°50a Lì’u Amip! 40 New Words!

Kaltxì, ma frapo! I hope you’re all doing well and enjoying the lead-up to summer. 

It’s been a while. 😄 But it’s good to be back. To start to make up for lost time, here are 40 new words and expressions that I hope you’ll find useful. Some of these were taken from or inspired by the last LEP submission, some were new terms from the wonderful European radio play, and some were just some items I’ve been meaning to share with you.

To begin, here are some terms having to do with unpleasant situations. (I hope you don’t have to use them often!)

’asap (n., ’A.sap) ‘sudden shock’

Fwa tse’a peyä tìfkeytokit lefkrr lolängu oer ’asap nìngay.
‘It was a real shock to me to see him in his current condition.’

’asap si (vin.) ‘be shocked, be startled’

Oe ’asap soli krra tsafmawnit stawm.
’I was startled when I heard the news.’

fe’pey (vin., fe’.PEY, inf. 2, 2) ‘feel dread, expect something bad to happen, fear’

This is the negative counterpart to sìlpey ‘hope.’ When you hope, you expect or wait for something good to happen. When you dread, you expect or wait for something bad.

Krra pähem Sawtute, pxaya Na’vi fe’parmey.
‘When the Sky People arrived, many Na’vi felt dread.’

As with sìlpey, we use tsnì ‘that’ to talk about feeling dread or fearing that something bad will or won’t happen:

Po fe’poley tsnì ’itan sneyä tìfmetokit ke emzìyeva’u.
‘He feared his son might not pass the test.’

ketrìp (adj., KET.rìp) ‘unfortunate, inauspicious’
This is obviously the opposite of etrìp ‘favorable, auspicious.’

Nga ketrìpa krr zola’u; Ralu set sti ulte ke new ngahu pivängkxo.
‘You came at the wrong time; Ralu is angry and won’t speak with you.’

txansngum (n., txan.SNGUM) ‘desperation; feeling of great worry’

txansngum si (vin.) ‘feel desperate’

Ke lu syuve ulte tute apxay txansngum si.
‘There is no food, and many people are desperate.’

tskawr (vin.) ‘limp’

Oel tseri futa nga tskawr. Srake ngal venut tìsraw seykoli?
’I see you’re limping. Did you hurt your foot?’

txavä’ (adj., txa.VÄ’) ‘disgusting’

This general term derives from txanvä’ ‘unpleasant to the senses,’ where over time the n of txan has dropped. But as in English, its use is wider than just for sensory perception. 

Lu tsakem txavä’, ma tsmuk.
‘That’s disgusting, bro.’ 

On to less negative things:

nìflä (adv., nì.FLÄ) ‘successfully’

Soleia! Ngal tìfmetokit emzola’u nìflä! Seykxel sì nitram!
‘You rose to the challenge! You passed the test successfully! Congratulations!’

A few more words incorporating txan:

txantsawl (adj., TXAN.tsawl) ‘giant, huge’

txasunu (vin., txa.SU.nu) ‘love greatly, enjoy tremendously’

While in English you can love your spouse and also love hamburgers, in Na’vi the words are different. For the former, we of course use yawne plus the dative, as in Nga yawne lu oer ‘I love you.’ For the other kind of love:

Txasunu oeru teylu!
‘I really love teylu!’

As you’ve seen by now, words incorporating txan are somewhat unpredictable as to stress (txantsawl but txansngum) and whether or not the n drops (txantsawl but txavä’). So you have to pay attention to each new word!

zeykoyu (n., zey.KO.yu) ‘healer’

Fì’umtsat tolìng ’evengur aspxin zeykoyul a txanro’a.
‘This medicine was given to the sick child by a famous healer.’

tìranpam (n., tì.RAN.pam) ‘footstep (sound)’

Oel stawm sìranpamit! Lerok tuteo!
‘I hear footsteps! Someone is coming!’

ftuopa (adp-; FTU.o.pa) ’from behind’

Sroler fwäkì ftuopa tskxe.
‘A mantis appeared from behind a rock.’

