Taronway - The Hunt Song

Tìtstewan · September 01, 2013, 09:03:57 AM

Taronway—The Hunt Song

Kaltxì, ma frapo—

Ke längu fìpostìmì ke'u a lu mip. I'm afraid there's nothing new in this post, just an old
favorite, The Hunt Song, which as most of you know was published in the Activist
Survival Guide. It's one of the four songs I translated during the filming of "Avatar" from
English lyrics written by James Cameron. But I thought it would be useful for both
listening and pronunciation practice. Besides, it's always nice to have something ready
at hand to trot out when people say to you, "Give me an example of what Na'vi sounds
like." For that purpose I often quote part of the Hunt Song, which has a nice "swing" to it.

It was interesting to decide what Na'vi poetry would sound like. Different languages base
the structure of poetry on different elements. For example, poetry in Ancient Greek,
Classical Latin, Classical Arabic, and Classic Persian is based on syllable length: in those
languages, rhythmic poetical structures, called meters, consist of complicated arrangements
of short and long (and sometimes extra-long) syllables. In some other languages, it's not the
length of syllables but the number of syllables per line that's important. French poetry works
that way. In still other languages—English and German, for example (excluding so-called
"free verse")—it's stress that's important: poetry depends on the arrangement of stressed
and unstressed syllables in a line. Since stress is important in Na'vi—it's the difference
between 'person' and 'woman,' for example!—that's what I based Na'vi poetry on.

Here's the text of the Hunt Song along with a word-for-word gloss. As you'll see, the syntax
is sometimes a bit convoluted, with word orders that wouldn't be common in ordinary
conversation, and there are some unusual stresses. You'll also notice that certain unstressed
syllables are elided—that is to say, "swallowed up"—in a way that would
be unlikely in speech. But that's what's called "poetic license."

Taronway—The Hunt Song
English lyrics: James Cameron
Na'vi translation: Paul Frommer

1
________________________________	___________________________________________
We are walking your way	Terìran ayoe ayngane
	are-walking we towards-you
________________________________	___________________________________________
We are coming	Zera'u
	(we) are-coming
________________________________	___________________________________________
We are singing your way	Rerol ayoe ayngane
	are-singing we towards-you
________________________________	___________________________________________
So choose	Ha ftxey
	so choose
________________________________	___________________________________________
Choose one among you	Awpot set ftxey ayngal a l(u) ayngakip
	one now choose you that is among-you
________________________________	___________________________________________
Who will feed the People.	Awpot a Na'viru yomtìyìng.
	one that the-People will-feed
________________________________	___________________________________________
Chorus
________________________________	___________________________________________
Let my arrow strike true	Oeyä swizaw nìngay tivakuk
	my arrow truly let-strike
________________________________	___________________________________________
Let my spear strike the heart	Oeyä tukrul txe'lanit tivakuk
	my spear heart let-strike
________________________________	___________________________________________
Let the truth strike my heart	Oeri tìngayìl txe'lanit tivakuk
	as-for-me truth heart let strike
________________________________	___________________________________________
Let my heart be true.	Oeyä txe'lan livu ngay.
	my heart let-be true
________________________________	___________________________________________
2
________________________________	___________________________________________
You are fast and strong	Lu nga win sì txur
	are you fast and strong
________________________________	___________________________________________
You are wise	Lu nga txantslusam
	are you wise
________________________________	___________________________________________
I must be fast and strong	Livu win sì txur oe zene
	be fast and strong I must
________________________________	___________________________________________
So only	Ha n(ì)'aw
	so only
________________________________	___________________________________________
Only if I am worthy of you	Pxan livu txo nì'aw oe ngari
	worthy be if only I of-you
________________________________	___________________________________________
Will you feed the People.	Tsakrr nga Na'viru yomtìyìng.
	then you the-People will-feed
________________________________	___________________________________________

[Repeat chorus]

As you listen to and practice reciting this poem, it's important to get a good feel for the rhythm.
Basically, the poem divides into lines of four beats each. (Exception: the last line of the chorus
has only three beats.) The above division into lines, which follows the English, is misleading in this
respect. So here's a recap of the poem with the four-beat lines arranged in a clear way. The
stressed syllables in each line have been capitalized and bolded. In the recordings, I've tried to
emphasize the stressed syllables to help you get the swing of the rhythm.

TerìRAN ayOe ayNGAne, zeRA'u
ReROL ayOe ayNGAne, ha FTXEY
AWpot set FTXEY ayNGAL a l(u) ayNGAkip
AWpot a NA'viru YOMtìYÌNG.
[audio=http://naviteri.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/01-Ter%C3%ACran.mp3]Terìran[/audio]

OEYä swiZAW nìNGAY tiVAkuk
OEYä tukRUL txe'LAnit tiVAkuk
OEri tìNGAYìl txe'LAnit tiVAkuk
OEYä txe'LAN livu NGAY.
[audio=http://naviteri.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/02-Chorus.mp3]Chorus[/audio]

Lu nga WIN sì TXUR, lu nga TXANtsluSAM
Livu WIN sì TXUR oe ZEne han(ì)'AW
PXAN livu TXO nì'AW oe NGAri,
TSAkrr nga NA'viru YOMtìYÌNG.
[audio=http://naviteri.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/03-Lu-nga-win.mp3]Lu-nga-win[/audio]

Tivaron nìzawnong, ma eylan!

P.S. —I wonder if there are any ayfamtseotu out there who might like to try
setting the Hunt Song to music.