Canon/2012/January-June

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.

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This page includes information dated January 2012 - June 2012. To access past information please see:

• Canon

I have something to say

Reported by wm.annis, January 5 2012 (forum)

Asking Karyu Pawl to confirm the line of dialog, Ma eytukan, lu oeru aylì'u frapor.

Yup. That's what Jake was supposed to say.

In this case, I don't see a problem with a "double dative." The poster who said these are most likely to occur where one dative is a possessive is probably right; I can't think of another straightforward kind of example. But this is a case where word order clearly makes a difference:

(1) Lu oeru aylì'u frapor.

(2) Lu frapor aylì'u oeru.

are not the same.

"Fpi" isn't quite the same thing: it's used more in cases of "for the sake of, for the benefit of." So:

Tsakem soli oe fpi nga. 'I did it for you.' -- i.e., for your benefit.

Cf.:

Tsakem soli oe ngaru. 'I did it to you.'

Or:

(3) Stxelit fpole' oel ngaru. 'I sent the gift to you.'

(4) Stxelit fpole' oel ngafpi. 'I sent the gift for you.' -- i.e. I sent it to someone else for your sake. (Perhaps you were sick and not able to get out, so I sent it on your behalf.)