Other influences for Na'vi...

[Swoka Swizaw]

This is all most likely well-established information...but I figured I'd post my findings anyway.

We all know that Na'vi is designed from at least one source that is notably foreign to a majority of its off-Pandora speakers: Tagalog (i.e. Polynesian languages), as evidenced by the verb stem infix system. However, looking at the phonotactics of other languages from the Americas, specifically here in Southern California, I have happened upon languages that possess formats that mirror what we see with Na'vi.

The native tongues of SoCal, part of the Uto-Aztecan language family, have phoneme inventories like Na'vi, relying on very few, if any, voiced phones. I would imagine that Frommer molded his inventory choices from languages like this. One feature that raised an eyebrow was one language's use of consonant clusters in onset position, like Cocopah. Here is what I found on Wikipedia:

The Cocopah syllable: (C)(C)(C)V(ː)(C)(C)
*Word-initial two-consonant clusters usually consist of a fricative plus another consonant, e.g. /sp, ʂm, ʃp, xt͡ʃ/.
*Rarer two-consonant clusters start with a lateral or a stop consonant, e.g. /lt͡ʃ, ɬʲt͡ʃ, ps, t͡ʃp/.
*Three-consonant clusters are [even] rare[r]; recorded examples include: /pxk, pxkʷ, spx/

Here in San Diego, we have the native Diegueno (Kumeyaay) tribes, linguistically similar to the Cocopah, with many words that appear strangely like Na'vi. Definitely more than those you find in Tagalog.

Just thought I'd pass this along to give you all a better idea of what appear to be Na'vi's (potential) roots.

[Tirea Aean]

hmmm interesting stuff...

I'll have to check those languages out.

OH and also, Paul has said several times that he tried deliberately to not base it off of another earth language, but he based it some off of some words that Cameron made up, which seemed to have some polynesian influence.

[Swoka Swizaw]

OH and also, Paul has said several times that he tried deliberately to not base it off of another earth language, but he based it some off of some words that Cameron made up, which seemed to have some polynesian influence.

I hear you about how he chose to direct development, but how many Polynesian languages do you know that have onset consonant clusters? He's a linguist, so a wide range is potentially at his disposal - I feel, anyway.

[Tirea Aean]

OH and also, Paul has said several times that he tried deliberately to not base it off of another earth language, but he based it some off of some words that Cameron made up, which seemed to have some polynesian influence.

I hear you about how he chose to direct development, but how many Polynesian languages do you know that have onset consonant clusters? He's a linguist, so a wide range is potentially at his disposal - I feel, anyway.

true. the goal tho is really have it be unique enough that there can never be a unanimous consensus as for its influence or what it was derived from or what it is most like or comparable to on Earth. Originality. (as much as is possible.)