Canon/2012/July-December

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The Na'vi language canon is the complete collection of information about the Na'vi language provided by authoritative sources, namely Paul Frommer and the creators of Avatar (James Cameron and Twentieth Century Fox).

The canon comprises two things:

  • words and phrases spoken or written in Na'vi
  • descriptions of the linguistic elements of Na'vi such as orthography, morphology, syntax, and grammar

The Na'vi words and phrases from canonical sources are presented or linked to on the Corpus page (where copyright allows). Documentation, explanation, and analysis of Na'vi linguistics are presented on other Learn Na'vi wiki pages (Phonology, Morphology, Grammar, etc.). This page serves to document the canonical sources themselves. The majority of the examples on this page come from email correspondances with Frommer.



This page includes information dated July 2012 - December 2012. To access past information please see:

"I hope..."

From an interview (In German), July 9, 2012

"Kaltxì, ma oeyä eylan. Oel ayngati kameie nìwotx. Ulte sìlpey oe, oel ngolop a aylì'fya sivunu ayngar." (Hello, my friends. I see you (all). And I hope you like the languages ​​that I have created.)

allergies

Reported by Prrton in this forum post, July 26, 2012.

I'm not sure how it should go into the dictionary, but the language class at the MeetUp in seattle also established "being allergic to something"
______(-ri/-ìri) lu _______ fnetxum.
The allergic person or animal goes in the topical (-ri/-ìri) and the allergen is the subject with fnetxum as the predicate.
Oeri lu swoa fnetxum. = "I am allergic to 'alcohol'."
This is canonical from the last dialogue in the class.

two words in use: 'e'al and kangay si

Reported by wm.annis in this forum post, Nov 18, 2012.

In any case, I was completely unable to find a single example of 'e'al worst in use. So I asked Pawl if it occurred in some dialog that didn't make it into the film. It had —
Quote from: Pawl
GRACE
Please – this will only confirm their worst fears about you –
Rutxe—ayngari fìkem feyä ’e’ala topur kangay sìyi nì’aw.
please about-you this their worst fears valid will-make only
So, here we have 'e'al in action, and a heretofore unseen verb, kangay si validate, confirm.

Clefted "a"

Reported by wm.annis in this forum post, Dec 4, 2012.

I was looking at one of the songs on Pandorapedia, and I noticed a funny structure in the Tree Song,
Utralä aNawm
ayrina' lu ayoeng,
a peyä tìtxur mì hinam
awngeyä
What we have here is apparently attributive a cleft from (fancy-pants linguistics talk for "separated from") the noun it goes with, utral. I asked Paul about this and he said,
Quote from: Karyu Pawl
Of course relative clauses that are separated from their heads are common in English: "I met a guy yesterday who came from Zimbabwe." But since "a" in Na'vi is so closely tied to its noun, I wouldn't want to make this a general option . . . except in poetry. :-)

"sto" has the same syntax as "new"

Reported by wm.annis in this forum post, Dec 13, 2012.

A question about the possible modal syntax use of sto refuse came up during discussions for one example for the LEP proposal being worked on now. Just to be sure, I asked for clarification.
Sto may take modal syntax,
Stolo po hivum fohu.
She refused to leave with them. (Example approved by K. Pawl)
It may also be a normal transitive verb,
Stolo oel stxenut peyä.
I refused his offer. (From Pawl)
Finally, it may take a clause with futa, a fì'ut + ‹iv›, like new,
Poel stolatso futa mefo tivaron tsaha'ngir.
She must have refused (their request) to hunt that afternoon. (Approved)