These Things

[Kì'eyawn]

For your first example, I too would use tsaw/tsa'u.

In your second example though, I think the best choice would be fìkem, followed by fì'u, then tsaw/tsa'u.  And if you changed "it" to "that," I would go with tsakem, then tsa'u/tsaw.

Even though that's what I would do, if someone else chose to use any of those words and said the meaning was "it," I don't think I'd contest their usage at all.  Without further rules from K. Pawl, I think it's just too close to worry about.

I hereby second wm.annis' combined questions suggestion for this issue.

*facepalm*  You're right.  Totally forgot about fìkem and its relatives.  Gotta remember.  What is it, translate the meaning, not the words?  Yeah...

When i first typed this, my example was about killing a palulukan, but after i typed it i remembered in Na'vi the palulukan would probably be po and not tsaw.  Obviously, i'm not too good at example-picking =P

[kewnya txamew'itan]

Palulukan might be tsaw, they're pretty much the na'vi don't revere so it might not get the respect to be called po, a nantang or ikran though, could well be called po I'd imagine.

[Kì'eyawn]

Palulukan might be tsaw, they're pretty much the na'vi don't revere so it might not get the respect to be called po, a nantang or ikran though, could well be called po I'd imagine.

Well, i don't know that the line between respect and fear would be that broad for the Na'vi   In all seriousness, though, even if they didn't use po before, after Neytiri became the first "Palulukan Makto," i imagine at least she wouldn't use tsaw to talk about it.

[kewnya txamew'itan]

Neytiri might not, but the ASG implies that the na'vi in general are pretty terrified of falulukan.

[omängum fra'uti]

That doesn't mean they would go so far as to call them "it".

[roger]

I'd think the opposite: Fear breeds respect. But I doubt the po/tsaw distinction is one of respect anyway.

[kewnya txamew'itan]

That doesn't mean they would go so far as to call them "it".

True, but they clearly don't associated as much as they would with an ikran. Anyway, debating where the line is drawn isn't really going to get anywhere because we've no idea on what it's based.

[Kì'eyawn]

Well, haven't we seen Karyu Pawl use po to refer to a yerik before?  If food gets to be something more than "it," surely palulukan does as well, kefyak?

[roger]

That doesn't mean they would go so far as to call them "it".

True, but they clearly don't associated as much as they would with an ikran. Anyway, debating where the line is drawn isn't really going to get anywhere because we've no idea on what it's based.

Isn't it just animacy? I have no idea whether Hometree would be a "po" or a "tsa'u", but all animals are "po", and all inanimate objects "tsa'u", correct?

[kewnya txamew'itan]

That doesn't mean they would go so far as to call them "it".

True, but they clearly don't associated as much as they would with an ikran. Anyway, debating where the line is drawn isn't really going to get anywhere because we've no idea on what it's based.

Isn't it just animacy? I have no idea whether Hometree would be a "po" or a "tsa'u", but all animals are "po", and all inanimate objects "tsa'u", correct?

I think it might be a bit of a jump to base it purely on animacy. That would seem to me to be very human, something I would see as more plausible would be it being based on whether you would/could tsaheyl si to it, so a yerik would be po, as would the tree of voices, but hometree wouldn't and neither would palulukan (to most hapxì na'viyä).

[omängum fra'uti]

The other thing for the animacy aspect is many plants on Pandora blur the nice firm plant/animal line we enjoy on 'Rrta.  (Of course Earth has some plants/animals that blur the line too, but they are much rarer.)

However I don't think tsaheyl si is a good distinction either.  Oel ke fpìl futa fo tsaheyl si hu nantang, slä fko syaw por san po.  And I doubt they bond with prolemuris but I don't see them calling those tsaw.  Same with yerik.  I also think the tree of voices WOULD be tsaw, because they aren't bonding with the tree, fo tsaheyl si hu Eywa sì pizayu feyä.