easy guide to the suffixes, infixes, and prefixes of Na'Vi

[tute nuereime]

Note from the Management: this post is very old.  We have learned much about Na'vi since this post was made.  Please use more recent references.
Here you can read the new guide: Easy Guide to Na'vi Prefixes, Infixes, and Suffixes II

here is an easy guide to the suffixes, infixes, and prefixes of Na'Vi

suffixes:

-l: used to show that it is the subject doing the action to the other noun. I ride my ikran. I would have the –l ending.

-ìl: same as -l

-ti: used to show that it is the other noun which the subject is doing the action to. I ride my ikran. ikran would have the –ti ending.

-it: same as -ti

-t: same as ti

-yä: used to show ownership my nose, his ikran, my bow's arrows

-ä: same as yä

-ru:indicates the noun is receiving the object the subject is giving. bob hands joe the keys. bob is the subject hands is the action keys is the object and joe is receiving the keys so the -ru would be on joe.

-r: same as -ru

-ri:indicates that the noun is the topic when there are multiple nouns or a complex sentence.for example in the sentence. joe rode his ikran to the home tree of his friend. joe would have the -ri to indicate that the topic is joe.

-ìri: same as -ri

-an:indicates that the noun is masculine. person with -an becomes man.

-e(with accent mark):indicates that the noun is feminine. person with -e becomes woman.

-a:used with a description to indicate that it is describing the noun. ie: long-a river.

-tu:indicates a person associated with the verb. hunt with tu becomes prey (or hunter also?)

-yu: indicates a person with that job. hunt with yu becomes hunter

prefixes:

ay-:to indicate multiple. ay- with arrow becomes arrows. ay- + tree = trees

me-:to indicate two of something as a pair. me- with eye becomes eyes (your eyes, his eyes, her eyes)

a-:same as -a but to describe the noun in front of that word. river a-long still means a long river.

'aw-:to indicate one. aw- wth po becomes one person. aw with bow becomes one bow.

mun-:to indicate two of something that are not a pair. mun with bow become two bows but they are not a pair.

ke-:to indicate no. ke with is becomes isn't.

le-: changes nouns into descriptions. danger becomes dangerous. stick (like glue) becomes sticky (that tree sap is sticky).

tì-:to indicate when a verb is used as a noun. ti with hunt (used as we go hunting) becomes hunt (as in get ready for the hunt). words like live become life.

nì-:the equivalent to English's -ly. easy becomes easily. he easily passed the test.

infixes:these are all found in verbs. take the verb and divide it into the syllables. put the thses infixes between the consonants left of the vowel and the vowel. if we are using the word taron (to hunt) it would be divided tar-on. the first infixes would go between the "t" and the "a". in words with one syllable put it in the same place. Foe example tul(run) the infix would go between the "t" and the "u".

-ìm- used to show you just did it. equivalent of just (verb)-ed. just hunted, just talked, just shopped. we just hunted

-er-used to show it is an ongoing thing rather than a defined event. equivalent of -ing. hunting, talking, shopping. we are talking

-ay- used to show you are going it in the future but does not affect now. think of "i will". will hunt, will talk, will shop. i will do my homework.

-ìy- used to show that something will happen but does affect now.

-ol-used to show you that the event (past, present, future) stands on its own. it is an event rather than an ongoing thing.

-am- used to show that you did something. the use of -ed without just. hunted, shopped, talked. we talked yesterday.

-arm- used to show that you did something but it affects now. it is an event that is ongoing.

-ìrm-used to show that it's an ongoing action that just happened. it is a combination of -ìm- and -er-.(think of "i was just verb-ing). we were just hunting. i was just talking.

-us- used to indicate when a verb is used as an adjective. sleeping dogs, flying birds. the words are still verbs but they are used to describe a noun.

-iv- used to show hopes, uncertainties, possibilities or opinions. -iv- in the word taron (hunt) would show that you might be hoping to hunt, or asking if you are hunting or what you are going to hunt. it becomes more defined when in contet.

Note: these infixes go between the consonants to the left of the vowel and the vowel of the last syllable in the word. For example. kame(see) it would be divided ka-me. the infix would go between the "m" and the "e"

-ei-used to show that it is positive. kam<EI>e. the noun sees something and is happy about it.

