Na'vi Proverbs

[Blue Elf]

- for "society" I'd use something like pongu fratuteyä; tìrey is life, it can lead to confusion

- which/that = a (People which created home = Sute a ngolop kelkuti)

We do not use the accusative 'l' for this? Sutel a ngolop kelkuti? I am a little confused.

No need to being confused.
Sute a ngolop kelkuti lu aysempul awngeyä => People white created home are our fathers
Green part is subordinate clause, connected to "sute", what is subject of blue sentence - and it has intrasitive verb, so subject do not take any ending. however green clause has transitive verb, so object requires case ending (even when there is no subject on first view - it is in main clause). If blue sentence would have transitive verb - then you must use agentive ending on subject
As my example was just fragment without any verb, no ending is needed

I like your words for 'society': pongu fratuteyä.  The 'fra' gives it a brotherly flavor.    If we were to translate this for a real Na'vi, perhaps we might use the word olo' (for clan) instead...or maybe tsawla olo' or pongu ayolo'?

good idea, I think something like this can work

[Seze Mune]

Eywa'eveng swoka lu.  Faylì'ul tok kxamtseng ayoengeyä tìreyit.  Atxkxe lu ayoengeyä sa'nok, hilvan lu ayoengeyä reypey.  Tiyeverkup ayoeng txo ngal iv'aku ayoengeyä eywa'evengit.

The land is sacred. These words are at the core of our being. The land is our mother, the rivers our blood. Take our land away and we will die.

[Puvomun]

Eywa'eveng swoka lu.  Faylì'ul tok kxamtseng ayoengeyä tìreyit.  Atxkxe lu ayoengeyä sa'nok, hilvan lu ayoengeyä reypey.  Tiyeverkup ayoeng txo ngal iv'aku ayoengeyä eywa'evengit.

The land is sacred. These words are at the core of our being. The land is our mother, the rivers our blood. Take our land away and we will die.

It would be 'ivaku.

[Blue Elf]

Eywa'eveng swoka lu.  Faylì'ul tok kxamtsengit ayoengeyä tìreyäit. Atxkxe lu ayoengeyä sa'nok, hilvan lu ayoengeyä reypay.  Tiyeverkup ayoeng txo ngal 'ivaku ayoengeyä eywa'evengit.

The land is sacred. These words are at the core of our being. The land is our mother, the rivers our blood. Take our land away and we will die.

Well done - nearly ok! Comments:
- if using adjective with "lu" (X[noun] lu Y[adjective]), -a- is not used
- infix goes always in front of vowel (aäeiìou), glottal stop is consonant, so: '<0><1>ak<2>u. If not sure, look into dictionary, infix positions are marked by "·"
- Eywa'eveng is word for Pandora, so probably you should use atxkxe instead, or change it a little. what about:

Atxkxe swok lu. Faylì'ul tok kxamtsengit ayoengeyä tìreyä.  Kllte lu ayoengeyä sa'nok, hilvan lu ayoengeyä reypay. Tiyeverkup ayoeng txo ngal 'ivaku ayoengeyä sa'nokit.

Land is sacred. These words are in the center of our life. The ground is our mother, the rivers are our blood. We'd die if you'd take off our mother

[Seze Mune]

Irayo, ma Blue Elf sì ma Puvomun.  I needed the reminder about 'lu' and adjectives.  

It has taken awhile to work out the dottiness in the IPA.  At first glance, it isn't apparent that the meaning of the periods/dots in the dictionary definitions changes depending on whether it's an 'up' dot or a 'down' dot.  Frankly, I never even noticed that.

Now, of course, I know: "Included are periods in the IPA to mark syllable divisions, and mid-dots to
show infix positions (for beginners), as in [t·a.R·on]. Irregular infixes are marked with (ii)."  Whew. OK.  I needed to know that, so thank you!

Eywal tolìng ngaru munea mikyunit sì 'awa kxat fte nga tsivun tiving mikyun nì'ul to nga pivlltxe.

Eywa gave you two ears and one mouth so you can listen more than you speak.

Edited to incorporate Alyara Arati's corrections, plus additional comments

[Alyara Arati]

Eywal tolìng ngaru munea mikyunit sì 'awa kxat fte nga tsun tiving mikyun nì'ul tup nga pivllte.

Eywa gave you two ears and one mouth so you can listen more than you speak.

