To buy?

[Is.]

Do you think we'll ever have a Na'vi word for "to buy"? Or does this concept not even exist within their cultural sphere?

If we do get a word simulating the meaning of "buying", what do you think it'll be? Perhaps something aling with "exchanging goods by means of..."? "Mutual indefinate borrowing"? 

[Taronyu]

Since they kicked the RDA off-world, I'm not sure that they will get a word for buy. I doubt it exists, currently. Some human languages don't have this concept, but have borrowed words for it: I'm thinking of Pirahã borrowing business from Portuguese. The Pirahã don't seem to have a concept for money or buying: at one point Everett offered to give a man some fishhooks in exchange for some linguistic help, and the man replied by asking if Everett fished. Everett said no, and the man replied again that, if that's the case, why doesn't he just give him the fish-hooks? It's not so much a matter of linguistic inability to grasp, but rather just a world-view one grows up with. "The Na'vi have everything they want. We have nothing to give them. What, you think they'll move for blue jeans, and a light bear?" - Jake (I know it's not a perfect remembrance.)


Ps. I kept bear in because it was a funny typo.

[Eight]

What, you think they'll move for blue jeans, and a light bear?" - Jake (I know it's not a perfect remembrance.)

Ps. I kept bear in because it was a funny typo.

Hahah.

Maybe the problem is the "light" bit. Get a few good ol' fashioned British ales into them and see how well those skinny blue pegs work then.

[Is.]

Yeah, Taronyu! The Pirahã are extremely fascinating, aren't they? The Na'vi however seem to operate at a different cognitive level; for example have plenty and elaborate ways to describe future or past events. (In a Chomskyan manner.) They share the counting bit with the Pirahã though, don't they? I think I read somewhere that this tribe were only interested in counting up to 3 or something, everything above that was just "many". It's about the same with the Na'vi, before the humans came along they just counted up to (8...?) and everything above was "pxay".

Anyway, I presume we'll eventually get a word for "to exchange" though, which could then potentially be used to represent "to buy".

[Taronyu]

I think that their number system more closely represents the Yuki.

[Is.]

"The Yuki language in California and the Pamean languages[1] in Mexico have octal systems because the speakers count using the spaces between their fingers rather than the fingers themselves."

Hah! Tsa'u hiyìk lu fìtxan.  

[Plumps]

I was thinking something similar a few days ago... Which vocab we'll never have because the Na'vi wouldn't know the concept of it... money, buying - maybe they'll loan words like car, street etc. I don't mind the lack of these words so much (except for street maybe but really, it's just a big way/path, isn't it? ) but other than that we'll probably need to keep on describing and 'inventing' new words in the future