Corpus
This is the canon of known good sentences in Na'vi with glosses, given out in interviews with Dr. Frommer.
Contents
- 1 Text Corpus
- 1.1 Activist Survival Guide
- 1.2 Science Magazine
- 1.3 Language Log Blog Post
- 1.4 Vanity Fair
- 1.5 Times Online
- 1.6 UGO Movie Blog
- 1.7 From Letter
- 1.8 UGO Movie Blog (Twitter Questions)
- 1.9 Out of Office AutoReply
- 1.10 MSNBC
- 1.11 Behind the Scenes
- 1.12 A Message From Paul
- 1.13 Correspondence with Taronyu
- 2 Audio Corpus
Text Corpus
Activist Survival Guide
Longer passages of continuous Na'vi text can be found in the book released for the film, James Cameron's Avatar: a Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora, an Activist Survival Guide HarperCollins Books, 2009.
- Weaving Song, page 41
- Hunting Song, page 99
Science Magazine
From Science Magazine (subscription, I'm afraid; retrieved Dec 21 2009). They asked for the word for "science." Frommer replied:
tìftia kifkeyä NMLZ-study world-GEN the study of the physical world.
Language Log Blog Post
From his Language Log guest blog post (Dec 19 2009).
Oeri ta peyä fahew akewong ontu teya längu. 1-TOP from 3.POSS smell ATTR-alien nose full be-PEJ My nose is full of his alien smell.
In the comments:
Tewti, ma Prrton! Plltxe nga nìltsan! wow VOC Prrton speak you well Wow, Prrton! You speak well!
Vanity Fair
Brushing up on the Language of Avatar (Dec 1 2009)
Kaltxì. Ngaru lu fpom srak? Hello you-DAT be well-being Q Hello, how are you?
Times Online
interview (December 12 2009)
Tsun oe ngahu nìNa'vi pivängkxo a fì'u oeru prrte' lu able to 1 2-with ADV-Na'vi (?) that this.thing 1-DAT (?) be It's a pleasure to be able to chat with you in Na'vi.
Fìskxawngìri tsap'alute sengi oe this-idiot-TOP apology do<?> 1 I apologise for this moron.
Fayvrrtep fìtsenge lu kxanì this-PL-demon this-place be forbidden These demons are forbidden here
UGO Movie Blog
interview (Dec 14 2009)
Oel ngati kameie 1-A 2-P see-LAUD I see you.
From Letter
(Added Dec 22 2009)
Sent out by Dr. Frommer to his many correspondents interested in the language. He signed off with:
Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu. goodbye and Eywa 2-with See you again, and may Eywa be with you.
UGO Movie Blog (Twitter Questions)
(Added Dec 23 2009)
The interviewer at UGO asked for submissions from readers for Dr. Frommer to translate, We Translate your Phrases into Na'vi.
Txo new nga rivey, oehu! if want 2 live<?> 1-with Come with me if you want to live.
Tawsìp ngeyä lu sngeltseng. sky-ship 2-GEN be garbage-dump Your ship is a garbage scow. (lit "garbage dump")
Ayftxozä [sic!] Lefpom ta UGO! PL-holiday ADJ-well.being from UGO Happy Holidays from UGO!
Out of Office AutoReply
(Added Dec 27 2009)
The sign-off to an Out of Office AutoReply used by Frommer during semester break.
Ayftozä lefpom ayngaru nìwotx! PL-holiday ADJ-well.being PL-2-DAT ADV-all/complete Happy Holidays to You All!
MSNBC
(Added Dec 31 2009)
MSNBC Cosmic Log interview.
- Neytiri herahaw.
- Neytiri is sleeping.
- Neytiril yerikit tolaron.
- Neytiri hunted a hexapede.
Behind the Scenes
(Added Jan 17 2010)
From a Fox-authorized video on YouTube, Avatar The Movie James Cameron Avatar The Movie Behind The Scenes Making The Movie 2. There's a brief video close-up of some of Jake's Na'vi dialog, "Na'vi Dialog for Jake - 3-13-2007." The stress accent is marked with the underline. See also [1]. Since the dialog is Jake's, there is some concern the sentences may not be perfectly grammatical.
- Oel ngati kameie, ma Tsmukan, ulte ngaru seiyi ireiyo. Ngari hu Eywa saleu tirea, tokx 'ì'awn slu Na'viyä hapxì.
- I See you Brother, and thank you. Your spirit goes with Eywa, your body stays behind to become part of the People.
- Sìfmetokit emzola'u ohel. Ätxäle si tsnì livu oheru Uniltaron.
- I have passed the tests. I respectfully request the Dream Hunt.
- Ma Eytukan, lu oeru aylì'u frapor. Aylì'u na ayskxe mì te'lan.
- Eytukan, I have something to say, to everyone. The words are like stones in my heart.
- Eo ayoeng lu txana tìkawng. Sawtute zera'u fte fol Kelutralti skiva'a. Pìyähem fìtseng ye'rìn.
- A great evil is upon us. The Sky People are coming to destroy Hometree. They will be here soon.
- Ayngari zene hivum, txo....
- You have to leave, or you will die.
A Message From Paul
(January 20, 2010)
On January 20, Paul Frommer sent a message to the Na'vi language community expressing his appreciation for the love we have shown for the language and assuring us he will provide us with guidance when he is able to. The message was sent as Na'vi text, English text, and spoken Na'vi audio - spoken by Frommer himself. The message can be read and heard in its entirety at the site masempul.org. See also the announcement thread on the Learn Na'vi forum. See also this forum thread for linguistic analysis of the message's contents using a marked-up version also provided by Frommer. For more analysis, see A Message From Paul. Stress marked below with underlines as per Frommer's mark-up.
