Kaltxì, ma frapo!
We haven’t had any new vocabulary in quite a while, so this post will be a small step in that direction. Before anything, however, let me say a few words about lexical expansion in general.
As I consider new vocabulary, my thinking seems to organize itself into three categories:
Category 1: This is the most important one: filling in the gaps. What words and expressions needed for easy and effective communication are still missing? A good way to discover such gaps is for us to take notice every so often of what we’re saying and writing during the day, and think about how we would say the same things in Na’vi. We may discover major gaps, where it’s difficult or impossible to express something with the existing vocabulary, something for which Na’vi would most likely have a word. Or we may find we can get our thought across but only by using a clumsy circumlocution, where Na’vi would most likely have an efficient way to say the same thing. Of course, in many instances a lexical item needed for a situation on earth would not have evolved on Pandora, since the situation doesn’t exist there. (To talk about vaccinations, for example, we’d need to borrow terms from Earth languages or come up with creative workarounds.) But such situations aside, there are still plenty of native Na’vi words to discover that we can use to our advantage.
Category 2: Fine-tuning. One of the advantages of using a language with a huge vocabulary is the ability to fine-tune a thought. Think of how we can express the fact we really like something in English. We might say it’s great, excellent, wonderful, incredible, awesome, unbelievable, astounding, stupendous, miraculous, magnificent, superb, breathtaking, amazing, astonishing, fantastic, tremendous, marvelous, . . . Each term has its own particular shade of meaning. It’s true that such a proliferation isn’t necessary to get the basic idea across. (In George Orwell’s famous vision of a frightening dystopia, 1984, “Newspeak” makes do with only three words to express the whole gamut of goodness: good, plusgood, and doubleplusgood.) But having a rich variety of terms in the same semantic range adds color, precision, and individual personality to our expression. While it’s not a priority, Na’vi would benefit from more such terms, each with its own set of associations and ranges of applicability.
Category 3: Words and expressions particular to Pandora and Na’vi life and experience, terms not found in other languages. This is perhaps the most interesting, thought-provoking, and fun category. The most obvious examples are the words for flora and fauna found only on Pandora, and for specifically Na’vi body parts like kuru, tswin, and pil. But there are also words for actions, ideas, experiences, and feelings that are particular to the Na’vi: tsaheylu, meoauniaea, ’onglawn, etc. Also in this category are idioms and sayings like na loreyu ’awnampi and Txo ke nìyo’ tsakrr nìyol. These words and expressions reflect the environment and culture of the Na’vi and give the language much of its uniqueness.
All that being said, let’s move on to today’s new words and expressions:
pe’ngay (vin., pe’.NGAY, inf. 1, 1) ‘judge, conclude’
This word derives from pe’un ‘decide’ + ngay ‘true.’ To draw a conclusion is to decide that something is true. It’s used with tsnì:
Pori keyrelfa oe pole’ngay tsnì ke new ziva’u.
‘From her expression, I concluded that she didn’t want to come.’
Derivations:
tìpe’ngay (n., ti.pe’.NGAY) ‘conclusion’
(Note: Don’t confuse tìpe’ngay with tì’i’a, which is also glossed as ‘conclusion.’ The former refers to a determination, the latter to a termination. 🙂 )
pe’ngayyu (n., pe’.NGAY.yu) ‘judge’
wrrzärìp (vtr., wrr.ZÄ.rìp, inf. 2, 3) ‘pull out, extract’
Pol tstalit wrrzolärìp tstalsenaftu.
‘He pulled the knife out of its sheath.’
This word is the basis for some common idioms:
txe’lanti wrrzärìp ‘to greatly move emotionally’ (lit.: ‘to pull out the heart’)
Oeri peyä aylì’ul txe’lanti wrrzolärìp.
‘Her words moved me greatly.’
tìpe’ngayt wrrzärìp ‘infer’
To infer is to pull out a conclusion from something seen or stated.
Ngey aylì’uftu wrrzärìp oel tìpe’ngayt a lu ngar yewla.
‘From your words, I infer that you’re disappointed.’
tìpe’ngayt wrrzeykärìp: ‘imply’
Here the causative <eyk> form of the verb is used. To imply is to cause someone to infer something—that is, to cause them to pull out a conclusion from something seen or stated.
Ngey aylì’ul wrrzeykärìp tìpe’ngayt a lu ngar yewla.
‘Your words imply that you’re disappointed.’
Among English speakers, “imply” and “infer,” which are not synonymous, are often used incorrectly. Hopefully the distinction is clearer in Na’vi!
lewn (vtr.) ‘endure, stand, tolerate’
Peyä tìrusolit ke tsun oe livewn.
‘I can’t stand her singing.’
Hufwa tìsraw lu txan, tsun ayoe tsat livewn.
‘Although the pain is great, we can endure it.’
ketsuklewn (adj., ke.tsuk.LEWN) ‘intolerable, unacceptable’
(Note: Even though ketsuk- is productive, some forms with it are so frequent that they’re listed in the dictionary, like ketsuktiam.)
Tsafnevoìk lu ketsuklewn.
‘That kind of behavior is intolerable.’
tsukanom (adj., tsu.KA.nom) ‘available, obtainable’
This word developed from tsuk- ‘receptive capability’ + kanom ‘get, obtain.’ Note that kk > k.
Tsayfasuk tsukanom lu krrka fìzìsìkrr nì’aw.
‘Those berries are available during this season only.’
And something perhaps more likely to be said ’Rrtamì,
Wä fìsäspxin a ’umtsa leiu set tsukanom.
