Family Terms, and, "The Thing You Make Tsaheylu With"

[Kayrìlien]

There are two things that first come to mind that are missing from the Na'vi vocabulary, one of which seems rather important, the other more of a thorn in our collective sides. I'll start with the latter, as it is easier to argue for and against.

1) hair, braid, ponytail, queue - A species that uses its queue to connect with, well, everything would definitely have a name for it. We do know that tsaheylu/tsahaylu is the word for the bond, but I'm starting to get tired of people referring to the actual body part as "tsaheylu", or many, um, less flattering things. (Brain wiener comes to mind.)

As we already have words for what I think are somewhat unimportant parts of the body, such as elbow and knee, I think that the Na'vi queue is important enough to them to have its own name.

2) Other family terms, such as aunt, uncle, grandmother, etc. - This is a tougher issue, as I don't believe the exact familial system of the Na'vi has been detailed. Different cultures around the world have different terms for family members, usually dependent on how family lineage is recorded (patriarchal/matriarchal/bilateral/etc.). Notably, in English, we do not distinguish between our mother's sister and our father's sister; they are both called "aunt". Other cultures and languages may have separate terms for the two people.

Now, I know we can derive terms for "my mother's sister" via liberal use of the -yä suffixes (oeyä sa'nokä tsmuke), but this seems a little clunky. I would assume that the Na'vi have shorter (read: not seven syllables) terms for these relatives, but since we don't know for sure how close familial relationships are, this might be false. The evidence does point toward a rather tightly-knit community, seeing as they use tsmuktu as a more broad term than a biological (or affinial) brother, but I'm not the one to ask about this. Perhaps all this information is in the Survival Guide and I just haven't read it?

I can think of many others, but those are the first two that came to mind.

Irayo,

Kayrìlien

edit: Irayo to wm.annis for moving this into its own topic; I wasn't clear if we were supposed to create our own topics or simply add to the first thread.  

[wm.annis]

Because some of the basic relations have easy and obvious ways to phrase them (mother's sister, etc.), I think these will probably be class C in priority.  But a good set of these belong in that C list.

[zyymurgy]

I'd classify a word for their dang queue as more B level importance. I mean, without it, they don't die - they wish for death. IIRC, Tsu'tey's queue was supposed to be cut off and Jake put him out of his misery, since he'd know only isolation from everything. So I'd think that the word for your BETTER-THAN-SEX oragans would be a B or maybe an A. XD;

[Kayrìlien]

I'd classify a word for their dang queue as more B level importance. I mean, without it, they don't die - they wish for death. IIRC, Tsu'tey's queue was supposed to be cut off and Jake put him out of his misery, since he'd know only isolation from everything. So I'd think that the word for your BETTER-THAN-SEX oragans would be a B or maybe an A. XD;

Hehe, I was trying to be a bit more delicate about it, seeing as the queue is also used for more everyday things such as riding your pa'li or ikran, as well as connecting with their ancestors and "deity", so yeah, it would be foolish to underestimate how important the Na'vi connection to Eywa really is.

Kayrìlien

[Na'rìghawnu]

the actual body part as "tsaheylu", or many, um, less flattering things. (Brain wiener comes to mind.)

  Never heard that, but it's quite funny. Because of it's ability to share information, the author of a funny German newsletter article about the film, called it "Info-Puschel" (maybe something like "info tassel"), what sounds really cute to my ears. But of course, the Na'vi will have another concept.

[Tseotuan]

What I would like to know is a word for

girlfriend/boyfriend
or even
wive/husband
maybe an extra word for
ex- girl-/boyfriend/wive/husband

[Kayrìlien]

What I would like to know is a word for

girlfriend/boyfriend

I've just been using 'eylane/'eylanan, but those definitely aren't canon, nor do they imply any sort of "extra" relationship. All the gendered endings are doing is specifying whether or not your friend is male or female. So yeah, this would be kind of cool.

However...we know that Na'vi mate before Eywa and for life. I'm not sure how much actual courtship goes on, perhaps this is explained in the Survival Guide (which I have not read), but I don't think the Na'vi have the same sort of ideas about, um...temporary relationships as we do.

...the author of a funny German newsletter article about the film, called it "Info-Puschel" (maybe something like "info tassel"), what sounds really cute to my ears...

That's adorable. Info tassel. I've also heard "hair dick", "hair where the sun don't shine", and "ponytail with benefits", but yeah, we definitely need a real word rather than a bunch of half-cocked innuendos.

Kayrìlien

[Txur’Itan]

A range of familial terms would be very useful.

English spoken relationships from the film like:
Grand Father's Grandfather

Differentiation from brother/sister as it is used to everyone in the clan, verses someone born of the same parents.

[Na'rìghawnu]

Even "parents" isn't known until now, is it? And "family" ...

[wm.annis]

Even "parents" isn't known until now, is it?

It is not.  He might go for a doublet, sa'nok sempul, not an unheard of approach.

People might find the Kinship terminology article interesting.

[Txur’Itan]

Even "parents" isn't known until now, is it?

It is not.  He might go for a doublet, sa'nok sempul, not an unheard of approach.

People might find the Kinship terminology article interesting.

Oooo - Based on the film, they are doing Crow or Omaha Kinship!

[Na'rìghawnu]

about "parents":

He might go for a doublet, sa'nok sempul, not an unheard of approach.

Yes, maybe. On the other hand, it would be a bit strange, since normally male and female distinction is not mandatory in Na'vi, so we have normally a "root"-word, and - if we really want to (!) - we can make it male or female:

tsmuk: tsmukan - tsmuke
po: poan - poe
(even maybe:) *'it: 'itan - 'ite

So since the "non-genderness" is the normal approach for the Na'vi, and the attributing of a gender is optional, it's already *special* to me, that "father" and "mother" are completely different words with not even the same stem. I would be really surprised, if in a language of this type it weren't possible, to speak just about a parent without stating his/her gender. Why is it possible (and normal!), that one can speak about any other persons and completely ignore their gender (even brother/sister; where, e. g. in German, is no generic word including both genders), but not in the case of father and mother? Id like to see a word like "parent" (usuable for "father" oder "mother" equally).