- Ayeylanur oeyä sì eylanur lì'fyayä leNa'vi nìwotx:
- To all my friends and friends of the Na'vi language:
- Oel ayngati kameie, ma oeyä eylan, ulte ayngaru seiyi irayo. Fpole' ayngal oer fìtxan nìftxavang a 'upxaret stolawm oel. Lì'fyari leNa'vi oel 'efu ayngeyä tìyawnit. Ulte omum oel futa tìfyawìntxuri oeyä perey aynga nìwotx.
- I See you, my friends, and I thank you. I have heard the message you have sent me so passionately. I feel your love for the Na'vi language. And I know you are all waiting for my guidance.
- Spivaw oeti rutxe, ma oeyä eylan: oe new nìtxan ayngaru fyawivìntxu. Slä nìawnomum, zene oe 'awsiteng tìkangkem sivi fohu a Uniltìrantokxit sì kifkeyit Eywa'evengä zamolunge awngar. Foru 'upxaret oel fpole', slä vay set ke pamähängem kea tì'eyng. Nìaynga oe perey nìteng.
- Please believe me, my friends. I want very much to guide you. But as you know, I must work together with those who have brought us “Avatar” and the world of Pandora. I have sent them a message, but up to now no answer has arrived. Like you, I too am waiting.
- Tì'eyngit oel tolel a krr, ayngaru payeng, tsakrr paye'un sweya fya'ot a zamivunge oel ayngar aylì'ut horentisì lì'fyayä leNa'vi.
- When I receive an answer, I will let you know, and I will then decide the best way to bring you the words and rules of Na'vi.
- Sìlpey oe, layu oeru ye'rìn sìltsana fmawn a tsun oe ayngaru tivìng.
- I hope I will soon have good news to give you.
- Aylì'ufa awngeyä 'eylanä a'ewan Markusì ta Ngalwey . . . 'Ivong Na'vi!
- In the words of our young friend Markus from Galway . . . Let Na'vi bloom!
- Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu.
- Goodbye for now, and may Eywa be with you.
- Ta 'eylan karyusì ayngeyä, Pawl.
- Your friend and teacher, Paul.
Correspondence with Taronyu
(January 25, 2010)
See also full text of correspondence.
- Oe tsun kivä.
- I can go.
- Oe zene kivä.
- I must go.
- Oe new kivä.
- Oel new futa (= fì'ut a) kivä.
- Oel new futa Taronyu kivä.
- I want Taronyu to go.
- Oe new pivlltxe
- Oel new futa pivlltxe
- nume
- learn
- sänume
- teaching, instruction
- "With nume, though, you can learn by other means than teaching: from experience, from trial and error, etc. So should sänume refer to any means whatsoever of learning something? I'm not sure yet."
- Oe new pivlltxe nìNa'vi mì oeyä letrra tìrey
- slä oe tsun pivey
- trrit a ngal tayìng (or, hopefully, tìyìng) ayoer(u) aylì'ut nì'ul.
- Kxeyeyri tsap'alute sengi oe.
- kxeyey
- mistake, error
Audio Corpus
Audio and video recordings (interviews, sound clips, etc) of Dr. Frommer speaking Na'vi can be considered canonical, although in most cases we do not have canonical transcriptions, and in some cases we can't even be sure we know what he's saying. Any analysis of the Na'vi language based on non-transcripted audio is even more speculative than usual. On the other hand, Frommer's recordings are the best canonical examples of correct pronunciation we have and may provide clues about stress patterns, intonation, and other phonetic nuances above and beyond the IPA given in his Language Log post.
In some cases, clips containing just Frommer's spoken Na'vi are available (including both normal speed and slowed-down versions), either as a zipfile of the entire collection or via a webpage listing the individual clips. See this forum thread for more information.
Note the following:
- The sound quality of some clips is rather poor, making them unreliable for pronunciation guidance.
- In some clips, people such as James Cameron and Zoe Saldana speak some Na'vi. Their pronunciations may not be as reliable as Frommer's.
- In some cases, we have canonical transcriptions of the spoken phrases available from other sources.
Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair interview - audio clip is partway down the page. Note that the Na'vi transcription appears to be accurate, hence was probably supplied by Frommer, and hence is canonical.
- Kaltxì. Ngaru lu fpom srak? "Hello. How are you?" (literally: "Are you well?") (clip)
New York Times
New York Times article audio clip
- "Yesterday I was with Txewì in the forest and we saw the biggest Trapper [type of carnivorous plant] I've ever seen."
- "Those things are dangerous. They can kill a person, you know."
- "I know. We were careful not to get too close."
BBC Radio
BBC Radio interview - note: poor audio quality
- 2:30 Oel ngati kameie. "I See you."
- 3:15 From the Activist Survival Guide, a portion of The Hunt Song: "You are fast and strong; you are wise. I must be fast and strong, so only if I'm worthy of you will you feed the people. Let my arrow strike true, let my spear strike the heart, let the truth strike my heart, let my heart be true."
- 4:02 "Your alien smell fills my nose."
NPR
National Public Radio interview
- 0:29 Clip from the movie - Moat speaks to the Na'vi?
- 1:09 "Hello, Renee. I See you. Are you well? It's a pleasure to be able to chat with you." (clip)
- 1:24 "I See you." (short form) (clip)
- 2:16 "My big blue butt."
ABC News Nightline
ABC News Nightline segment on YouTube
- 1:02 James Cameron: "I was going to kill him, but there was a sign from Eywa."
- Paul Frommer:
- 4:08 Zoe Saldana: "Please forgive me brother, may you go to the grandmother, may the grandmother take you."
- 4:23 Sigourney Weaver: Skxawng "Moron"
PBS Radio
PBS Newshour interview - note: poor audio quality
- 1:13 "Metal"
- 2:16 "Hello Annie, I See you."