Tìpusawm, Tì’useyng, sì ’Okvur a Eltur Tìtxen Si—Asking, Answering, and an Interesting Story

Kxì ma frapo,

Today’s post has three things I hope will be of interest: first, a discussion about asking and answering; next, a (possibly) new way of asking about someone’s well-being; and finally, another contest-winning entry.

Asking and Answering

Through some private discussions, I realized it might be a good idea to summarize some of the grammatical structures related to asking and answering questions in Na’vi. There’s not a lot of new information here, but I hope that collecting it all in one place will be useful.

pawm (vtr., vin.) ‘ask’

Pawm is both a transitive and an intransitive verb.

Transitive use:

Pol polawm tìpawmit.
‘He asked a question.’

The only thing you ever ask is a question, so the object of transitive pawm is always tìpawmit. But that word can be modified:

Pol polawm tìpawmit angäzìk.
‘He asked a difficult question.’

Pol polawm tìpawmit a eltur tìtxen si.
‘He asked an interesting question.’

Pol polawm tenga tìpawmit a li oel palmawm trram.
‘He asked the same question that I had already asked yesterday.’

And note:

Pol polawm tìpawmit oeta.
‘He asked me a question.’

We use ta here rather than the dative case (oeru). Think of asking as a request for something from someone.

Intransitive use:

Po polawm san srake Ralu holum.
‘He asked, “Did Ralu leave?”’ OR ‘He asked if/whether Ralu left.’

Alternatively, san . . . sìk in the above sentence may be omitted, with the same meanings:

Po polawm, Srake Ralu holum?

Po polawm oeta san srake Ralu holum.
‘He asked me whether Ralu left.’

A: Mefo muntxa slolu srak?
‘Did they get married?’
B: Oe ke polawm.
‘I didn’t ask.’

Txo nga ke ivomum, pawm oeta.
‘If you don’t know, ask me.’
 

’eyng (vin.) ‘answer, respond, respond to’

Unlike pawm, ’eyng is always used intransitively. So the “object” of ‘answer’ is in the topical:

Oeyä tipawmìri po ’oleyng.
‘He answered my question.’

Other examples:

Ngeyä tìleymìri Eywa ’oleyng.
‘Eywa has answered your call.’

Sìpawmìri sneyä aynumeyuä karyu ’eyng.
‘The teacher responds to his students’ questions.’

Karyu ’eyng sneyä aynumeyur.
‘The teacher responds to his students.’

’Eyng oeru set!
‘Answer me now!’

Tsatìpawmit oel alo amrr polawm, slä po ke ’oleyng.
‘I asked the question five times, but he didn’t answer.’

Now for the conversational expression:

We’re all very familiar with Ngaru lu fpom srak? as a polite conversational formula for asking about someone’s well-being. Along these lines, there’s another useful question, which you might anticipate from makto zong—literally, ‘ride safely,’ which uses zong ‘save’ as a shorthand expression for nìzawnong ‘safely,’ an adverb that obviously comes from zong. In conversation, it means ‘Take care,’ ‘Travel safe,’ ‘Stay well,’ etc. The related question is:

Makto fyape?

Literally, this means ‘How ride?’, or in better English, ‘How’s the riding?’ The difference between this and Ngaru lu fpom srak? is that Makto fyape? is more general. It doesn’t necessarily ask about you yourself but rather about your whole situation, corresponding to colloquial English questions like “How are things?” “How’s everything going?” “How are you doing?”

Responses are often single adverbs, such as:

Zong.                ‘Well.’ (Again, short for nìzawnong, implying ‘Everything’s OK.’)
Nìltsan.            ‘Well.’
Nìksman.        ‘Wonderfully.’
Nìksran.          ‘So-so.’
Nìfe’.                 ‘Badly.’
Nìfpxamo.      ‘Terribly, horribly.’
Etc.

A typical little dialog:

A: Makto fyape?
B: Zong. Ngari tut?
A: Nìksran. Oeru lu fpom, slä oey ’itan lu spxin.

A: How’s everything?
B: Good. You?
A: So-so. I’m fine, but my son is sick.

And finally, here is our third contest-winning entry, a beginners-level story by Tseyla. If you’ve ever wondered how the Na’vi came to live in Hometree, this historical narrative may provide the answer. Sivunu ayngar!