fyeng (adj.) ‘steep’

Nari si! Fayramtsyìp lu fyeng.
’Be careful! These hills are steep.’

kavan (vtr., KA.van, inf. 1, 2) ’support (physically)’

Fol karmavan koaktet tengkrr fmeri po tivìran.
’They supported the old woman as she was trying to walk.’

lepxìmrun (adj., le,PXÌM.run) ‘common, often found’

kelpxìmrun (adj., kel,PXÌM.run) ‘rare’

These two adjectives clearly derive from pxìm ‘often’ and run ‘find.’

zung (vin.) ‘crouch’

Zolung ayoe nekll fteke ayioang tsivun ayoeti tsive’a.
‘We crouched down so that the animals wouldn’t be able to see us.’

fpivìl (intj., fpi.VÌL) ‘hmm, let’s see, let me think’

This useful conversational expression translates the ubiquitous “Hmm” in English, where you’re thinking about or considering what’s just been said. Literally, of course, it means “Let (me) think.”

Fpivìl . . . Kxawm ngaru tìyawr.
‘Hmm . . . Perhaps you’re right.’

kom (vin. modal) ‘dare’

Syntactically, kom behaves like tsun and var—that is, it functions as a modal and requires the subjunctive (<iv>) form of following verb:

Oe ke kom kivä.
‘I don’t dare to go.’

Nga kom pivlltxe oehu tsafya srak?
‘You dare to speak to me like that?’

Note that in English, “dare” sometimes takes an object: “I dare you to tell him what you really think!” But that’s a different verb in Na’vi, something like “challenge,” which we’ll discuss another time.

mam (vtr.) ‘wrap’

Fìsräti pxaw sey mivam fte tsat hivawnu.
‘Wrap this cloth around the bowl to protect it.’

nìtxukx (adv., nì.TXUKX) ‘deeply’

The adverbial form of txukx is used both literally and metaphorically, as in English.

Poanit tsolukx poel fa tstal nìtxukx nemfa heyr.
‘She stabbed him deeply in the chest with a knife.’

Fìtìpawmteri fparmìl oe nìtxukx, slä vay set ke rolängun tì’eyngit.
‘I’ve thought about this question deeply, but I’m sad to say I haven’t yet found the answer.’

Two verbs related to yom:

yomvey (vin., yom.VEY, inf. 1,1) ‘dine on flesh, be carnivorous’

Palukantsyìp yomvey nìwotx.
‘All cats are carnivorous.’

Contrast this last example with:

Fìpalukantsyìpìl yom veyti fratrr.
‘This cat eats meat every day.’

yomzeswa (vin., yom.ZE.swa, inf. 1,1) ‘graze’

Snayerik yeromzeswa mì tayo.
‘A herd of hexapedes are grazing in the field.’

Again, contrast this intransitive example with a transitive sentence like:

Torukìl ke yom zeswat.
‘A toruk doesn’t eat grass.’

raw (adp-) ‘down to’

Kolä oe raw kilvan fte ivaho.
‘I went down to the river to pray.’

Kllza’u yìraw amuve.
‘Descend to the second level.’

You can also use raw for counting down to some number:

Tiam ta vomrr raw pxey.
‘Count down from thirteen to three.’

txap (vtr.) ‘press, press on, apply pressure to’

Txap skxirit fteke reypay wrrziva’u.
‘Apply pressure to the wound so that the blood won’t flow.’

Derived noun:

tìtxap (n., tì.TXAP) ‘pressure’

Note: This word is used only for physical pressure, not psychological or social pressure.

Two nouns related to the verb emkä ‘cross’:

semkä (n., sem.KÄ) ‘bridge’

As you can guess, this word is derived from sä’o ‘tool’ plus emkä, where the expected form *säemkä has evolved naturally into semkä.

emkäfya (n., em.KÄ.fya) ‘ford, crossing’

Fìtseng payfya virä ka ngip areng, ha tsun awnga tsat sivar sko emkäfya.
Here the stream spreads over a shallow area, so we can use it as a ford.

fil (n.) ‘child’s toy, plaything’

sunkesun (adv., SUN.ke.sun) ‘like it or not’

This is obviously a shortened form of sunu ke sunu. The default addressee is “you”:

Sunkesun po slayu olo’eyktan.
‘Whether you like it or not, he’s going to become chief.’

