Numbers in Na’vi

Via an email from Paul Frommer, we have an official word on the numbering system! Source

Kaltxì ma oeyä ‘eylan Nayumeie,
Ngeyä pxesìpawmìri ngaru seiyi oe irayo.
‘Awa tìpawmìri ‘iveyng oe set; aylari zusawkrr ‘ayeyng.
[zusawkrr = future; in the future]

Numbers!
I have a nice complete chart, but it wouldn’t be cool if I simply attached it, as I’m sure you understand. Let me convey the essence, however, in a different form.

The system, as you know, is octal:

‘aw, mune, pxey, tsìng, mrr, pukap, kinä, vol
volaw, vomun, vopey, vosìng, vomrr, vofu, vohin, mevol
mevolaw, mevomun, . . ., pxevol
pxevolaw, pxevomun, . . ., tsìvol
mrrvol
puvol
kivol
zam ( = 64, or 100 octal)
vozam ( = 512, or 1000 octal)
zazam ( = 4096, or 10000 octal)

First line above: In disyllables, stress is on the 1st.
Second line above: In disyllables, stress is on the 2nd, except for mevol.
Third line: Stress on the final syllables, except for pxevol.
Etc.

That should be enough for you to figure out the rest.
Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu,
Pawl

First response from Dr. Frommer

After several days of hearing nothing back and having given up on ever getting the priviledge to be in touch with Dr. Frommer, fans received an email from him.
 

(Part of the Canon sources on the LearnNavi wiki.)


Kaltxì, and thanks for your interest in Na’vi.

The enthusiastic response to the language has been very gratifying. I wish I could answer all your e-mails personally, but the volume has been staggering, so I hope you’ll forgive this generic message.

Irayo to everyone who thanked me for the effort and wished me well. It’s been a privilege to be involved in something as extraordinary as “Avatar,” and I couldn’t be happier that people feel my contribution added to the film.

For those who have expressed interest in learning the language, thank you! The way Na’vi will live and grow is for enthusiasts like yourselves to take it up and expand it beyond its present boundaries. I hope that not too long from now there will be learning tools available to make that possible. Film consultants like me, however, don’t own the rights to the products or services we provide, so I can’t put out any such materials on my own—they’ll have to be in cooperation with the people who brought you “Avatar.” We’ve already begun thinking about that, and I hope that some official form of “Learn Na’vi!” will soon be available to the public.

In the meantime, a number of people have put up unofficial web sites talking about various aspects of Na’vi. Some of those are quite good, others are only speculative, and still others are highly inaccurate. The Wikipedia article on Na’vi, although not a complete description of the language, is well done and reliable.

Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu. See you again, and may Eywa be with you.

Paul Frommer