Introducing myself

[brionywolf]

Ok... I am really trying hard at learning this language... and way I say I'm trying hard, I mean I am REALLY trying hard.
I don't take to languages very well at all, but love this language... I think because some of it's tongue had sounds similar to Welsh... but anyway, back on the topic.



Can you help me with this sentence?

Hello. I'm Briony. I am trying to learn the Na'Vi language.

I've tried writing it but I only know the words that are written in the Na'Vi pocket book... so I'm completely lost >.<
Please help xxx

Could you give me the literal translation, actual translation, and phonetic pronounciation?


And Merry Christmas xxxxxxx
ooo... anyone know how to say Merry Christmas in Na'Vi? lol

[tute nuereime]

Kaltxì. Oe-l  lu     briony. Oe-l   lu      f<er>mi     nume      Na'Vi
hello.    i     be    briony.    i     be      trying     to learn    Na'Vi
hello.        i'm briony.       i'm trying to learn the Na'Vi language

there isn't a word for the or to yet and language is implied in this instance
And merry christmas would be something like

sìltsan trr   -fa    nawm   ay-t<er>ìng
good   day with   noble      givings
            merry christmas

i think...

[brionywolf]

thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooo much...
...could you write it out phonetically as well?

xx

[tute nuereime]

  Kaltxì.      Oe-l   lu     briony. Oe-l   lu      f<er>mi     nume      Na'Vi
cal-t'-e        ol     lu    briony.   ol     lu      fair-me   new-me     na'-vi

the t' noise i dont know how to write but it is no the forum somewhere and in any case with the (  '  ) remember to leave a brief pause like when saying uh-oh

sìltsan            trr   -fa    nawm      ay-t<er>ìng
seal-t-san      ter    fa      nam           I-tear-E-knee

the rr noise is like the t' but you can find videos on it on youtube search spanish rr
keep in mind i have know idea if this correct but should be a start

[brionywolf]

Thank you sooooo much...
Being able to now say a single sentence has certainly helped me start to understand everything else. YAY


So again, THANK YOU *bows*

[Atan]

Kaltxì. Oe-l  lu     briony. Oe-l   lu      f<er>mi     nume      Na'Vi
hello.    i     be    briony.    i     be      trying     to learn    Na'Vi
hello.        i'm briony.       i'm trying to learn the Na'Vi language

there isn't a word for the or to yet and language is implied in this instance
And merry christmas would be something like

sìltsan trr   -fa    nawm   ay-t<er>ìng
good   day with   noble      givings
            merry christmas

i think...

I personally would translate the first sentence as:

Kaltxì.  Oe(-ri) Briony lu.  Oe-ri fm<er>i nume Na'vi-ti.
Hello.  I-(TOP) Briony am.  I-TOP try-IMPV learn Na'vi-PAT
Hello.  I am Briony.  I am trying to learn Na'vi.

First of all, a noun with the -l suffix is in the agentive case, meaning it performs the action of the verb.  Lu, "to be," is not an action verb, therefore the subject of a "to be" sentence cannot perform an action and thus cannot be in the agentive case.  The simplest way to make a "to be" sentence would be to put the subject in the subjective case, which is unmarked.  But if you wanted, you could also put it in the topical case, and I think that would make sense as well.
Second, I don't think you need a lu for present progressive constructions ("am doing something.")  That's a literal translation from English.  But in most languages that inflect for present progressive (Na'vi uses the infix <er>,) a helping verb is not needed as it is in English.  I'm just guessing, though.  I would need to see some examples of the present progressive from the movie or from Frommer himself.

[tute nuereime]

so -l is used when the subject is doing an action (i run he speaks she hears) and -ri is used when the topic is not clear as in 'my car'. the subject is the car but the topic is me so in that case -ri is used anytime "lu" is used and when the topic is different than the subject. am i getting this right?

[tute nuereime]

First person singular is oe, but when it's the direct subject of a transitive verb (I am doing something) then it becomes oe-l with the -l prefix I mentioned above. 

so i found where it say the correct explanation. the -ri ending would be correct if the sentence went "my friend is briony. my friend is trying to learn Na'vi" because i would not be activily participating but because the "i" is doing an action (existing/trying) it would be -l. but you are right with the "lu" but you can have it or not it still means the same thing.

[Atan]

You use -l, the agentive marker, when the noun is the subject of a transitive verb.  Transitive verbs take an object and are action verbs.  You can't use -l if the verb is existing, because "exist" is not a transitive verb.  In that case you would use the subjective case (unmarked) or perhaps the topical case (-ri).  As for the verb "trying," you could only use -l if you said something along the lines of "I tried squid" (because in that case there is a direct object and the verb is transitive) but I don't know if Na'vi would even use the same word for a sentence like that.  In the case of the sentence "I'm trying to learn Na'vi," "try" does not have a direct object (Na'vi is the direct object of the verb "learn"), so "I" should be in either the subjective or topical case.

As for -ri, if it works the same way it does in similar natural languages, you should be able use it to mark the subject.  It could mark Briony as well.  For example, if I translated those sentences into Japanese, I would mark the "I"s with the topic particle.

And I would say that even though the sentence may mean the same thing with lu, it might sound awkward.  For example, the sentence "I have done studied" means virtually the same thing as "I have studied," but the second is more grammatically correct.

[tute nuereime]

ok well what ever the correct term is when i looked at the material that the website has to offer it says use -l and the thing with Na'Vi is that the creator didn't want it to resemble any particular language so it wouldn't necessarily follow the Japanese rules.

[tute nuereime]

so using your system it should be
Kaltxì.  Oe Briony lu.  Oe-l fm<er>i nume Na'vi-ti
because the second sentence has the -ti so it needs the -l
but the first one doesnt need the -ri because it oe is both the topic and subject right? there is no need to differentiate between the two.

[Atan]

so using your system it should be
Kaltxì.  Oe Briony lu.  Oe-l fm<er>i nume Na'vi-ti
because the second sentence has the -ti so it needs the -l
but the first one doesnt need the -ri because it oe is both the topic and subject right? there is no need to differentiate between the two.

Yep, that looks right.  My impression is that you can use -ri even when you don't need to differentiate, and the subject and topic are the same.  But that may or may not be correct.  I think it's definitely safe to use the subjective when in doubt.

[tute nuereime]

yea in large sentences that would be useful but not in something small like that