If the “like it or not” is not addressed to the listener, we need to use a different construction:

Pol vìyewng ayevengit fìha’ngir, ftxey sunu fuke.
He is going to take care of the children this afternoon, whether he likes it or not.’

maitan (ph., ma.I.tan) ‘my son (form of address)’

maite (ph., ma.I.te) ‘my daughter (form of address)’

These two words are clearly contractions of ma ’itan and ma ’ite and are used in casual conversation as affectionate forms of address, rather like the Spanish mijo (from mi hijo, ‘my son’) and mija (from mi hija, ‘my daughter’).

Maitan za’u fìtseng.
‘Come here, son.’

And now for a little surprise.  😊

loho (vin., LO.ho) ‘be surprising’

The one who is surprised—that is, the experiencer—is in the dative:

Täftxutswo Riniyä loho oer nìtxan.
‘Rini’s ability to weave surprises me a lot.’

Fo tsìk sroler a fi’u loloho poanur.
OR
Loloho poanur fwa fo tsìk sroler.
‘It surprised him that they suddenly appeared.’

Derivations:

tìloho (n., tì.LO.ho) ‘surprise’

A. Epxangmì lu ’upe?
     ‘What’s in the stone jar?’
B. Tìloho.
     ‘It’s a surprise.’

nìloho (adv., nì.LO.ho) ‘surprisingly’

Poltxe po nìloho san oe zasya’u.
‘Surprisingly, he said he would come.’

And two astronomical terms:

Tsawkenay (n., tsaw.ke.NAY) ‘Alpha Centauri B’

Tawsnrrtsyìp (n., taw.SNRR.tsyìp) ‘Alpha Centauri C aka Proxima Centauri’

As you may know, the Alpha Centauri system contains three stars: A, the largest and brightest; B, somewhat smaller and dimmer; and C, also known as Proxima Centauri, a much smaller and dimmer star that’s actually the closest star to Earth after the sun.

There’s a good diagram of the relative sizes here (scroll down):

What do the Na’vi call these stars?

A is simply the familiar Tsawke.

B is Tsawkenay. Recall that the stressed -nay suffix creates new nouns that are a step down in some relevant hierarchy—size, rank, accomplishment—from the base noun. Here, Alpha Centauri B is the “Deputy Sun,” since it’s a step down in brightness compared to A.

As for C, litte Proxima Centauri, the Na’vi don’t think of it as a sun at all but rather as the little lamp in the sky, Tawsnrrtsyìp, from taw ‘sky’ + sänrr ‘lamp’ + tsyìp ‘diminutive.’

Colloquially, Tawsnrrtsyìp is often shortened to Snrrtsyìp.

Finally, I want to introduce you to the important word

kuru (n., KU.ru) ‘neural queue’

You’re already familiar with the word tswin, which also refers to the neural queue. For now, we can consider the words to be interchangeable synonyms. It’s possible, however, that as time goes on we’ll be able to pinpoint a difference between the two. If and when that occurs, I’ll be sure to update you. 

I have a number of grammatical questions I want to address along with more new vocabulary, so I’ll be in touch again soon.

In the meantime, I hope everyone in Munich is having a fantastic time! Vergnügt euch!

Hayalovay,

ta Pawl

Edit 6 June: Formatting problems fixed. Irayo nìtxan, ma Eana Unil!
Edit 6 June: frato–>frapo, mam (vin.) –> mam (vtr.) Irayo ngar, ma Vawmataw!
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35 Responses to °50a Lì’u Amip! 40 New Words!

  1. Eana Unil says:

    Kaltxì ma karyu! Aylì’uri sì postìri amip irayo nìtxan!

