Zìsìt Amip Lefpom, ma eylan! Happy New Year, friends!

Hum zìsìt alal, pähem pum amip. Yo’kofya atì’iluke. (See below.) Let’s hope 2018 proves to be a healthy, happy, and fulfilling year for all of us.

To start things off, a few new vocabulary items:

yo’kofya (n., YO’.ko.fya) ‘cycle’

From yo’ko ‘circle’ + fya’o ‘path, way.’

tì’iluke (adj., tì.I.lu.ke) ‘endless, never-ending’

This word is derived from tì’i’a ‘ending, conclusion’ and luke ‘without.’ The original word *tì’i’aluke contracted to tì’iluke over time. As you know, we already have a word meaning endless or boundless, txewluke. Although tì’iluke and txewluke overlap to a certain extent, tì’iluke usually has more of a temporal sense, describing something that goes on and on continually without end. A long, boring speech that seems endless, for example, would be described as tì’iluke.

txanso’hayu (n., txan.SO’.ha.yu) ‘fan, enthusiast’

The derivation is straightforward: txan ‘much’ + so’ha ‘be enthusiastic about’ + -yu ‘agentive suffix.’ A shorter, more colloquial form of the word is simply so’yu.

Lu pxaya txanso’hayu tsarelä arusikx alu Uniltìrantokx kifkeyka nìwotx.
‘There are many fans of Avatar all over the world.’

’oktrr (n., ’OK.trr) ‘day of commemoration’

We already have the familiar, general word ftxozä meaning ‘celebration,’ which can be used in a wide variety of situations. But there are also words for more specific kinds of celebrations. ’Oktrr, literally ‘remembrance day,’ is used for any kind of commemorative anniversary, not necessarily a yearly one. To specifically refer to a yearly anniversary, we have:

zìsìtsaltrr (n., zì.sìt.SAL.trr) ‘(yearly) anniversary’

The derivation is zìsìt + sal(ew) + trr, i.e., ‘year-pass day.’ Colloquially, this becomes:

zìtsaltrr (n., zìt.SAL.trr or zì.TSAL.trr) ‘(yearly) anniversary’

(Note: I’ve hedged on the syllabification here, since I think it’s likely that the original t+s combination, in consecutive syllables, would coalesce into the ts phoneme. In actual speech, I doubt the two possibilities could be distinguished.)

Zìtsaltrrìri tìmuntxayä aylrrtok!
‘Happy anniversary (of your marriage)!’

The following new words and examples are based on some excellent suggestions from the LEP. Irayo nìfrakrr, ma smuk!

tsukx (vtr.) ‘stab’

The LEP members explained: “This word [is] used much the same way as it is in English. Literal usage would be reserved for knives/spears/etc. but poetic/figurative usage is allowable (‘Her words stabbed my heart like a knife).”

Neytiril nantangit tsolukx fte peyä tìsrawti ’eykivi’a.
‘Neytiri stabbed the viperwolf to end its pain.’

ripx (vtr.) ‘pierce’

Lu Neytiriru ’awa mikyun arawnipx nì’aw.
Neytiri has only one pierced ear.

sävll (n., sä.VLL) ‘sign, indication, signal’

This of course is derived from the verb vll ‘indicate, point at.’ As the LEP members pointed out, the difference between sävll and aungia is that the latter word, meaning ‘sign, omen’ and which we’re familiar with from the movie, has more of a mystical or spiritual sense to it, as in aungia a ta Eywa. Sävll, on the other hand, simply says that A indicates B:

Kxener lu sävll txepä.
Smoke is a sign/an indication that there is fire.

Mì sangek a sävllit ngolop eykyul tarponguä.
The sign on the tree trunk was made by the leader of the hunting party.

I have quite a few more excellent suggestions from the LEP. These will be coming in future posts.

Hayalovay!

Edit Jan. o1: mìkyun –> mikyun. Irayo, ma Ney.
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30 Responses to Zìsìt Amip Lefpom, ma eylan! Happy New Year, friends!

  1. SGM (Plumps) says:

    Mipa zìsìt lefpom ngaru nìteng!

    Kosman fwa omum futa ngaru lu fpom ulte mipa aylì’uri irayo nìtxan!

    Lì’ukìngvi alu zìsìt amip lefpom eltur oeyä tìtxen si. Srake lu srey apup ta zìsìt amip livu lefpom? Fu srake tsunslu fwa yem mesyonlì’ut uo tstxolì’u?

    • Kawnu says:

      Tseri oel tsat ulte newomum nìteng

    • Pawl says:

      Kaltxì, ma Stefan! Fìtìpawmìri akosman irayo. Kehe, ketsunslu fwa yem mesyonlì’ut uo tstxolì’u. 🙂 Nìfkeytongay, tsapxelì’u alu zìsìt amip lefpom ke lu tstxolì’ukìngvi. Ngeyä ’en a’awve lu eyawr. Lu srey apup ta Ngari zìsìt amip livu lefpom.

      tstxolì’ukìngvi (n., tstxo.LÌ.’u.kìng.vi) ‘noun phrase’

      A noun phrase is a phrase whose pivotal or central word is a noun. Such a phrase (with the appropriate case endings) can be used as the subject or object of a verb. Examples:

      • fkxile
      • lora fkxile
      • fkxile alor
      • lora fkxile a ngolop oeyä tsmukanìl alu Txewì

  2. Vawmataw says:

    Mipa zìsìtìri livu aylrrtok ngaru ma Karyu Pawl!
    Faylì’uri irayo seiyi ngaru. Sunu oer ulte lesar si.

