Order of prefixes, infixes, and suffixes

['Oma Tirea]

Na'vi has (almost) free word order, but that hasn't said anything about the order of the prefixes, infixes, and suffixes in Na'vi.  It seems that they do have an order to them:


Noun Construction

{1}
Adposition prefixes (too many to list)

{2}
fì-
tsa-
fay+
tsay+

{3}
Cannot be applied to "tì-Verb" without the proper infixes:
me+
pxe+
.
.
.
ay+

Noun or tì-Verb

{4}
Pronouns and animate nouns only:
-an
-e

{5}
Makes -an/-e valid for use:
-tu

{6}
Does not combine with [2]:
-o

{7}
Does not combine with {8} or {9}, and requires another noun without these:
-ä/-(e)yä

{8}
Only neccesary when objects (direct or indirect) are involved:
-l/-ìl
-t(i)/-it
-r(u)/-ur

{9}
This one can cause confusion, so don't worry about it if you're just starting out:
-ri/-ìri


Verb Construction

{1}
a-

{2}
This one can cause confusion, so don't worry about it if you're just starting out:
sä-

Verb or Noun si (infixes go in the verb or in si)

{3}
Does not combine with a-/-a because the verb becomes a noun when this is applied, with -an/-e being valid for use:
-yu

{1}
-a


Special Constructions

tì-verb = noun
nì-adjective = adverb
le-noun = adjective
noun si = verb
number-ve = ordinal number
noun-pe/pe+noun = interrogative question marker (use "a" if you need to use the word, but not in an interrogative manner)


Infixes

Position in word with 1 syllable: C<0><1><2>V(C)
Position in word with 2 syllables: C<0><1>V(C).C<2>V(C)
V = vowel(s) and/or a diphthong
C = consonant(s)

? ? ?   <0v>
-awn-   <0v>
-eyk-   <0v>
-us-    <0v>
-äp-    <0n>
-alm-   <1v>
-aly-   <1v>
-am-    <1v>
-arm-   <1v>
-ary-   <1v>
-a(s)y- <1v>
-er-    <1v>
-iv-    <1v>
-ilv-   <1v>
-imv-   <1v>
-irv-   <1v>
-iyev-  <1v>
-ìlm-   <1v>
-ìly-   <1v>
-ìm-    <1v>
-ìrm-   <1v>
-ìry-   <1v>
-ì(s)y- <1v>
-ol-    <1v>
-ats-   <2v>
-äng-   <2v>
-ei-    <2v>
-uy-    <2v>
? ? ?   <2adj>

n = infix available for nouns only
v = infix available for verbs only
adj = infix available for adjectives only

Thoughts (and corrections) welcomed

Eywa ngahu

[kewnya txamew'itan]

Adpositions aren't prefixes, they only attach when they come afterwards as a suffix, if they're not being used clitically (at the end like a suffix) then they are prepositions, not prefixes.

fay+ and tsay+ don't really need separate entries, someone might infer that fayme[noun] would be ok instead of fìme[noun]

You ought to note that -an and -e are rarely used, the only common ones are tsmukan/tsmuke (although tsmuk/tsmuktu is also very common), 'itan/'ite and poan/poe (although po is far more common), there are others but they'd normally be left unmarked.

-tu comes before -an/-e not after, eyktan is probably derived eyktu-an, also, whilst -an/-e are extra information, -tu changes the meaning completely, if the extra information was put on first then that changed meaning would be completely different.

All cases are applied in the same place, why do you have 7, 8 and 9. They should all be 7.

Why do you have -a- on your list of verb inflections if you're not including infix positions (and therefore <us> and <awn>) here?

You didn't mention that tì applies before any other prefixes.

Why have you got two new infixes here? If these are the same two as you mention in the other thread, get rid of them, we know one of them doesn't exist, and the other almost certainly does not either, that and we have absolutely no reason to suspect there would ever be an infix in an adjective, why should there suddenly be so now?





I know you're trying, but I think you're trying to run before you can walk with all of these topics that you said yourself are done to hopefully be stickies. Most of them aren't needed, this is what we've got all our documents for, and what wm.annis' stickies are for and they certainly explain more useful things more comprehensibly and more accurately than most of yours.

['Oma Tirea]

Adpositions aren't prefixes, they only attach when they come afterwards as a suffix, if they're not being used clitically (at the end like a suffix) then they are prepositions, not prefixes.

fay+ and tsay+ don't really need separate entries, someone might infer that fayme[noun] would be ok instead of fìme[noun]

You ought to note that -an and -e are rarely used, the only common ones are tsmukan/tsmuke (although tsmuk/tsmuktu is also very common), 'itan/'ite and poan/poe (although po is far more common), there are others but they'd normally be left unmarked.

-tu comes before -an/-e not after, eyktan is probably derived eyktu-an, also, whilst -an/-e are extra information, -tu changes the meaning completely, if the extra information was put on first then that changed meaning would be completely different.

All cases are applied in the same place, why do you have 7, 8 and 9. They should all be 7.

Why do you have -a- on your list of verb inflections if you're not including infix positions (and therefore <us> and <awn>) here?

You didn't mention that tì applies before any other prefixes.

Irayo for clearing all that up.  Will help us a lot.

I know you're trying, but I think you're trying to run before you can walk with all of these topics that you said yourself are done to hopefully be stickies. Most of them aren't needed, this is what we've got all our documents for, and what wm.annis' stickies are for and they certainly explain more useful things more comprehensibly and more accurately than most of yours.

I wasn't trying to get this thread to be a sticky....

In fact, case is closed here, ma Grammar Na'zi.  Please consider starting a new thread or so PM me.