    As for the messed up way of posting/formatting, you might want to look into a plugin by WordPress called “Classic Editor”, it will give you back the old (and imo better) ways to format text.

    Hope you might find this helpful 🙂

    Zìskrrsom atxantsan ngaru ulte Eywa ngahu liyevu!

  2. Txawey says:

    Kaltxì ma karyu ulte postìri ngeyä seiyi irayo!

    If I may suggest a possible difference between *kuru* and *tswin*, I had considered that possibly kuru refers to all forms of neural queues, whether animal or Na’vi, while tswin is specifically for the Na’vi neural queue. I am curious what you think about this.

    sìlpey oe tsnì ngari fra’u zo frakrr ulte kiyevame,
    Txawey

    • Pawl says:

      Nìprrte’, ma Txawey. And thanks for the idea. I was thinking along those lines myself. Alternatively, it could be the other way around–tswin could be the more general term, while kuru could be reserved for the Na’vi queue. I’ll have to check into that. (Some decisions need the approval of Higher Powers. 😄 )

      • Txawey says:

        Fair enough XD Though I think we do know that kuru is used in the case of at least the ikran from Tsu’tey’s Path iirc.

        new oe pivlltxe fayluta txasunu oeru tsamelì’u alu Tsawkenay sì Tawsnrrtsyìp nìteng! 😀
        -Txawey

  3. Vawmataw says:

    Kaltxì ma Karyu Pawl,

    Tsoleri oel mekeyeyt. 😛
    Nì’awve: *Kaltxì, ma frato!”
    Nìmuve:
    mam(vin.) ‘wrap’

    Fìsräti pxaw sey mivam fte tsat hivawnu.
    ‘Wrap this cloth around the bowl to protect it.’

    I guess mam is vtr. and not vin.?

    Ngian fìpostìri irayo seiyi ngaru!

  4. Wllìm says:

    Kaltxì ma Pawl. Tok oel *Munhen-it set aylapohu, ulte lu fìtsawlultxa txantsan. Mipa aylì’uri lesar, irayo nìtxan!

  5. Wind12 says:

    Mipa aylì’uri, Irayo nìtxan. Faylì’u txansunu oeru nìwotx. Sìlpey tsnì ngaru livu txantsana zìskrrsom.

  6. Tekre says:

    Kaltxì ma Pawl,
    nìkeftxo oe ke tsun ziva’u ne Munchen hufwa kelku si oe Toitslanmì, slä fwa ngal ayoet aylì’uru amip tolìng oeru teya si!
    Irayo nìtxan!

  7. Eìrä says:

    Kaltxì ma karyu Pawl Frommer sì frapo!
    Irayo nìtxan ma karyu Pawl! I will learn these words! 😉
    I also keep following the news about Avatar 2 and all the sequels! Oe ‘efu nìtram ma eylan! Ta: Eìrä

    • Pawl says:

      Irayo nìtxan, ma Eìrä. I hope you enjoy learning and using these words. (And the sequels are going to be great!)

      • Eìrä says:

        Nìprrte’ nìtxan, ma Karyu!
        I will learn them and i will use these new words!
        Can’t wait for the sequels and i’m sure they will be great!

  8. Eìrä says:

    I also want to tell that sadly i cannot com:oe to an AvatarMeet yet! This is sad, but txopu rä’ä sivi! Until then i will pe prepared for everything!

    • Pawl says:

      It was a pleasure for me to Skype with the people at the Munich AvatarMeet on Saturday. Sorry you couldn’t be there . . . but maybe next time!

      • Eìrä says:

        Tewti! Im glad for you, nìtxan!