Eywa’evengä sì Eywa’evengä Helku Utralä ’Okrol

ta Tseyla

‘Awa trr pxaya zìsìkrram, tute LeNa’vi kämakto ftu sneyä kelku fte pivlltxe sneyä tsmukanur atxkxeteri a kolämunge ftu po. Mesmukanä olo’ wäte ulte wemwä fìtsap pxaya vospxì. Fo ke ftang vaykrr ‘awa tsmukan tolerkup. Eywa tsole’a futa tsmukan tspang tsmukan ulte tsngawvìk, peyä tsngawpay zolup mì Eywa’eveng pxaya zìsìkrr. Tsakrr ‘awa trr krra na’rìngä kllte lew si mì pay, ‘ewana tute leNa’vi slamele kxamlä narìng ulte tswala utralit run.

Pol slele ne’ìm peyä ne soaia ulte plltxe san oel ukxoa tsengit akxuke run a awnga tsun kelku sivi. Sneyä tsmukan a ke spaw poti plltxe san nga ke perlltxe tìngay.

Tsmukanur po plltxe san Oel tìngayit perlltxe. Nong oeti ulte oel ngaru fìtsengit wayìntxu. Ha tsmukanìl ewana tutet leNa’vi nong ne’ìm ne utral ulte plltxe san nga lu eyawr fìkrr. Tsakrr mesmukanìl slele ne’ìm ne feyä soaia ulte zamunge foti utralur a slayu Eywa’evengä nì’awve kelku utralä. Mesmukanä olo’ kelku si mì tsakelku utralä pxaya zìsìt vaykrr sawtutel za’u ne Eywa’eveng ulte skola’a tsautral.

Akrrmaw pxaya zìsìt sì pxaya sam, mesmukanìl sawtuteti kurakx srefwa tsyolul tìsop feyä mipa kelkune utralä. Pay ‘olìp ulte ayzìsit solalew. Olo’ tsawl slu frato ulte tuteo leNa’vi holum fte rivun lahea kelku utralä. Krra sawtute zola’u ulte ska’a helku utralä olol foti kurakx. Tsakrr olol mipa helkuti utralä rivun nìmun.

Set ayzìsìkrr mawkrr, Eywa’eveng lew si helkumì utralä ulte olo kelku si fomì. Slä tìvawm lìng mi Eywa’evengio pxel vawma pìwopx. Nga pivawm san pe’u fìtìvawm lu sìk slä tì’eyng awngaru ke lu.

Makto zong, ma eylan.

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16 Responses to Tìpusawm, Tì’useyng, sì ’Okvur a Eltur Tìtxen Si—Asking, Answering, and an Interesting Story

  1. Vawmataw says:

    Sìltsan lu fìpostì vursì! Seysonìltsan ma Tseyla!
    Oeru teya si fwa ayoe tsun livang nìno lì’fyati. Fìsäomum amip lesar si.

    Ngian oel fpolìl futa fko pivlltxe san oey ‘itan ‘efu spxin.

  2. soweli says:

    English doesn’t use the word “answer” in this way, but given that pawm can take tìpawmit as a direct object, could one analogously use ’eyng with tì’eyngit, as in «’oleyng pol tì’eyngit a eltur tìtxen si» “she gave an interesting answer”? Or should I say «poleng»? What would be an appropriate verb to use for this?

    • Pawl says:

      Well, if ’eyng were transitive, then ’eyng tì’eyngit analogous to pawm tìpawmit would be quite likely. Since it’s not, however, we have to use another verb, as you’ve rightly indicated. At first I was wondering if peng was the best choice, but now I’m thinking it may be just that: when you tell someone something, you’re informing them about something they don’t already know. And that’s essentially what you’re doing when you answer a question. So yes, I think poleng tì’eyngit a eltur tìtxen si is fine.

      Other candidates for an appropriate transitive verb would include plltxe and tìng, although tìng tì’eyngit sounds like it might have been influenced by English and other well-known languages. I’d need to research how common it is in the world’s languages for the verb for ‘give’ to go along with ‘answer.’ If it turns out it’s very common across a wide variety of unrelated languages, that would indicate it’s a natural pairing and so might be fine in Na’vi. TBD!

      Of course the easiest way of getting this across is simply to say, Peyä tì’eyng eltur tìtxen soli. 😊

      • Neytiri says:

        Lahea tìtsunslu kxawm livu lì’u a tsari nìsok awnga nolume: vun.

        Pol vun tì’eyngit a eltur tìtxen si.

        Tsalsungay, li fkeyterok fìsäplltxevi: “ayngeyä sìpawmìri kop fmayi fìtsenge tivìng sì’eyngit” ta fìpìlok, kuma kxawm tsun tivam kemlì’u alu tìng mi.