Either "kxati" or "kxat" are fine; dropping the final "i" is optional.
However, after "fte" you must always use "iv", so "fte nga tsivun..."
Also when comparing, one uses "to", so "tiving mikyun (nì'ul) to fwa nga pivlltxe."

[Seze Mune]

Pelu ngaru tìmweypey a pivey vay ngeyä tsewtxa pay piak livu?


Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?

[Blue Elf]

Eywal tolìng ngaru munea mikyunit sì 'awa kxat fte nga tsivun tivìng mikyun nì'ul tup fwa nga pivlltxe.

Eywa gave you two ears and one mouth so you can listen more than you speak.

Decision if to use -ti or -t/ -r or -ru etc depends on the speaker only - usually you select what is better for pronunciation, depending on the next word (its first letter)

Also when comparing, one uses "to", so "tiving mikyun (nì'ul) to fwa nga pivlltxe."

AFAIK if "to" is used, then you do not (can't??) use "nì'ul"
Oe lu txur nì'ul vs. Oe to nga lu txur

Personally I prefer this construction:
Eywal tolìng ngaru munea mikyunit sì 'awa kxat taluna lu sìltsan/txantslusam fwa nga tìng mikyun to fwa nga plltxe.
Eywa gave you two ears and one mouth because it is better/wiser to listen than to speak.

Pelu ngaru tìmweypey a pivey vay ngeyä tsewtxa pay piak livu?

Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?

pe+ is productive - but can be used with nouns only
To ask if someone has something, use Srake lu ngaru...?
As for "piak" - I'd use it just for clouds (it comes from Na'viteri post about weather); "pay alaro" is better

Srake nga tsun pivey vaykrr tsewtxa pay slu laro?
Are you able to wait until muddy water become clean?

Furia tsewtxa pay slu laro, tsun nga pivey srak?
As for muddy water become clean, are you able to wait? (applying new rule we recently received: pey is intransitive and thing we wait for is in topical case)

[Seze Mune]

If the thing we wait for is in the topical case, should it be payìri?

[Seze Mune]

Fya'o nemfa atan leram vawm
Fya'o eo nga leram ne'ìm kivä
Fya'o aswey leram ngim
Tìtxur angay leram meyp
Tìyawn anawm leram luke tìftxavang
Tìtxantslusam anawm leram nì'eveng.


The path into light seems dark,
the path forward seems to go back,
the direct path seems long,
true power seems weak...
the greatest love seems indifferent,
the greatest wisdom seems childish.

[Blue Elf]

If the thing we wait for is in the topical case, should it be payìri?

In general - yes. If you asking about my last example, it uses topical (furia = fì'uri a)

Your poem is great! But free stacking of adpositions is really not allowed use only those approved or rephrase sentence. IMHO "nemfa" is good

[Alyara Arati]

Wayìri seykxel sì nitram.  Seysonìltsan.  Slä mllte oe hu Blue Elf teri lì'u alu nemfa.

[Seze Mune]

If the thing we wait for is in the topical case, should it be payìri?

In general - yes. If you asking about my last example, it uses topical (furia = fì'uri a)

Your poem is great! But free stacking of adpositions is really not allowed use only those approved or rephrase sentence. IMHO "nemfa" is good

Would it be appropriate for me to suggest "mìne" to mean 'into' in the LEP suggestion kìng?  It is a very useful word, and I don't see anything that quite conveys the same meaning:

I put something into the pot.
Neytiri added herbs into her shaman bundle.
I walked into the cave.

It is not quite the same to say:

I walked into a wall.  (Because you are not actually putting yourself INTO a wall, but smacking up against it.  I suppose you could say "Oe toläpìran kxemyowä.", kefyak?  Seems awkward.)

Kop irayo seiyi mengaru; mengeyä aylì'u asìltsan suneiu oeru.   

[Seze Mune]

Lirvu yawntu anawm tuteoyä terìng ngaru tìtxur, tengkrr livu tuteo yawne nìtxan ngaru täpìng (ngaru?) tìtstewnga'.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Fìswisaw lì'uyä lolu ngäzìk oeru.