-äng-used to show that it is negative. kam<ANG>e. the noun sees something and is either sad or mad about it.

any questions feel free to ask and any mistakes feel free to correct.

[Ki_Lin_7]

Irayo! That is such an easy guide (just like the subject says... sweatdrop)! Though I kind of got lost at the Infix description. I understand it, but maybe I'm just tired...? I'll be back in the morning to re-read it, haha

Anyway, thanks again!!! (^_^)

[wm.annis]

mun-:to indicate two of something that are not a pair. mun with bow become two bows but they are not a pair.

Where on earth (or Pandora, for that matter) are you getting this from?  mune is two, but I see no evidence of any such prefix.

Also, you have left off the diacritical marks for many of these affixes, and that really will mislead people, I'm afraid.

Finally, there are several forms for most of the case endings: http://wiki.learnnavi.org/Noun_cases

[tute nuereime]

so it should be fixed correct
i got the mun- prefix from the learn na'vi guide in the numbers section

[omängum fra'uti]

Your description of the location for infixes is slightly incorrect.  They go in the penultimate and final syllables.  For example...

zamunge - bring.
za-mu-nge (breaking out the syllables)

zam<ay>ung<ei>e - will bring (laudative)

[tute nuereime]

so it should be in the middle syllable in odd-syllable words (3,5,7 syllables) and in the syllable to the left of the center in even syllable words. syllable syllable syllable syllable. inside the bold syllable correct?

[omängum fra'uti]

No, always the penultimate and final syllable.  The next to last and the last, no matter how long the word is.  The only exception is monosyllabic words, where they both go in the only syllable.

[tute nuereime]

so penultimate would mean the next to last syllable

[omängum fra'uti]

Correct

[tute nuereime]

yea when i first wrote it i thought that it was the main/middle syllable but it should be fixed now

[Taronyu Ayunilyä Alahe]

"ke-:to indicate no. ke with is becomes isn't.

le-: changes nouns into descriptions. danger becomes dangerous. stick (like glue) becomes sticky (that tree sap is sticky)."


I don't really understand the ke and is. you mean is (lu)? so if I want to say "isn't good", I would say "ke-is-sìltsan"?

for the "le-", so you mean descriptions are adjectives? or is it different?

[wm.annis]

"ke-:to indicate no. ke with is becomes isn't.

Ooh, I didn't even notice that one.

While ke does get rolled up into certain negative words (kawtu and the like), when simply negating a verb it is not an affix, Ke fparmìl oel I didn't think.

[tute nuereime]

i added ke so that people would recognize it when they see it inside those words like kawtu. and how did you form fparmíl? i couldnt find "think" in my sources

[wm.annis]

and how did you form fparmíl? i couldnt find "think" in my sources

It isn't there.  It's from an email from Frommer to Prrton.  See this post.

The dictionary floating around now is from the Activist Survival Guide, and has maybe half the number of words we're told exist.

[omängum fra'uti]

ke fparmìl oel would be "I didn't think" wouldn't it?

ke fpìl oel would be "I don't think"

[tute nuereime]

then what infix would -arm- be closest to? -ol-?

[omängum fra'uti]

Wild guess here....

<am> + <er>

Following the pattern that <ìm> + <er> = <ìrm> and presuming past tense is <am>, you get <am> + <er> = <arm>.

But take that with a nice big salt crystal at the moment, because it is all speculation.

[tute nuereime]

so once we get more info i'll add it.

[Tiri]

This is the most daunting part of Na'vi for me, thanks for the breakdown! 

[omängum fra'uti]

Just realized there's a few errors I missed first read through.

tì- as a prefix - note the ì rather than i
nì- same thing
'aw- Not sure this would quite qualify as a prefix, just because a couple words are based off it.  Also it has a glottal stop at the start, hence 'aw not aw.

Infixes..
-er- Has nothing to do with when it happened, just that it is an ongoing thing rather than a defined event.
-ol- Has nothing to do with when it happened, just indicates it was a specific event of that rather than an ongoing thing
-ol-used to show you that you did it but it was a while ago. the use of -ed without just. hunted, shopped, talked. we talked yesterday.
-ìrm- (Again note the ì) is a combination of -ìm- and -er-, so it's an ongoing action that just happened.

-äng- Note the ä rather than a.