        Srane, maybe next time will be better! Anywhere, i’m watching at the news about Avatar movie and sequels, plus meetings! 😉

  9. Neytiri says:

    Kosman! Faylì’uri lesar irayo nìtxan. Txasunu oeru pum alu loho! 🙂

    Txeleteri alu kuru/tswin…
    Perhaps kuru refers to the neural tendrils plus the tube of skin that sheaths them, while tswin is specifically Na’vi because it refers to all that plus the braid. Or maybe tswin can just be the generic word for the organ used for connecting to Eywa/each other, meaning all creatures have a tswin of some kind (even zize’), while a kuru is the sheath that big creatures like ikran and pa’li have around their tswin…

    • Pawl says:

      Fula sunu ngar faylì’u amip oeti nitram ‘eykefu, ma Ney.

      And thanks for the interesting suggestions about kuru. I checked “Tsu’tey’s Path,” which is now canon, and there’s a line that says, “Tsu’tey’s kuru bonds with the direhorse’s kuru . . .” That would be consistent with your idea that big creatures have a kuru, and also with the idea that tswin might be specifically Na’vi. But as I said, I’ll need to check into this further.

  10. Plumps (sgm) says:

    Kaltxì ma Karyu Pawl,

    txantsan fwa inan postìt a ngata nìmun. Tolätxaw nìprrte’. Mipa faylì’uri atxantsan irayo ngaru nìtxan.

    Mipa lì’u alu loho txasunu oer nìzey nìpxi. Tsafnelì’uri ayoe parmey txankrr.

    Ke tsolun oe ’ivì’awn Uniltìrantokxä Tsawlultxaro a mì München a fì’uri ’olefängu keftxo nì’aw. Slä tsatìlen lamu ’o’ nìtxan. Sästarsìm alu Toruk loleiu ’o’ ulte fwa ultxa si sì pängkxo hu Ralu alu Jeremiah lu txina tì’o’ nì’aw. 🙂

    • Pawl says:

      Faylì’uri atìtstunwinga’ irayo, ma tsmuk. Furia sunu ngar aylì’fyavi amip oe ’efu nitram nìngay.

      Ulte fwa tsolun nga pivängkxo hu Ralu alu Jeremiah lu kosman nì’aw! Keftxo fwa Torukìri syena säwìntxu za’u ye’rìn.

  11. Tomke "Tsawlen" Müller says:

    Kaltxì ma Karyu anawm,
    ‘awvea ngaytxoa taluna oe pamrel soli hawngkrr.
    mawkrra oe tolätxaw munichftu oeyä oe holahaw txankrr taluna oe ‘efu ngeyn nìtxan, hrh!
    Ayli’uìri amip oe ngaru irayo seiyi. Oel sasyar pumit pxìm!

    Ta Tomke

    • Pawl says:

      Kea tìngäzìk, ma Tomke. Sìlpey oe, tsatsawlultxa a mì Munhen zilvawprrte’ ngane nìwotx!

      Ulte aylì’uti amip sivar nìprrte’.

  12. Eìrä says:

    Kaltxì nìmun! 😀 Ma Karyu Pawl, i read about kuru, pretty long time ago, and i really asked myself what means “kuru” and what kind of connection can be bewteen “kuru” and “tswin”! I also read what Neytiri writed here! I didn’t read yet the Tsu’Tey’s Path, but i heared of it! I think i will read it too!

  13. Kaltxì ma karyu Pawl ulte faylì’uri amip irayo si ngaru oe nìtxan.

    ‘eveng te atan (Andi)

  14. Ftxozä says:

    Kaltxì !

    This is a very late reply to this post, but concerning “maite” and “maitan” ( ‘ite & ‘itan) is the gender neutral term: ‘itu ?

    in English, I suppose we use “child” as a gender neutral term. Which in Na’vi is ‘eveng where ‘evengan and ‘evenge translate as Boy & Girl, but in terms of Offspring (the child of Jake & Neytiri for example) would ‘itu be the root word? (Likely also translated as child)

    Irayo!

  15. Zángtsuva says:

    The example sentence for «mam» is interesting. For some reason I would have expected «fìsräfa seyti mivam». Is it like the English verb “wrap” in that either the wrapper or the contents can be the direct object, or is it always the wrapper (or is this another mixup as with «fpap»)? Is there a simpler way to say for example “wrapped food” than «syuve a tsapxaw fko mam»?

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