Word Order Restrictions

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While Na'vi is usually described as having free word order, there are nonetheless some restrictions to know about.

  • Ke must always go directly before the verb, kea must go before its noun.
  • Attributive/non-predicative adjectives must either go directly before or directly after the noun they describe. You can use both kawnga tute and tute akawng.
  • Possessives/genitives must either go before directly before or directly after their possessed noun, except that an adjective describing the noun may come in between if necessary:
oeyä 'eylan = 'eylan oeyä,
oeyä sìltsana 'eylan = 'eylan asìltsan oeyä
  • Ma must go directly before the name who is being addressed.
  • Srak(e) may (as far as I know) only go either at the very beginning or very end of a yes/no question.
  • The words ko and nang must only go at the end of the sentence.
  • Modal verbs can only come somewhere before the secondary verb; the secondary verb cannot happen somewhere before the modal:
nga yivom tsun = wrong
tsun nga yivom / nga tsun yivom / tsun yivom nga = correct forms.
  • The topical must come at the beginning of the clause (though there seems to be an exception in song, in the Hunt Song, pxan livu txo nì'aw oe ngari...).