This is a non-complete list of Na’vi phrases. For a full list, have a look at these pages in the wiki:
- Na’vi Canon – a complete collection of information by authoritative sources
- Corpus – good sentences, given out in interviews with Dr. Frommer.
Greetings and Conversational Phrases
Na’vi | English |
---|---|
“Hello” | |
“I See you” | |
“Are you well?” (Do you have peace/wellbeing?) | |
“What are you called?” (how calls one to you?) | |
“I am called ____” (To me [they] call ____) | |
“And to you?” | |
“Please” | |
“Thanks” | |
“No need [to thank]; You’re welcome” | |
“Pleasurably; You’re welcome” | |
“Nice to meet you” (Pleasurably acquainted) | |
“Welcome” ([You] have come pleasurably) | |
“Happy to visit” | |
“How old are you?” (As for you, have passed year how many?) | |
“I am ____ years old” | |
“Where do you come from?” | |
“I come from ____” | |
“I love you” (You beloved are to me) | |
“Until next time” | |
“See you soon” | |
“(May) Eywa (be) with you” |
Idioms
Idioms are interesting phrases unique to a specific language that may not even make any actual sense in another language and are meant to convey an underlying meaning that the words themselves do not actually say. Here are a couple in Na’vi:
Na’vi | English |
---|---|
“Mantis doesn’t whistle; don’t expect someone to do something that isn’t in their inherent nature.” | |
“The prey eats the hunter; everything goes wrong that can.” |
Questions and demonstratives
Yes-no questions are asked with the final question marker srak? Information questions are asked with question words based on the leniting morpheme “pe” (which?). These correspond with demonstratives in fì (this) and tsa (that) (accusative tsat).
These are merely the more common forms; pe, fì (and its plural fay “these”) and tsa may combine with any noun (without needing the attributive a; cf. kea “no” + noun), and other words may combine with the morphemes in the table, such as tengfya (as, same way), tengkrr (while, same time), and ke’u (nothing).
Question | Sample Responses | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Na’vi | English | Na’vi | English | Na’vi | English |
, | “what? which thing?” | “this, this thing” | “that, that thing” | ||
, | “who?” | “that person” | |||
, | “how?” | “like this” | |||
, | “what? which action?” | “this (action)” | “that (action)” | ||
, | “when?” | “then” | |||
, | “why?” | ||||
, | “where?” | “here” | “there” |