Kaltxì! Long time no post. This time I'd like to talk about how to say someone does something to her/his self.

vtr. and äp

In English, we have special pronoun words like myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves to get this idea across. For example:

I see myself.

In Na'vi, we add <äp> inside the verb. The above example sentence would work like this:

Oe tsäpe'a .

We do this instead of repeating the same person again:

* Oel tse'a oeti
* Ayngal tse'a ayngati

Did you notice that there is no marking on oe in that first example? Here's why. We can only even use <äp> in verbs marked vtr. in the dictionary. And when we use <äp>, it changes the vtr. into a vin. It then has the same structure as any old vin. like hahaw (sleep) or kä (go):

Oe tsäpe'a. (I see myself.)
Nga tìsraw säpeyki. (You hurt yourself / cause yourself to hurt)
Oe hahaw. (I sleep.)
Nga kä. (You go.)

Hey, check it out! That second example here has both <äp> AND <eyk> in it. (Remember <eyk> from the previous lesson?) Both of these go first in the first raised dot of the dictionary entry of the verb.

vin. and sno

But what about actions which are not marked vtr.? A popular example is this: I know how to say "she loves her", which is talking about two different people:

Po yawne lu poru (she beloved is to her)

But how do I say "He loves himself"? Basically, like this:

Po yawne lu snoru (he beloved is to self)

sno is just a special pronoun word that means (his/her-)self. Use it when you need to say he or she is doing something to self, but the action is not vtr.

Me, myself, and vin. And you and them too.

What about if I want to do a vin. to myself or we to ourselves? Or even, if you wanted to do something to yourself, or they wanted to do something to themselves? Then, I believe that the same word would just get repeated again:

Oe pamrel si oeru. (I write to me)
Ayoeng tìng nari awngaru. (we look at us)
Nga fyawìntxu ngaru. (You guide you)
Ayfo irayo si foru. (They thank them)