive mechanism tì-<us>, defined as "the name of the action performed by this verb".

[omängum fra'uti]

To change the subject...

I was reading someone's transcription of the pandorapedia entry about the Na'vi on blu-ray, and it was talking about the rich history the Na'vi pass down in song for over 18000 years.

And it talks about "Song Cords" which are strings of colored beads and bits of stone that they use as a memory aid for the song history.  I do believe that would be the "waytelem" seeing as how "telem" is cord, thus "waytelem" would be "Song Cord" and NOT "Song chord" which may seem like it makes more sense on the surface.

[Taronyu]

That does make a lot more sense. Good find, Omängum.

What I wonder now is why they would need those. They have the trees...

[Plumps]

Interesting. So, they are something like the quipu of the Inca.
The wiki

[omängum fra'uti]

Similar indeed, though not the same. Waytelem were juat used as mnemonics in the telling. As to why they would be needed, they probably weren't logged into Eyea while telling the story. The waytelem don't record the story itself, they just aide in the telling.

[Taronyu]

I added in the words from the (not really that) recent Frommer post.

Sorry about the delay! I was really busy working.

[Eywa'eveng-tìranyu]

I can't really see why vospxì should be derived from vosìpxì and zìsìtä

[Taronyu]

I can't really see why vospxì should be derived from vosìpxì and zìsìtä

vospxì (n., vo.SPXÌ) 'month'

It's derived from the phrase vosìpxì zìsìtä, 'a twelfth of the year.'

Beats me, too. 

['Oma Tirea]

Looking through the dictionary again I find this:

-lo, -ng, and -vi aren't really productive.

For -lo, it is only attached to the first 3 numbers.  After that alo a*number* is used.
For -ng you mention first-person pronouns, but we already have the words with that listed, and besides, -ng was prevoiusly labeled as unproductive.
For -vi it was labeled as something that wasn't fully productive, unlike -tsyìp.

[Swoka Swizaw]

1: Please, look at yeväng! I've never been "satisfried."
2: Also, you've used /ì/ in the IPA of kintrr, kintrram, and kintrray.
3: And, finally, you have not indicated stress on tsuktswa' or tsukyom.

['Oma Tirea]

1: Please, look at yeväng! I've never been "satisfried."
2: Also, you've used /ì/ in the IPA of kintrr, kintrram, and kintrray.
3: And, finally, you have not indicated stress on tsuktswa' or tsukyom.

Speaking of IPA, yeväng: [ˈjɛ.vɑŋ] has the wrong A-vowel in the IPA, too.

[Taronyu]

Fixed. I think tsukyom did have the right stress, though...

[Ikran Ahiyìk]

Maybe tswa' is transtive..

Spoiler

tswa': [...] PF v. forget

Srak lu tìkenong fìlì'uteri?

Oel rolun fì'ut:

  Slä 'en si oe, tsamelì'u alu futa fwa oeru yayayr lolatsu, ulte lì'ut amuve oel tswola'.

Ha lu *transitive* Tsaw lu fìtsenge.

[omängum fra'uti]

sresrr'ong is missing a part of speech

[Taronyu]

Noted. Tswa' now vtr.

Steven, I don't see that. Are you sure?

[omängum fra'uti]

I double checked it when I reported it...  Don't see it now.