Vocabulary

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The Na'vi language has 20 consonants, 7 vowels, 4 diphthongs, and 2 syllabic pseudovowels, rr and ll (LL). Since Na'vi isn't a written language, it is transcribed using the Latin letters. In order to make the usage of this vocabulary easier to most people, the letters are arranged here in a sequence, which mostly follows the original Latin alphabet. The letters for "special" sounds are positioned according to their resemblance to "normal" sounds. Thus the letter sequence used here is:

’ (apostrophe) . A . AW . AY . Ä . E . EW . EY . F . H . I . Ì . K . KX . L . LL . M . N . NG (= G) . O . P . PX . R . RR . S . T . TX . TS (= C) . U . V . W . Y . Z

The vocabulary includes 1. the Na'vi word (in bold letters), 2. the IPA transcription (in square brackets), 3. the part of speech (in italic letters and round brackets), 4. the English equivalent(s) and further information, 5. sourced example(s) after the symbol ►.

ad 1. Purple colour is used to indicate stressed syllables in words, where the stress is officially recognized.

ad 2. The IPA transcription includes dots (.) to indicate syllable breaks. If there aren't any dots between syllables, the syllable breaks are dubious.

ad 3. The abbreviations for the parts of speech are as follows:

Adj adjective
Adp+ adposition causing lenitation
Adv adverb
Inf 1 first-position verbal infix
Inf 2 second-position verbal infix
Idiom idiomatic expression (e. g. interjections, fixed phrases, locutions)
M+ marker causing lenitation
M– marker not causing lenitation
N noun
Pron pronoun
Vin intransitive verb
Vtr transitive verb


’ (Apostrophe) [Ɂ]

’ekong [Ɂɛkoŋ] (N). beat (rhythmic), e. g. heartbeat. ► ’ekong telanä "the beat of the hearts" (ASG, Weaving Song).

’eylan [ˈɁɛj.lan] (N). friend (short plural: eylan). ► ayeylanur oeyä sì eylanur lì’fyayä leNa’vi "to my friends and friends of the Na’vi language"; ’eylan ayngeyä, Pawl "your friend, Paul" (AMFP).

’ìheyu [Ɂɪ.hɛ.ju] (N). spiral. ► ’ìheyu sìreyä "the spiral of the lives" (ASG, Weaving Song).


A [a]

-a | a- [a] (M–). to attribute an adjective to a noun; the a is attached to the adjective, but always faces the noun. ► ngima kilvan (or) kilvan angim "long river" (LL).

ay+ [aj] (M+). plural prefix. ► aysokx "bodies" (LL); ayzìsìt "years" (ASG, Weaving Song); ayoe "we" (ASG, Hunt Song).

‹ay› [a.j] (Inf 1). to indicate future tense <FUT>. ► tayaron "will hunt" (LL).


Ä [æ]

‹äng› [æŋ] (Inf 2). to indicate negative feelings <PEJ>. ► längu "is-NEG-ATTIDUDE"; tayarängon "will hunt (and the speaker feels negative about it)" (LL).


E [ɛ]

‹ei› [ɛ.i] (Inf 2). to indicate positive feelings <APPROB>. ► tayarängon "will hunt (and the speaker feels positive about it)" (LL).

‹er› [ɛ.r] (Inf 1). to indicate imperfective aspect <IPFV>. ► teraron "be hunting" (LL); Neytiri herahaw "Neytiri is sleeping" (MSNBC).

-eyä [ɛjæ] (M). genitive suffix (in pronouns) [allomorphs: -ä, -yä ]. ► oeyä "my" (ASG, Hunt Song); peyä "his" (LL).


F [f]

fahew [fa.hɛw] (N). smell. ► fahew "smell" (LL).

fpom [fpom] (N). well-being. ► Ngaru lu fpom srak? "Do you have a sense of well-being?" (VF).

ftxey [ftʼɛj] (Vtr). choose. ► ftxey awpot [< ’awpot?] (...) ayngal "choose one" (ASG, Hunt Song).


H [h]

hahaw [ha.haw] (Vin). sleep. ► Neytiri herahaw "Neytiri is sleeping" (MSNBC).

hu [hu] (M[+/–?]). with (together with somebody).hu nga (or) ngahu "with you" (LL).


I [i]

ikran [ik.ɾan] (N). Ikran, banshee. ► ikran "banshee" (LL).

irayo si [iɾa.jo ǀ si] (Vin). to thank (someone). ► ayngaru seiyi irayo "I thank you" (AMFP).


Ì [ɪ]

‹ìm› [ɪ.m] (Inf 1). to indicate recent past tense <REC>. ► tìmaron "just now hunted" (LL).

‹ìrm› [ɪr.m] (Inf 1). to indicate both, recent past tense and imperfective aspect <REC.IPFV>. ► tìrmaron "was just now hunting" (LL).


