Beyond the core infixes, we have several other sets used to indicate inferential, intent, the reflexive, and the causative. The intent infix goes in the first position, while the inferential infix goes in the second position. The reflexive and the causative infixes are the only infixes to go before the first position.
Inferential
To show an action that you can infer might happen based on evidence you have, you can use <ats>, ie. poan yawne latsu poeru nìlam, apparently she loves him.
Intent
To show intent to perform an action, you use one of two modified future tense infixes:
Infix |
Example |
|
Proximal Future Intent |
<ìsy> |
Oe hìsyahaw, I will sleep soon |
General Future Intent |
<asy> |
Oe hasyahaw, I will sleep |
Reflexive
Rather than using a tertiary word to show the reflexive, Na’vi uses the infix <äp>, ie. yäpur oe, I wash myself, which occurs before any infixes for tense or aspect. Verbs that use the reflexive infix are always intransitive, and the causative infix can make transitive verbs intransitive.
Causative
To indicate causation in Na’vi, we use the infix <eyk>, ie. oel heykahaw ngati, I make (cause) you (to) sleep, which occurs before any infixes for tense or aspect. Verbs that use the causative infix are always transitive, and the causative infix can make intransitive verbs transitive.
A common area of confusion can be how Na’vi handles “I cause you to verb X” situations. In Na’vi, the noun being caused to verb will take the dative case, ie. oel ngaru teykaron yerikit, I cause you to hunt the hexapede.
The past subjunctive and perfective subjunctive bear a similar distinction as the general past and past perfective infixes in that they are used to highlight the state of an action, completed or ongoing.
A common area of confusion can be how Na’vi handles “I cause you to verb X” situations. In Na’vi, the noun being caused to verb will take the dative case, ie. oel ngaru teykaron yerikit, I cause you to hunt the hexapede.
The past subjunctive and perfective subjunctive bear a similar distinction as the general past and past perfective infixes in that they are used to highlight the state of an action, completed or ongoing.
Participle Creation
In Na’vi, we have two infixes for creating participles out of verbs. They both take the first position.
The active participle infix makes “verbing” adjectives. The passive participle infix makes "verbed" adjectives. Because participles create adjectives out of verbs, we use the participle + -a- to mark the affected noun.
The active participle infix makes “verbing” adjectives. The passive participle infix makes "verbed" adjectives. Because participles create adjectives out of verbs, we use the participle + -a- to mark the affected noun.
Infix |
Example |
|
Active Participle |
<us> |
Tswusayona ikran, the flying ikran |
Passive Participle |
<awn> |
Tawnarona yerik, the hunted yerik |
