Pronunciation Guidance

The Na'vi language contains sounds that are uncommon in human languages, some of which are particularly tricky for English speakers to pronounce correctly. This page contains links to resources and other guidance that can help you improve your Na'vi pronunciation.

Basic Pronunciation Guides

The following guides all provide the basics of Na'vi pronunciation. Any of them will give you a good start.

• Learn Na'vi Phonetics page
• Na'vi Alphabet
• Na'vi Pocketmod Guide (must login to forum to download)

Detailed Pronunciation Guides

These resources provide substantially more detail but are rather technical and geared towards experienced linguists.

• Paul Frommer's post to Language Log
• Na'vi Language - Phonology and Orthography on Wikipedia
• Na'vi Pocket Guide
• Taronyu's Na'vi Grammar

Canonical Audio Clips

Paul Frommer has given several audio interviews in which he has spoken Na'vi, and in some cases provided explanations of how to correctly pronounce certain sounds. Note that in many cases we do not have canonical Na'vi transcriptions. However, listening to Frommer's pronunciations (even of long and untranscripted passages) will help you get a better sense of how the language should sound when spoken.

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.

• Vanity Fair interview - audio clip is partway down the page. (clip)
  • Kaltxì. Ngaru lu fpom srak? "Hello. How are you?" (literally: "Are you well?")

• New York Times article audio clip
  • "Yesterday I was with Txewì in the forest and we saw the biggest Trapper [type of carniverous 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."

• National Public Radio interview
  • 1:09 "Hello, Renee. I See you. Are you well? It's a pleasure to be able to chat with you."
  • 1:24 "I See you." (short form)
  • 2:16 "My big blue butt."

• ABC News Nightline segment
  • 2:44 Fayvrrtep fìtsenge lu kxanì. "These demons are forbidden here." (clip)
  • 3:24 Explanation and demonstration of ejectives
  • 3:55 Tsun oe ngahu pivängkxo a fì’u oeru prrte’ lu. "It's a pleasure to be able to chat with you." (clip)

• PBS Newshour interview - note: poor audio quality
  • 0:36 Explanation and demonstration of ejectives
  • 0:57 Explanation and demonstration of initial ng and fng cluster
  • 2:20 Explanation and demonstration of Kaltxì. "Hello."
  • 2:56 Explanation and demonstration of Oel ngati kameie. "I See you."

• Southern California Public Radio interview
  • 1:18 Explanation and demonstration of Kaltxì. "Hello." (clip)
  • 10:45 and 11:02 meoauniaea (one of Frommer's favorite Na'vi words - English meaning not yet defined) (clip)
  • 11:18 Demonstration of ejectives (clip)
  • 11:32 Explanation of initial ng
  • 13:10 Kìyevame "See you again" (clip) and Eywa ngahu. "Eywa be with you." (clip)

• BBC Radio interview - note: poor audio quality
  • 2:30 Oel ngati kameie. "I See you."
  • 3:15 A portion of the Hunt Song from the Activist Survival Guide
  • 4:02 "Your alien smell fills my nose."

Contributed Audio Clips

The Learn Na'vi community has produced a collection of audio clips demonstrating the correct pronunciation of many individual Na'vi words. Contributors are continuing to add new clips and to improve old clips based on feedback from experienced Na'vi learners. Although these clips are not necessarily perfect and are definitely not canonical (i.e. "official"), they are very good.

There are several ways to listen to these clips:

• A zipfile of all the clips, with both English and Na'vi
• A zipfile of all the clips, Na'vi only
• A webpage with each clip as individual files
• The Learn Na'vi Vocabulary page containing links to clips for individual words
• Taronyu's Na'vi-English Audio Dictionary containing links to clips for individual words

If you'd like to contribute to the audio collection or help improve it in other ways, please join the Learn Na'vi forum and participate in the Spoken Na'vi Words topic.

Here are some other audio clips created by Na'vi learners:

• Pronunciation guide by kawng mungeyu
• Sample phrases by kawng mungeyu - see this Learn Na'vi forum thread for transcriptions

Advice, Tips, and Demonstrations

Coming soon!