Mawey

[Fnua Atxkxe]

Sounds like a silly word to trip up on but I'm struggling with the correct pronounciation of mawey. I thought as [aw] is a diphthong it would have the [aou] sound but in the movie and the audio samples I found, it sounds like the two seperate letters [a] and [w]. Can [aw] the seperate letters [a] and [w] and if so how do you know when it is or is'nt. Is it because [aw] is followed by another diphthong [ey]?

[Fnua Atxkxe]

Maybe I'm just mishearing it?. . .

[Will Txankamuse]

The only place to hear mawey in the movie is when Neytiri first addresses Tsu'tey early in the film.

you're correct that mawey decomposes into m aw ey with maw forming one consonant and ey forming another, but since there is no glottal stop between them the two consonants merge into each other.

maw-ey

maw (rhyme with 'cow') ey (rhyme with 'hay')  maw-ey... say it fast a few times

Zoe does seem to pronounce it right from my memory.

Remember when she's talking to the viperwolf earlier on in the film, she's not saying mawey, she's saying ma oeyä tsmukan - maybe that's what you're remembering?

Will

[Fnua Atxkxe]

It could be I was remembering that bit as well but I was thinking it was the bit where she said "calm people calm" when Jake is tripped by the bola. Went back and listened to it again and I think it's just her accent that threw my memory as it does seem to be right. The audio sample I downloaded certainly seem to be pronouncing it like ma-wey not maw-ey though.

[Na'rìghawnu]

There are already several other threats, where it is discussed, what Neytiri says (mawey, ma oeyä, ...).

But to answer your question

Can [aw] the seperate letters [a] and [w] and if so how do you know when it is or is'nt.

Yes, they most likely can be also separate sounds, NOT indicating the diphthong. We have at least one example, where this phenomenon is seen with "ew". I'm talking about the adjective 'ewan (young), in which Frommer himself did his stress-underlining just including the "e", but not the "w". So it seems, that the "w" is the onset of the second syllable, and therefore doesn't belong to the "e" to form a diphthong.
It's very well possible, that's an alike case with "mawey".

[Fnua Atxkxe]

This could be confusing as to what are diphthongs and what are single letters until frommer iluminates them which is a bit of a pain if you learn a word and then have to relearn it. I guess it makes sense as to why it wouldn't confuse the na'vi seeing as they learn words by hearing them as they don't have a writing system. I guess we'll just have to learn these words as we get them.