K [k]

kato [kato] (N). rhythm. ► Tompayä kato, tsawkeyä kato "The rhythm of rain and sun" (ASG, Weaving Song); Katot täftxu oel "I weave the rhythm" (ASG, Weaving Song).

kewong [kɛ.w.oŋ] (Adj). alien. ► fahew akewong "alien smell" (LL).

kifkey [ki.fkɛj] (N). the (physical) world. ► tìftia kifkeyä "the study of the physical world" (SciMag).

kilvan [kil.van] (N). river. ► ngima kilvan (or) kilvan angim "long river" (LL).

koren [ko.rɛn] (N.) rule. ► aylì'ut horentisì lì'fyayä leNa'vi "the words and the rules of Na'vi" (AMFP).

kxanì [kʼanɪ] (Adj). forbidden. ► Fayvrrtep fìtsenge lu kxanì "These demons are forbidden here" (TO).


L [l]

lì’fya [lɪɁ.fja] (N). language. ► eylanur lì’fyayä leNa’vi nìwotx "to all friends of the Na’vi language" (AMFP).

lor [loɾ] (Adj). beautiful, pleasant to the senses. ► lor "beautiful, pleasant to the senses" [in contrast to ↑ sevin] (LL).

lu [lu] (Vin). 1. be (am, are, is; the copula). ► Oeri ta peyä fahew (…) ontu teya längu. "My nose is full of his smell" (LL).


M [m]

ma [ma] (M–). vocative particel in front of the belonging noun. ► Tewti, ma Prrton! "Wow, Prrton!" (LL); Oel ayngati kameie, ma oeyä eylan "I see you, my friends" (AMFP).

[mɪ] (Adp+). in. ► mì sokx "in the body" (or) "in the bodies" (LL).


N [n]

nì’aw [nɪ.Ɂaw] (Adv). only. ► ha nì’aw, pxan livu txo nì’aw oe ngari … "So only, only if I am worthy of you …" (ASG, Hunt Song).

nìltsan [nɪl.ʦan] (Adv). well. ► Plltxe nga nìltsan! "You speak well!" (LL).


NG (= G) [ŋ]

nga [ŋa] (Pron). you (2st person singluar). ► hu nga (or) ngahu "with you"; Plltxe nga nìltsan! "You speak well!" (LL).

ngim [ŋim] (Adv). long (about space). ► ngima kilvan (or) kilvan angim "long river" (LL).


O [o]

oe [o.ɛ] (Pron). I (1st person singluar). ► livu win sì txur oe zene "I must be fast and strong" (ASG, Hunt Song).

  1. oeri [o.ɛ.ɾi] (Ergative:) I, as for me. ► oeri "I-TOP" (LL).

‹ol› [o.l] (Inf 1). to indicate perfective aspect <PFV>. ► tolaron "have hunted" (LL); Neytiril yerikit tolaron "Neytiri hunted a hexapede" (MSNBC).

ontu [on.tu] (N). nose. ► ontu "nose" (LL).


P [p]

peyä [pɛjæ] (Pron). his (, her?) (3st person singluar). ► peyä "his" (LL).

plltxe [pl̩ː.tʼɛ] (V[in/tr?]) speak. ► Plltxe nga nìltsan! "You speak well!" (LL).


R [ɾ]

-ri [ɾi] (M). topic suffix (in case of the word ending on a vocal) [allomorph: -ìri ]. ► oeri "I-TOP" (LL).


S [s]

sevin [sɛ.vin] (Adj) pretty (used only for people, Na’vi or humans). ► sevin "pretty" [in contrast to ↑ lor] (LL).

sokx [sokʼ] (N).tokx. ► sokx "bodies" (LL).


T [t]

taron [ˈta.ɾon] (Vtr). hunt. ► taron "hunt" (LL); Neytiril yerikit tolaron "Neytiri hunted a hexapede" (MSNBC).

tewti [tɛwti] (Idiom). expression of (pleasant) surprise: Wow!. ► Tewti, ma Prrton! "Wow, Prrton!" (LL).

teya [tɛja] (Adj). full (ta … - of …). ► Oeri ta peyä fahew (…) ontu teya längu. "My nose is full of his smell" (LL).

kangkem [tɪ.ˈkaŋ.kɛm] (N.) work. ► Used in the verb tìkangkem si, zene oe 'awsiteng tìkangkem sivi fohu "I must work together with them" (AMFP).

yawn [tɪ.ˈjawn] (N.) love. ► Lì'fyari leNa'vi oel 'efu ayngeyä tìyawnit. "I feel your love for the Na'vi language." (AMFP).

tokx [tokʼ] (N). body (short plural: sokx). ► tokx "body" (LL).

tute [ˈtu.tɛ] (N). person. ► tute "person" (LL).

tute [tu.ˈtɛ] (N). female person. ► tute "female person" (LL).