Barter and Exchange

Kaltxì, ma eylan.

Well, 2014 has gotten off to a slow start for me. But here’s a brief post, just under the wire for February, with more to follow soon.

This post introduces an important new word: yoa.

yoa (adp-, YO.a) ‘in exchange for’

Yoa is an adp-, i.e. an adposition that does not trigger lenition, used to describe an exchange of items. In particular, it’s used in talking about trade—trading X for Y. The verbs we typically find in yoa sentences are those relevant for giving (tìng), receiving (tel), getting or acquiring (kanom), offering (stxenutìng), accepting (mll’an), etc.

A few examples contributed by the LEP will make the use of yoa clear:

Oel tolìng ngaru tsnganit yoa fkxen.
‘I gave you meat in exchange for vegetables.’ OR ‘I traded you meat for vegetables.’

Fol kolanom pota aysrokit fayoangyoa.
‘They acquired beads from him in exchange for fish.’ OR ‘They bartered fish with him for beads.’

Tayel Tsenul pxeswizawti yoa munsnahawnven.
‘Tsenu will receive three arrows in exchange for a pair of shoes.’

The next two examples are a bit more complicated.

Here, one of the “items” participating in the exchange is in fact an action performed by someone—that is, a clause:

Käsrolìn oel nikroit Peyralur yoa fwa po rol oer.
I loaned Peyral a hair ornament in exchange for her singing to me.’

And this example merits careful examination:

Futa ngata tel pxenyoa srät, mll’eian oel.
‘I’m happy to take cloth from you for finished garments.’

(Question: If A = agent, P = patient or object, and V = verb, what’s the basic word order of this sentence—APV, AVP, PAV, PVA, VAP, or VPA?)

Here ’Rrtamì we can adapt kanom + yoa in a natural way to talk about buying things. After all, when you purchase something, what are you doing but acquiring it in exchange for money? All we need are some loan words for earthly currency:

txolar (n., TXO.lar) ‘dollar’

ewro (n., EW.ro) ‘euro’

Poel hawre’tsyìpit kolanom yoa txolar amevol.
‘She bought a little cap for $16.’

Kìmanom oel mipa eltut lefngap yoa ewro.
‘I just bought a new computer.’

In the previous example, note that even when you don’t specify how much you paid, you still need to mention that you acquired the item in exchange for some kind of currency.

Finally, here’s a little listening exercise. I recently composed a short paragraph in Na’vi for a special occasion. Listen and see if you can figure out what the occasion was.

You’ll need to know one new word:

lawnol (n., LAW.nol) ‘great joy’


Hayalovay!

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10 Responses to Barter and Exchange

  1. SGM (Plumps) says:

    Ma Karyu,

    furia lolu ngar kì’onga sngä’ikrr zìsìtä, txe’lan mawey livu. Ayoe tsun maweypivey 😉

    Set, ayoel tìmeiel fìtxan lesara aylì’ut amip yoa tìmweypey (luke txolar fu ewro 😛 ). Tsakemìl tìng oer lawnolit.

  2. Tìtstewan says:

    Txantsana fmawn ulte irayo seiyi nìtxan!

    Fìlì’u alu ewro eltur tìtxen si.

  3. Blue Elf says:

    Mipa aylì’u maw txana krr 🙂
    Säftxulì’uri a yune awngal fpìl oel futa fkol parmeng tsaylì’ut mì sìmuntxa fu stenga ftxozä, srak?

  4. Tanri says:

    Aylì’uri amip irayo seiyi ngar oe, ma Karyu!
    ’Upxarel ngeyä tìng awngar tìtsunslut a plltxe teri ’u apxay nì’ul. Ayu alu txolar fu ewro lu apxa hapxì tìreyä fìtseng alu ’Rrtaro, ha kosman lu fwa tsun livawk sat nìNa’vi.
    Säftxulì’uri a syen, ke smon oer fìmesute a muntxa si ;), slä pereng oe mefor san Seykxel sì nitram ulte rìyevey mengenga ’awsiteng tì’i’avay krrä sìk.

    • Pawl says:

      Irayo nìtxan, ma Tanri. Furia mì fìpostì a aylì’u lesar livu lì’fyaolo’ru, efu oe nitram nì’aw.

      Sìlpey oe, tsamesutel a muntxa soli ngeyä aylì’ut alor tsìyeve’a. ’Awpo a mefokip tsulfätu leiu lì’fyayä leNa’vi. 😉

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