Pronunciation of 'nga'

[guest2859]

So... I just has a small question. How you you pronounce nga? Would it be like:

Ni-Gah

or

Ing-Ah?

[omängum fra'uti]

Eh, not quite either.  It's just like the ng in various English words, except that it comes at the front of the word.  That's not something you'll find in any English words, so any attempt to write it out phonetically for English speakers won't quite be correct.

For Americans, if you say something like "sing all" you have a "nga" in the middle...  Saying that and thinking about how you form the sounds can be good practice getting used to it.  Then just drop the "ll" off the end and the "si" off the beginning and you have "nga".

[kewnya txamew'itan]

aynga is generally easier to say than nga for English speakers because all the sounds are in English.

Divide it up as:

eye-ng a

then drop the eye (which can take a lot of practice).

Either way there certainly should not be a vowel before it.

[guest2859]

Okay, now I have another thing related: Is there something with formal and informal? Because nga alone is as it is, but when saying oel ngati kameie, it is like saying 'well nahti kameyeh'. Is it informal to make the g in nga silent?

[Kayrìlien]

Okay, now I have another thing related: Is there something with formal and informal? Because nga alone is as it is, but when saying oel ngati kameie, it is like saying 'well nahti kameyeh'. Is it informal to make the g in nga silent?

First question: Yes, there is a difference between "formal" and "informal" situations. But...

Second question: No. The G isn't silent per se, but, just like in every Na'vi word with the NG digraph, it isn't pronounced as its own consonant. The easiest way for native English speakers to perceive this difference is that it is nearly identical to the difference between the words SINGER and FINGER. In SINGER, the G is not pronounced by itself, whereas in FINGER, it is. Na'vi always uses the pronunciation as found in SINGER, never the pronunciation as found in FINGER.

To go back to the first question, if you want to be more formal with that specific phrase, both oe and nga have formal forms, ohe and ngenga respectively. The full phrase would then become "Ohel ngengati kameie."

There is also an honorific infix, but I'm not too well-versed in its use, so I won't talk about it. 

Hope that cleared things up for you a bit,

Kayrìlien

[Tompa'Ivong]

its a little awkward to get at first, but try around with other words, fitseng/fitsenge, tìng, peseng/tsengpe, only really big difference with Nga is the sound is at the beginning of the word.  Isolate the sound and work on just pronouncing that Ng part.

['Oma Tirea]

No. The G isn't silent per se, but, just like in every Na'vi word with the NG digraph, it isn't pronounced as its own consonant. The easiest way for native English speakers to perceive this difference is that it is nearly identical to the difference between the words SINGER and FINGER. In SINGER, the G is not pronounced by itself, whereas in FINGER, it is. Na'vi always uses the pronunciation as found in SINGER, never the pronunciation as found in FINGER.

Exactly.  Velar nasals behave that way by nature: mostly n, but with a hint of g

Also, the main reason it may be difficult for some English speakers (perhaps like yourself) to pronounce the "ng" sound in the initial position is because it was a developed phoneme in English from an allophone of n before k and g.  It occurs only before k and g, although a phenomenon called ng-coalescence morphed the two sounds in to one single phoneme.  This phoneme has since never been recognized as an independent phoneme in English, unlike some languages such as Thai.

Here might be a good "ng" sentence to work on: Ngenga yängom ngawng fìtseng

[Muzer]

I found it harder than usual to pick up because for some reason I pronounce "finger" and "singer" as "ng-g" (I'm using a text-only browser at the moment so can't show it in IPA form) - my accent is very mixed so it has a lot of weird features like that . Once I figured out what it meant though (the way I saw as being very American of pronouncing "singer", when actually it's common in Britain too), I got it straight away.

[Kemaweyan]

Pawl often explained this sound Tìng mikyun:

http://forum.learnnavi.org/news-announcements/video-from-frommers-presentation-at-tedxusc/
http://forum.learnnavi.org/press/learnnavi-on-good-morning-america-march-5th/

[omängum fra'uti]

The easiest way for native English speakers to perceive this difference is that it is nearly identical to the difference between the words SINGER and FINGER. In SINGER, the G is not pronounced by itself, whereas in FINGER, it is. Na'vi always uses the pronunciation as found in SINGER, never the pronunciation as found in FINGER.

That's only easy for people whose dialect of English pronounces the words differently like that.

[P.A.'li makto]

I don't know what about you, but I can hear LOTS of "g"-s pronounced in "ng" words in the FILM!

['Oma Tirea]

Velar nasals behave that way by nature: mostly n, but with a hint of g

That's probably what you're hearing, ma P.A.'li makto.

[P.A.'li makto]

Velar nasals behave that way by nature: mostly n, but with a hint of g

That's probably what you're hearing, ma P.A.'li makto.

I'm not talking about "hints", but clearly pronounced "g"-s. Just listen to Eytukan, when he's saying:"Ngenga 'itan Omatikayaä luyu set"! For me it's a strong and definite sound, not a hint.  

[bommel]

I'm not talking about "hints", but clearly pronounced "g"-s. Just listen to Eytukan, when he's saying:"Ngenga 'itan Omatikayaä luyu set"! For me it's a strong and definite sound, not a hint. 

I can hear them too. But I'm no language genius so don't rely on my opinion xD

[P.A.'li makto]

I'm not talking about "hints", but clearly pronounced "g"-s. Just listen to Eytukan, when he's saying:"Ngenga 'itan Omatikayaä luyu set"! For me it's a strong and definite sound, not a hint. 

I can hear them too. But I'm no language genius so don't rely on my opinion xD

I DO rely on your opinion, since you have ears (I suppose) and can hear the same as me! Don't have to be a language genious to do so!

[bommel]

I DO rely on your opinion, since you have ears (I suppose) and can hear the same as me! Don't have to be a language genious to do so!

Okay, okay ^^
But I don't know if they were doing it right in the movie
I just know that "ng" is supposed to sound like in "sing"...

[P.A.'li makto]

I DO rely on your opinion, since you have ears (I suppose) and can hear the same as me! Don't have to be a language genious to do so!

Okay, okay ^^
But I don't know if they were doing it right in the movie
I just know that "ng" is supposed to sound like in "sing"...

Yes, that's what is said... But! for me the na'vi in the FILM is THE NA'VI, and I suppose Frommer monitored the actors while filming. Those people are THE NATIVE SPEAKERS (if there are any at all!, I'm afraid there aren't), so if something was in the FILM, it's good enough for me, too!!!

[bommel]

Yes, that's what is said... But! for me the na'vi in the FILM is THE NA'VI, and I suppose Frommer monitored the actors while filming. Those people are THE NATIVE SPEAKERS (if there are any at all!, I'm afraid there aren't), so if something was in the FILM, it's good enough for me!!!

For me, nga with g is even easier to pronounce so I won't disagree

[P.A.'li makto]

Right! Settled! 

[Muzer]

I DO rely on your opinion, since you have ears (I suppose) and can hear the same as me! Don't have to be a language genious to do so!

Okay, okay ^^
But I don't know if they were doing it right in the movie
I just know that "ng" is supposed to sound like in "sing"...

Yes, that's what is said... But! for me the na'vi in the FILM is THE NA'VI, and I suppose Frommer monitored the actors while filming. Those people are THE NATIVE SPEAKERS (if there are any at all!, I'm afraid there aren't), so if something was in the FILM, it's good enough for me!!!

I wouldn't say that if I were you... or you'll end up pronouncing "mikyun" as "mäkyun" (with the "u" pronounced wrongly as well)