  3. Neytiri says:

    Mipa Zìsìt Lefpom! Fìpostìri irayo, ma Karyu. Aylì’u lesar. 🙂

    ‘Awa kxeyeytsyìp: mìkyun -> mikyun. 😉

  4. Wind12 says:

    Irayo nítxan fpi mipa aylí’u. Sílpey tsní ngaru livu kosman mipa zísít.
    Faylí’u lu sävll a lí’fya leNa’vi sleru ‘ul hoet. Tsa’u lu síltsan níngay. Trro, oe Sílpey tsní tsivun pivlltxe níNa’vi níngay 🙂

  5. Blue Elf says:

    Ma Pawl, mipa zìsìt lefpom nìteng!
    Mipa aylì’uri irayo si ulte lu oeru tìpawm:
    which of ‘aungia’ and ‘sävll’ is better to use for English word ‘flag’ (on flagpole)? Aungia doesn’t fit here and I’m not sure about ‘sävll’ too.

    • Tirea Aean says:

      I’m thinking, perhaps sävll txanlokxeyä?

    • Pawl says:

      Ma Blue Elf, ma Tirea: “Flag” is another one of the many objects we might want to talk about in Na’vi but that don’t exist on Pandora. (Or perhaps I’m wrong? Does anyone recall from the movie whether there are banners of any sort flown either by the Omatikaya or another tribe?) As you noted, B.E., aungia doesn’t fit, since it’s an omen of some kind. And although your suggestion gets across the purpose of a flag, T.A., it doesn’t convey the sense of a physical object. If we were to coin something appropriate in Na’vi, it should probably have as one of its components srä ‘cloth.’ But I’m leaning towards treating “flag” the way “book” and “gunship” were treated–that is, as borrowed English words filtered through the Na’vi sound system. In this case it could be fläkx. What do you think?

      • Vawmataw says:

        A flag is also an object that identifies or represents a country or a people. I guess a word for that would help introduce the context to the Na’vi community. Otherwise, I feel like a separate loanword could be appropriate for this specific concept.

        • Vawmataw says:

          >I guess a word for that would help introduce the context to the Na’vi community.
          I meant a word for symbol or something similar.

      • Blue Elf says:

        What I meant is something like flag in nautical alphabet or flag at the ship mast with sign of the ship owner. So I mean physical thing and srä looks like good base. Flag could be then defined like ‘band or stripe of cloth’, what creates need for Na’vi term for ‘band, stripe, belt’ 🙂 This term is generic enough to exist in Na’vi, I think.

        • 'Eylan Ayfalulukanä says:

          The ‘flag’ discussion is interesting and topical, as I had a chance last summer to translate something that had to do with flags, and the interesting term vexiologist came up, which means ;one who studies flags’. That same translation project also involved some mathematic ratios of area, which thankfully you have covered in the past 🙂

          I’m trying to think of where we saw any kind of a banner in the movie. It might have been in the scene where Jake and Grace were tied up for execution. There might have been a brief glimpse of one in the scenes of the other tribes. But since we know the Omakataya especially, are into textiles, the presence of flags or banners makes cultural sense. We also have , frm the ASG, u’imi, which means ‘streamer’. I have also used this word for ‘tape’.

      • Blue Elf says:

        Thinking more about sävll, I see it must be usable for physical things too, based on this example:
        Mì sangek a sävllit ngolop eykyul tarponguä.
        The sign on the tree trunk was made by the leader of the hunting party.

        Sign on the tree is probably cropped bark, broken branch etc., so it must be physical thing to be visible, isn’t it?

  6. Sasa says:

    Bonne année et surtout bonne santé

    May I hope a word for freedom?

    Sasa

    • Pawl says:

      Merci, Sasa! Et bonne année et bonne santé à vous aussi.

      “Freedom” is an important concept for which we don’t yet have a suitable Na’vi term. Let me think about that. 🙂

      • Marlon Ribeiro says:

        Kaltxì ma frapo. Lu oe zìma’utu. Oer syaw fko nìNa’vi “Nolram”. I think it might be interesting to make a distinction among three kinds of freedom. 1) when someone is able to move or to do anything freely as they please, without any hindrance or prohibition. 2) when someone was previously captive, a prisoner and they set him or her free. 3) when an animal or something is allowed to act on their own without any human/Na’vi intervention. Säkanfpìlìri irayo seiyi oe ulte Eywa ayngahu nìwotx!

  7. Tanri says:

    Txo mipa zìsìt sngerä’i fa ’upxare a ngata, ma Karyu, layu sìltsana zìsìt. 🙂
    Livu ngaru fpom frakrr ulte Eywa lrrtok siyevi!

    • Haya says:

      Kaltxì Pawl I’m learning the language and can you give me tips and advices to how to learn Na’vi?

      In addition I’m writing a book about what happened after the first avatar. https://my.w.tt/nwJlP9y4kY
      I will appreciate if you will read it.

  8. 'Eylan Ayfalulukanä says:

    Here’s a general question about zìsìt ‘year’, and related to the new terms you have introduced. Is this term related to the Na’vi year (which would be hard to define because Pandora is the moon of a gas giant, and presumably has a rapid orbit. Other indications must exist for a longer time period, such as star pattern alignment.), or to the ‘Rrtan year? Do you have any more background on zìsìt, or any of its related terms?

  9. Tstewlor says:

    Kaltxì ma Karyu Pawl! I am a slightly new learner who’s been on here for about a month now. I was wondering if maybe, just maybe, I could take a lesson on Na’vi from the best there is? It would be an honor is you agreed, especially since I have been wanting to find a way to communicate with you. Irayo!
    Tstsewlor

  10. Haya says:

    Kaltxì Pawl I’m learning the language and can you give me tips and advices to how to learn Na’vi?

    In addition I’m writing a book about what happened after the first avatar. https://my.w.tt/nwJlP9y4kY
    I will appreciate if you will read it.

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