***************************************************

ideas: adornment of words = compliment = ioi lì'uyä = ioilì'u  
OR alternative: necklace of words = compliment = fkxile lì'uyä or fkxilì'u

[Alyara Arati]

Lirvu yawntu anawm tuteoyä terìng ngaru tìtxur, tengkrr livu tuteo yawne nìtxan ngaru täpìng (ngaru?) tìtstewnga'.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Fìswisaw lì'uyä lolu ngäzìk oeru.

***************************************************

ideas: adornment of words = compliment = ioi lì'uyä = ioilì'u  
OR alternative: necklace of words = compliment = fkxile lì'uyä or fkxilì'u

Furia nga lu yawne tuteoru nìtxan, ngaru tìng tìtxurit, tengkrr furia ngaru lu yawne tuteo nìtxan, ngaru tìng tìtstewit.

[Blue Elf]

Would it be appropriate for me to suggest "mìne" to mean 'into' in the LEP suggestion kìng?  It is a very useful word, and I don't see anything that quite conveys the same meaning:

Of course you can try - it isn't disallowed

It is not quite the same to say:

I walked into a wall.  (Because you are not actually putting yourself INTO a wall, but smacking up against it.  I suppose you could say "Oe toläpìran kxemyowä.", kefyak?  Seems awkward.)

I'm not sure if it is good example - IMHO "walk into" is phrasal verb (verb + adposition), and those usually have meaning far from direct translation. "Walk into" = get easily (without deserving it) or unwittingly, so it doesn't this example. Or is American English so much different?
Let's assume it is ok - then your translation is quite well, except: t<äp><ol>ìran (incorrect infix positions), and why <äp>? "Tìran" is intransitive, so using reflexive doesn't give sense.

Lirvu yawntu anawm tuteoyä terìng ngaru tìtxur, tengkrr livu tuteo yawne nìtxan ngaru täpìng (ngaru?) tìtstewnga'.
Furia nga lu yawne tuteoru nìtxan, ngaru tìng tìtxurit, tengkrr furia ngaru lu yawne tuteo nìtxan, ngaru tìng tìtstewit.

I think simple "fula" could work well too:
Fula nga lu yawne tuteoru nìtxan, ngaru tìng tìtxurit, tengkrr fula ngaru lu yawne tuteo nìtxan, ngaru tìng tìtstewit.

As for "sentence", there's often used "lì'ukìng" - thread of words. I think there is also another such word, but I can't remember just now

[Seze Mune]

Fko fwa omum ke plltxe.  Fko fwa plltxe ke omum.

Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.

[Seze Mune]

Krra oe lonu tsat oe lu, (tsivunslu) oe nì'ul sìltsan slivu.


When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

[Alyara Arati]

Krra oe lonu tsat oe lu, (tsivunslu) oe nì'ul sìltsan slivu.


When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

Krra oel lonu tsat a oe lu, slu oe tsawa oe tsivunslu.

When I release that which I am, I become that thing which is I would be possible.

This does not mean the same as your original thought, and is awkward as hell in English.  I'm not sure that it is even grammatically correct, but there's something about it that I like.

Even better, to my mind, is this:

Krra lonu oel ukit a spaw oel futa lu oe, tsunslu fwa kulat oel atanit a li oe lu nìngay.

When I release the shadow that I believe myself to be, it is possible for me to reveal the light that I already truly am.

Related to that, I offer this blessing:

Ngari syuratan livu txanatan.

May your bioluminescence be brilliant.

[Blue Elf]

Fko fwa omum ke plltxe.  Fko fwa plltxe ke omum.

Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.

"Fko" is for passive voice or unspecified subject, it doesn't fit. "Tsapo" is correct (or "tsayfo", if you want plural form). F-words (fwa/fula/futa - lit. this thing which is...) are used with subordinate clauses, but it is not case here ("who know/who speak" is just attribute of "those")
Tsayfo a omum ke plltxe. Tsayfo a plltxe ke omum.

Krra oel lonu tsat a oe lu, slu oe tsawa oe tsivunslu.

When I release that which I am, I become that thing which is I would be possible.

I'm not expert in English, but it really sounds strange...
Krra oel lonu tsat a oe lu, oe slu tsaw a tsun livu.
When I release (that) what I am, I become that (what) I can be.

Related to that, I offer this blessing:

Ngari syuratan livu txanatan.

May your bioluminescence be brilliant.

Nice! And my reinterpretation:
Ngari sanhì kawkrr ke slu vawm
May your bioluminescent freckles never go out (lit. don't became dark)