Medicine against this disease is happily now available.
ketsukanom (adj., ke.tsu.KA.nom) ‘unavailable, unobtainable’
tìtsukanom (n., tì.tsu.KA.nom) ’availability’
The next two terms both refer to a key point of a presentation or argument, but in different senses.
txinfpìl (n., TXIN.fpìl) ‘main point’
From txin ‘main, primary’ + säfpìl ‘idea.’ This word refers to the primary idea or thesis statement of a presentation or argument.
Oel ngeyä txinfpìlit mi ke tslam.
‘I still don’t understand your main point.’
ngrrfpìl (n., NGRR.fpìl) ‘key assumption’
From ngrr ‘root’ + säfpìl ‘idea.’ This word refers to a basic assumption that underlies a presentation or argument.
Nìlaw lu peyä ngrrfpìl fwa Sawtute ke lu mal.
‘His assumption is clearly that the Skypeople can’t be trusted.’
sätarenga’ (adj., sä.TA.re.nga’, colloquially pronounced STA.re.nga’) ‘relevant, pertinent’
From sätare ‘connection’ + -nga’ ‘having, containing.’
Tsasäplltxeviri asätarenga’ irayo.
‘Thanks for that pertinent comment.’
kesätarenga’ (adj., ke.sä.TA.re.nga’, colloquially pronounced ke.STA.re.nga’) ‘irrelevant’
letut (adj., le.TUT) ‘constant, continual’
lukftang (adj. luk.FTANG) ‘constant, continual’
These are two near-synonyms that can be used more or less interchangeably, although lukftang is somewhat stronger than letut.
Peyä tìpuslltxel alukftang/letut oeti srätx.
‘His constant talking annoys me.’
That’s it for now. Hayalovay, ma smuk. And for those who celebrate, Happy Passover, Happy Easter . . . ulte Lefpoma Trr Ayskxawngä a mì Vospxìtsìng! 😀
wou! faylì’ut oel sayeiar nìtxan! irayo ngaru!
tse, rolatsun oel mesìkxeytsyìpit, fu tìmungwrrt a hek
pe’ngayt wrrzärìp ‘infer’
–> tìpe’ngayt wrrzärìp
pe’ngayt wrrzeykärìp
–> tìpe’ngayt wrrzeykärìp
sar fkol tstxolì’ut fìfya, kefyak?
irayo nìmun!
Irayo nìtxan. Kezemplltxe ngaru tìyawr. Komum teyngta kempe lolen, taluna mesìkenongmì ke lu kea keyey. 🤨
Zoslolu!
Kaltxì ma Pawl!
Aysäfpìlìri ngeyä sì aylì’uri amip nìmun irayo nìtxan! Txantsan lu frakrr fwa teiyìng ayoer nì’ul.
A little question about ketsuklewn, can it also be used for “unbearable”, like in “unbearable pain” (since you used lewn for pain that can be endured). For example, tìsraw ketsuklewn lolu fìtxan, kuma oe stum tolerkup. The pain was so unbearable, I almost died.
Tì’eyngìri irayo nìli!
Nìprrte’, ma tsmuk.
That’s an interesting question. And you’re right–ketsuklewn can be used for “unbearable,” as in your example. I had to think about it for a moment, but “intolerable” in English works the same way: We can say “His behavior was intolerable” (= unacceptable) and also “The pain was intolerable” (= unbearable or unendurable). Sìltsana sätseri!
Faylì’uri lesar irayo! 🙂 Lekina aylì’uri a ke li ke fkeytok, lu oer aysäfpìl, slä fkeytok vefya a tsaylì’ut mok. Oe pamrel si fmawnur ulte zene fpivìl nìno teri fya’o a tsafmawnit peng.
> Lefpoma Trr Ayskxawngä a mì Vospxìtsìng
hrh Oer sunu fìtstxo, lu trr suteyä a oena. XD Ngaru livu lefpoma trr ayskxawngä a mì vospxìtsìng
Irayo ngar, ma tsmuk. Frakrr oe new ngey aysäfpìlit stivawm.
Slä ke tsun ngahu mivllte. Nga ke lu kea skxawng!
hrh Nga lu tstunwi, irayo!
Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is the word “solution”, which seems to be missing (missing for objects might be another gap, but I could find a circumlocution). I will try to remember and share other ideas to the community.
I just realized that ‘judge’ was one of those gaps, so one off the list!
Mipa aylì’uri aylì’fyavirisì wou. Sari irayo nìtxan.
It’s also very interesting to get a glimpse into the thought processes when you’re thinking about new words. I realised that for quite a while I was a bit disappointed to have more and more specific words while (to my mind) important concepts were still missing. By now I understand (as you said in category 2) that they add colour to the language and how we can express things.
That still doesn’t keep me from hoping that we will close the still remaining gaps in vocabulary and concepts 😉 Every blog post is like an archeological dig in that regard—it’s like the linguists on Pandora are still working on expending our understanding of the language.
Concerning the idioms with wrrzärìp: How do you suggest we should handle these in the dictionary? Should they get their own entries? Or should they simply go under wrrzärìp (similar to all the tìng compounds)?
Happy Passover to you.
Aylì’uri irayo seiyi ngaru, ma Karyu! Regarding tìpe’ngay, I was wondering if you could use it as in “what in my judgment is sufficient” which to me implies an opinion, albeit a well-considered one. Somehow I’ve always thought of conclusions as being more definite. Maybe this is only a nuance in my mind, however. Just curious to know what you think…
I could see an expression like tìpe’ngaymì oeyä (like tì’efumì oeyä).
Kaltxì ma Pawl, irayo nìtxan! Sìlpey tsnì ngaru livu kosmana zìskrrmipaw. Kop sìlpey tsnì frapo tsun kanom ‘umtsati ye’rìn ha tsun lu fpom.