For our next listening exercise, I’m delighted to present a story written and recorded by Plumps aka Stefan. As you’ll see, it’s about a tì’eylan azey—a special friendship. Fpìl oe, fìvur zayawprrte’ ayngane! Stefan’s reading sounds very much to me like how a Na’vi parent would tell a child a story before bedtime. Listen for colloquial pronunciations like fta for futa and smunge for sämunge. You’ll find the Na’vi text and English translation in the next post.
One new vocabulary item, which I’m sure you’d be able to figure out on your own:
säfrìp (n., sä.FRÌP) ‘a bite’
Enjoy!
And here, as promised, are the Na’vi texts and English translations of Neytiri’s poems, which you listened to last time. Try listening again, this time following the text, to see what you got and what you may have missed.
1
’Orayä tìvawmmì
Snatanhìtsyìp srerew
Äo ’oma paysyul
Pey srakat
In the murkiness of a lake
A cluster of stars dances
Beneath a purple water lily
A dinicthoid waits
2
’Awa slär a wäpan
A teya ta atan
Sì ayngam syananä
Mì swotu
One cave, hidden
Full of light
And the echoes of a waterfall stream
In a sacred place
3
Snautralä aswok
Ayvulit hufwel slayk
Koaktan aho
Fko stolawm
A sacred grove
The wind combs its branches
An old man prays
And is heard
4
Spuwina swaynivi
Palon eo awnga
Leioae si
’Awsiteng
Set mipa swaynivi
Soaiafpi txay
Sä’eoio si
Nìolo’
The old hammock
Burns before us
We pay respect
Together
Now the new hammock
Lies flat for the family
We perform the ritual
As a clan
5
Vultsyìp atsleng
Sìn ìpxayä rìk
Fì’ut ftivem
Tse’a tìngayit
Mìn ìlä ya
Sälatem a’o’
’Oma atan
Tsakrr ìpxat wo
Tätxaw ne rìk
Kllza’u ta’em
Tsurokx yosìn
Tsavultsyìp atsleng
False twig
Upon the leaf of a fern
Pass by it
And see the truth
Turning through the air
An exciting transformation
Magenta light
Then reaching for the fern
It returns to its leaf
Descending from above
To rest upon the surface
The false twig
6
Loreyu
Lora ìheyu
Ìlä ho’on
Kllkxerem
Nìmwey
Zize’ lenomum
Kom ’ivampi
Nolui
’Asap
Beautiful spirals
In a circle
They’re standing
Calmly
A curious wasp
Daring to touch
Messes up
A shock
Hayalovay!
Seysonìltsan, ma Plumps!
Nì’ul, nì’ul! 😀
Nìngay zawprrte’ oene fìvurtsyìp, ma tsmuk. Seysonìltsan! Lu hona nìwotx, ulte sìlpey oe tsnì “hayalo alahe” ziva’u ye’rìn, taluna, na ‘eveng, set new oe ivomum nì’ul tsatì’eylanteri, hehe. Kop, nga poltxe nìlor; na hufwe slä nìlaw mi, fa mokri aprrte’. Irayo seiyi, ma Stefan.
Tstunwi nìtxan! Fula fìvurtsyìp zolawprrte’ ngane oeti ’eykefu nitram. Tìtstunwinga’a aylì’uri ke pxan. Oeru meuia loleiu.
Irayo nìtxan ma Plumps. ayoengeyä tsngalìri, teya seri hu lìfya Na’viyä. 🙂
Sìlpey oe tsnì lilvu fìvurtsyìp tsuktslam nìftue.
Thanks so much for all the great poems and listening exercises lately.
In the German study group “Lerngruppe” we tried to transcribe nawma Neytiri’s poems one by one and it’s been quite challenging, but also a lot of fun and definitely a great practice.
Plumps’ short story is rather challenging again, but mostly because of the speed (plltxe nìwin nìtxan, hrh!)
Looking forward to more, kezemplltxe 😀
Eywa ayngahu 🙂
Fwa oel ngolop tskxekengit a tsari aynga tsarmun siva nì’o’, oeru teya si. Sìlpey oe tsnì ke limvu ngäzìk nìhawng! 🙂