Have, Plurals, Changes

Kaltxì! And welcome to Lesson 3.

This time, we talk about having something, and how to talk about more than one thing.

Topics

To Have

More Than One

Vocabulary Used

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
  • She 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
  • A spear is to her

Remember, Na'vi word order is flexible. I just randomly chose to write the second one differently.

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:

Before After
' (disappears altogether)
kx k
px p
tx t
k h
p f
t s
ts s

To more easily remember these changes, think of them this way:

  1. kx, px, tx soften up and lose their x.
  2. k, p, t soften up and become related sounds (made in just about the same area of the mouth) h, f, s
  3. ' just softens up by going away.

Here are some examples, to match the English ones above:

  • taronyu --> aysaronyu
  • kxutu --> aykutu
  • payoang --> ayfayoang

Some notes

When using ay+ on a word where the first letter changes, it's okay to just drop it after having changed the letter. For example:

aysaronyu hahaw. = saronyu hahaw.
hunters sleep

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:

Before After
'eylan (friend) ayeylan (friends)
kxaylte (cillaphant plant) mekaylte (cillaphant plants[2])
pxiwll (hermit bud plant) pxepiwll (hermit bud plants[3])
txumtsä'wll (baha tickler plant) aytumtsä'wll (baja tickler plants)
koren (rule) mehoren (rules[2])
paywll (dapophet water plant) ayfaywll (dapophet water plants)
talioang (sturmbeest) pxesalioang (sturmbeests[3])
tskxe (rock) meskxe (rocks[2])

Vocabulary Used

Na'vi English
lu vin., svin. be, am, is, are
oe pn. I, me
nga pn. you
po pn. s/he (gender-neutral)
tskalep n. crossbow
tsko n. bow
tukru n. spear
taronyu n. hunter
kxutu n. enemy
payoang n. fish
hahaw vin. sleep
'eylan n. friend
kxaylte n. cillaphant (Pandoran plant)
pxiwll n. hermit bud plant (Pandoran plant)
txumts'wll n. baja tickler (Pandoran plant)
paywll n. dapophet (Pandoran plant)
talioang n. sturmbeest
tskxe n. rock, stone
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