Pre/in/suffixes

[Nawm Tsamsiyu]

Kaltxì ma aysmukan sì aysmuke!

I've spent all winter break learning this beautiful language, and I've learned all the basics except when to use each of the different forms of pre/in/suffixes such as -l and -ìl, -ti -it and -t, -yä and -ä, or -ri and -ìri.

Rutxe Srung!

[Tìsyaw Nantangä]

There's a whole subforum on them here and a general thread about them here. Also this page has details on them.

Search button is your friend.

[Nawm Tsamsiyu]

Yes, and I have previously looked at all three of those multiple times, but no where in any of them do I see anything about when to use each different form of each, which is why I asked. I may just be blind but I can't find anything about this specifically.

[Tìsyaw Nantangä]

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.

-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).

tí-: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.

ní-: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.

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

-ol-used to show you that you did it but it does not affect now. it was an event rather than an ongoing thing. the use of -ed without just. hunted, shopped, talked. we talked yesterday.

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

-írm-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.

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.

And:



Are both incredibly useful. If you're after something that isn't explained in either of these, perhaps ask a more detailed question so we know what it is exactly that you want to understand.

[Nawm Tsamsiyu]

when to use each of the different forms of pre/in/suffixes such as -l and -ìl, -ti -it and -t, -yä and -ä, or -ri and -ìri.

I don't know how to explain any clearer... Maybe: when do I use the prefix -t instead of -ti because theymean the same thing? And the same with the other examples I gave. Is there a specific reason or way to use each specific form instead of the regular one?

[Doolio]

we don't know for sure, but in general, you use "-t" when the word ends with a vowel, "-it" when it ends with a consonant, and "-ti" (i am really unsure about this one) when the word ends with a vowel and the next word in a sentence begins with the consonant.

[Nawm Tsamsiyu]

we don't know for sure, but in general, you use "-t" when the word ends with a vowel, "-it" when it ends with a consonant, and "-ti" (i am really unsure about this one) when the word ends with a vowel and the next word in a sentence begins with the consonant.

Irayo! That's what I was looking for. Do you know how to use any of the other examples i originally posted?that would be awesome.

[Doolio]

i think their usage follows the same principles.
in case of "yä" and "ä", the latter goes when the word ends with a consonant, or when it ends with "y".

[Nawm Tsamsiyu]

Awesome, that's what I figured... But now at least I'm not just questioning myself everytime I write things. Irayo again.