A few questions

[Kxanìa 'awpo]

Sorry if this has been posted before but I have a few questions. I just started learning Na'vi and I have the alphabet down but when I started trying to learn words I ran into a few problems:

1. If I were to say "'ìnglìsì" would the "ìng" be similar to an English "ing" like in sing or would it be pronounced more like "ì-ung"?

2. That damn "ew". Give me anything you can on this one because I have no idea how to even pronounce it.

3. Apostrophes at the beginings and ends of words seem to do nothing. I assume Im doing something wrong here.

4. Similar to the first one, if I said "terkup" would the "er" be pronounced "air" like the word "there" or "err" like "purr" or what?


Thanks in advance for any help. Im sure Ill run into more problems so I might post some more here soon.


Eywa ngahu

[kewnya txamew'itan]

1. Yes

2. I recorded an audio a while ago but it now seems that it was wrong. Essentially, make an e sound and then make a w sound. I've recorded a new audio with me saying it a few times. http://www.talknavi.com/audio/75/ew

3. It is very important. Try saying uh'oh, you should feel the catch in between the two vowels, if you now compare the u sound to another on like the on in suck, you should be able to hear that the uh has a stronger onset, this is because uh-oh actually has two glottal stops, one in between the two syllables and one at the beggining of it. In fact, glottal stops at the beggining of syllables are the easiest to spot (they have the strong onset), one at the end like in olo' are difficult to hear but it should sound as though the sound suddenly gets cut off rather than dying away gradually.

4. Like in there although the r is different, see the sticky about the alveolar flap.

[Erimeyz]

Here's an explanation of ew:

The sound of the Na'vi diphthong ew does not occur in English. Like all diphthongs, you pronounce it by first making one vowel sound and then smoothly changing it into a second vowel sound. Most native speakers don't even notice that this is how they pronounce words like "day" - they just do it naturally and unconsciously. However, in order to learn to pronounce ew correctly, you'll need to pay attention to how you say it. Begin by saying the Na'vi sound e as in bet, then say word. Smoothly connect the two; don't pause between them. It will sound as if you're saying the name "Edward" but without the "d". Once you have that down, leave off the "ord" part of "word". The smooth glide starting from e and ending at w is the sound of the Na'vi diphthong ew.

The audio recording tìkawngä mungeyu pointed to is very good.

  - Eri

[kewnya txamew'itan]

That's a very good explanation, I like it, +1.

[Erimeyz]

That's a very good explanation, I like it, +1.

Thanks!  The "Edward-without-the-d" was originally from roger blueme.  More here, by the way... work in progress, feedback welcome.

 - Eri


Edit: Corrected source of "Edward".  Sorry, gentlemen.  See Blueme's Pronunciation Mini-Guide for more help on getting the Na'vi sounds right.