Combining our efforts

wm.annis · February 01, 2010, 04:31:03 PM

I'll admit it. I'm a conlang fanboy. Getting direct email from Frommer doesn't quite make me squeal, but it's nice to get them. However, the poor guy does have a day job, too. Might it make sense for use to collect our questions into a single bunch, so he doesn't have to deal with the same issues over and over?

I have lots and lots of questions, but I'll stick with these two for now.

First, is this correct: po kä a tseng(ne) ke tsìme'a oel I didn't see where s/he was going.

Second, regarding adpositions. When they follow, they are written attached to the word. Can we assume this means they are enclitic, and have no stress accent of their own? Is the accent obliterated in two syllable adpostions, as in eyktanmungwrr?

Lance R. Casey · February 01, 2010, 04:42:12 PM

Good idea.

As for questions, there is a burning one: atan!?

omängum fra'uti · February 01, 2010, 04:45:51 PM

I'd like to know about double negatives... Is it required for the subject to agree with the verb in negation, or does that just emphasize the negative? And how does the copula enter into it? Would it be correct to say "Oe ke lu kea 'eveng" or would the kea there be incorrect? Could "Oe lu kea 'eveng" be used rather than "Oe ke lu 'eveng", or would the former be considered incorrect?

(And oddly, I was just thinking about the question of atan this morning.)

Keylstxatsmen · February 01, 2010, 04:52:00 PM

Well if anyone does become the "Locutus" of this group, please get word stresses if possible when getting answers for other things. For a verbal-only language, I find it weird that people are ignoring all the gaps we have in this info.

-Keyl

wm.annis · February 01, 2010, 04:53:09 PM

Quote from: Keylstxatsmen on February 01, 2010, 04:52:00 PM
Well if anyone does become the "Locutus" of this group, please get word stresses if possible when getting answers for other things.

Srane, rutxe!

omängum fra'uti · February 01, 2010, 08:50:20 PM

Also, if someone decides to email and include the current set of questions, RUTXE let us know here before you do it, so he doesn't get 5 duplicate emails.

omängum fra'uti · February 01, 2010, 09:23:41 PM

Something else I'd like to know...

Can "po" be used for 3rd person inanimate objects (it)...

Nìwotxkrr Tìyawn · February 01, 2010, 09:29:12 PM

I got one, how about a word for "funny" and I mean actual funny, like haha funny, it gets tiring hearing people constantly make fun of hìyìk for it sounding like hiyuk.

wm.annis · February 01, 2010, 09:32:26 PM

I just recalled one. Wait. Two.

mì is "in." What is "into"? Is there some systematic way to create adpositions of location, destination and source from what we have now? Mìso and neto are maybe hints (although adverbial hints).

And how do we get adverbial adpositions? "I go in."

Nìwotxkrr Tìyawn · February 01, 2010, 09:35:41 PM

Getting some words for emotions would be nice.

omängum fra'uti · February 01, 2010, 09:36:16 PM

Ooh ooh!

And how do we express location in a generic sense when "in" does not make sense? "I am at Iknimaya" vs "I am IN Iknimaya"

Doolio · February 01, 2010, 09:36:52 PM

-this question just crossed my mind - multiple vocatives. do we treat them like a cluster (ma smukan, smuke si eveng) or not (ma smukan, ma smuke si ma eveng)? although i am pretty sure that it's the latter. also, the rules for placing the vocative particle in particular situations (i noticed that frommer wrote something like "ma oeyä smukan")...

-also the "toruk makto" phenomenon, and the "maweya tsmukan" phenomenon:)

nothing else for now, my brain is empty...

Nìwotxkrr Tìyawn · February 01, 2010, 09:42:30 PM

Another question. Are Na'vi names created the way we've been doing them (taking vocab words) or some other way they come up with na'vi names. (other than na'vi-izing your real name)

Erimeyz · February 01, 2010, 09:46:59 PM

Quote from: wm.annis on February 01, 2010, 04:31:03 PM
However, the poor guy does have a day job, too.

Not really. He's a college professor.

- Eri

(kidding, kidding!)

suomichris · February 01, 2010, 09:59:49 PM

Two words:

Evi. Dentials.

If/when this list of questions does get sent to him, I'd suggest it be from someone with some background in linguistics, since it might make the phrasing/explication of the questions a bit easier for Frommer--Or, at least, check all of the wording of the questions here so we can get the message stream-lined and easy for him to deal with.

Also, I've seen quite a few uses of things derived from "tsa-" on here, presumably based on parallels with English "that," but I don't think Frommer has used such a thing... Are all of the subordinators derived from "fì" rather than "tsa-"?

Skxawng · February 01, 2010, 10:27:53 PM

for I would kill for a word for 'For'

suomichris · February 01, 2010, 10:29:35 PM

Quote from: Skxawng on February 01, 2010, 10:27:53 PM
for I would kill for a word for 'For'

What kind of "for"? We have a bunch of words for this...

Skxawng · February 01, 2010, 11:22:39 PM

how about all of them

preferably at least a conjunction form

suomichris · February 01, 2010, 11:37:28 PM

Quote from: Skxawng on February 01, 2010, 11:22:39 PM

how about all of them

preferably at least a conjunction form

Uh... Can you give some examples of what kind of "for" you want? I have a nasty headache, so maybe I'm being really dense, but I can't think of a "for" that we don't have a Na'vi word for...

Eight · February 02, 2010, 02:44:27 AM

If anyone is speaking to Dr. Frommer about some of the more important points being mentioned in this thread, maybe you could slip in a small request for a noun for pain/suffering.

It's all I ask.

Well I would also ask that he clears up what happens to adjectives beginning with ' or a vowel when you add the attributive marker to the front. But mainly I just want my little noun.