      • Marlon says:

        ‘Awnärìpa fìtxeleri nivew oe tìlusawkhu mengeyä nì’it nivawang stä’nì hapxìtsyìpit tsata tengkrr yll sleykeru ‘a’awa säfpìlit a mì ronsem oeyä nolrr: “tì’eyngit kulat”, “tì’eyngit kurakx”, “tuteoru vun tì’eyngit”, “peykate tì’eyngit”, “steykawm tì’eyngit”, “lonu tì’eyngit”, “tì’eyngit fweyki”, “tì’eyngit yem”, “tì’eyngit sleyku yll”, “tì’eyngit fmal”, “tì’eyngit eykomum”, “tì’eyngit zämunge”, “stäpawm tì’eyng” ulte “za’u tì’eyng”.

  3. Marlon says:

    Seykxel sì nitram, mas Tseyla! Tsavurìri lupra fkan oeru kosman nìngay. Mì fostì a sìoeyktìngìri a txeleteri a sivar fkol fyape hemlì’ut alu pawm sì ‘eyng oene zawprrte’ nì’aw. Nìvingkap, Ngenga ‘äpeykalmìn ulte lonatsu syurat apxay fte ngolop tsat nawma tìyawnefa a lì’fyari Ngengal tsan’eykivul tì’omumit tìtslamitsì awngeyä, irayo seiyi oe nìtxan, ma Karyu! Mivakto zong ulte Eywa Ngengahu!

    • Pawl says:

      Ngeyä lora faylì’u atìtstunwinga’ teya soli oer, ma tsmuk. Pxiset lu oeru krr nì’ul nì’it, ha tseiun oe pamrel sivi nì’ul nì’it nìteng. Fula oey fayfostì zawprrte’ ayhapxìtune lì’fyaolo’ä oeti nitram ’eykefu nìtxan.

      • Marlon says:

        Ma Karyu anawm, tì’eyngìri irayo seiyi oe nìtxan. Oeru kop ‘olìp krr a pamrel sivi sì nivume nì’ul, hufwa lam oeru tsnì ylla tsala’a pxeykìveyängor tìmweypeyit oeyä…

        • Marlon says:

          ‘Ä’! Hìtxoa, slä tìyäkxtalun nolui tìkxey sängi oe nìtkanluke: ke narmew sivar kemlì’ut alu “ìp”, ki kemlì’ut alu “srer” kolan oe yivem säplltxevimì ko.

  4. Wind12 says:

    Kaltxì nìmun! Fmawnìri teri tìpusawm sì tì’useyng, oe irayo siei ngaru ma Karyu. Sìlpey tsnì tìrey livu kosman ma tsmuk.

    • Pawl says:

      Irayo nìtxan, ma tsmuk. Tseiun oe pivlltxe san oeri lu tìrey sìltsan nìngay sìk. ’Efu oel futa Eywa lrrtok soli oer. Sìlpey oe, ngari tìrey livu teng.

  5. Neytiri says:

    Ma Tseyla, seykxel sì nitram! Zolawprrte’ nìtxan oene fì’okrol a zola’eiu ta tìronsrel atxantsan ngeyä. Awngal fìfnevurit kin nì’ul, tì’efumì oeyä. Sunu oeru nìpxi fwa ngal tsamit a meolo’kip lawk fa fìvur, taluna lu hapxì lefkeytongay–hufwa txanlal sì tìkeftxonga’–reyfyayä leNa’vi. Seysonìltsan. 🙂

    Ma Karyu, fìtìomum amip lesar si nìtxan. Txasunu oeru lì’fyavi alu makto fyape sì tseyä sì’eyng. Tsal lì’fyati leNa’vi sleyku txanatan nì’it nì’ul. ‘Ul postì srer fìtseng, ‘ul lì’fya ‘eiong! Irayo nìftxan. Krra fpìl oe awngeyä lì’fyayä tìsopteri–hìmtxan a lolatem sì tsawl slolu takrra Uniltìrantokxit fkol lonu–oeru teya si.

  6. Kaltxì Pawl!

    Sorry I am a newer/bad student of Na’vi 😛 But I have been discussing among others about Na’vi age and I realize I don’t have answers, and maybe you do.
    One main thing: When is a Na’vi considered old enough to be or become an adult? Are Rites-of-Passage tied to puberty, a specific age or other factors? When do Na’vi youngsters go on their first hunt? For that matter, what ages, approximately, do Na’vi live until? And, last, tying all the questions together, I am curious how Na’vi language ties these all together, if it does at all? Thank you for anything you can possibly answer! I apologize if I am asking too much.

    By the way. There is a strong Na’vi community in the virtual world of Second Life; I don’t know if you know it but it’s quite a community, maybe you can check it out sometime? hehehe. …. thank you for all your help! irayo nìtxan!

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