! And welcome to Lesson 3 of Learn Na'vi Grammar The Easy Way.
This time, we talk about having something, and how to talk about more than one thing.
To Have
First, let's talk about having something. You have most likely noticed that a verb to have does not exist in Na'vi. Different languages have different ways of saying things.
In English, we say stuff like this:
- I have a crossbow.
- You have a bow.
- He has a spear.
In Na'vi, we say those this way:
- Lu oeru tskalep.
- Ngaru lu tsko.
- Lu poru tukru.
Do you see the pattern? You actually say A crossbow is to me , A bow is to you , and A spear is to him . Remember, Na'vi word order is flexible. I chose to write the second one differently. the words used in these examples are as follows:
be | |
I | |
you | |
he/she (whichever happens to be correct | |
..... | crossbow |
bow | |
spear |
More Than One
In English, to say there is more than one of something, we usually add an s to the end. But sometimes there is an outlandish or just unpredictable way it has to be done. Either way, it must be memorized. You know how it is:
- hunter -> hunters
- enemy -> enemies
- fish -> fish
In Na'vi, it's a lot more predictable. In fact, it's totally predictable. There are three different things you put onto the beginning of a noun. They are:
- me+ (two of whatever it is)
- pxe+ (three of whatever it is)
- ay+ (in general, just many of whatever it is)
Now, when you use these, the original word might change its first letter/sound, depending on what it starts with. (this is why there is a + sign on them. to tell you that they cause this to happen). The letter/sound changes that occur are as follows:
' | -> | disappears altogether |
kx | -> | k |
px | -> | p |
tx | -> | t |
k | -> | h |
p | -> | f |
t | -> | s |
ts | -> | s |
To easier remember these, think of it this way:
- kx, px, and tx soften up and lose their x.
- k, p, and t soften up and become related sounds (made in just about the same area of the mouth) h, f, s
- ' just softens up by going away.
Here are some examples, to match the English ones above:
- ->
- ->
- ->
Some notes:
When using ay+ on a word where the first letter changes, it's okay to just leave off ay after having changed the letter. For example:
(Hunters sleep.)
is the same as
me+, pxe+, and ay+ aren't the only things that cause this first letter change thing to happen. More on that in a later lesson.
More Examples:
(friend) | ----> | (friends) |
(cillaphant) | ----> | (two cillaphants) |
(hermit bud plant) | ----> | (three hermit bud plants) |
(baja tickler poison squirting plant) | ----> | (baja ticklers) |
(rule) | ----> | (two rules) |
(dapophet water plant) | ----> | (dapophet water plants) |
(sturmbeest) | ----> | (three sturmbeests) |
(rock, stone) | ----> | (two rocks/stones) |
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'Ivong Na'vi!