Na'vi Word Order
One of the first things that many new learners want to understand (and rightfully so) is how to make sentences. Knowing how to put words together is the key difference between someone who just read a vocabulary list, and someone who can actually use it to communicate effectively. So, let’s become communicators!
In this chapter, we will answer these questions:
- What order do words go in the Na’vi language?
- How do I tell who is doing what?
- Why would I choose one word order over another?
1. “What order do words go in the Na’vi Language?”
It often surprises people who come from an English background to learn that Na’vi has no concrete word order. In most situations, you are free to have your information be ordered any way you want! Linguists call this limited free word order. (we’ll get to those limitations soon enough, don’t worry.)
So, we can put words in whatever order we want- great! Let’s get a dictionary, find some words, and throw them together!
So, we can put words in whatever order we want- great! Let’s get a dictionary, find some words, and throw them together!
oe |
(pn.) |
I, me |
yom |
(vtr.) |
eat |
payoang |
(n.) |
fish (from pay - water, and ioang - animal, lit. "water animal") |
“I eat fish” = oe yom payoang, right? Not so fast!
Before we dive into why this is wrong, we need to first examine why word order matters in English in the first place. It turns out there’s a very important reason that English words go in the order they do (and it wasn’t because Sir Thomas English “said so” one day and everyone rolled with it).
Let’s consider the phrase “Neytiri sees Jake”. You can probably imagine this situation with little difficulty. You can easily tell what is happening (seeing), who is seeing (Neytiri), and who is being seen (Jake). But HOW?!
The answer comes down to the types of words being used, and where they are placed.
A noun is a word for a person, place, or thing. Some examples of nouns include tree, sky, human, home, and street. A verb is a word that describes an action or state. Some examples of verbs include run, eat, sleep, hear, prefer, know, and think. English sentences tend to go “NOUN-VERB-NOUN”.
What happens when we take a sentence swap the nouns? In the resulting sentence, “Jake sees Neytiri”, their relationship is reversed. Now Jake is doing the seeing, and Neytiri is being seen.
Going back to our incorrect Na’vi sentence from before: oe yom payoang. Word for word, this might make sense to you: I, eat, fish. Your English-brain instantly makes assumptions about the relationship between myself and the fish from the word order. But, Na’vi has no set word order. I could have just as easily chosen oe payoang yom, or even payoang yom oe.
So if we can’t use word order to answer who is doing what, how can we?
Before we dive into why this is wrong, we need to first examine why word order matters in English in the first place. It turns out there’s a very important reason that English words go in the order they do (and it wasn’t because Sir Thomas English “said so” one day and everyone rolled with it).
Let’s consider the phrase “Neytiri sees Jake”. You can probably imagine this situation with little difficulty. You can easily tell what is happening (seeing), who is seeing (Neytiri), and who is being seen (Jake). But HOW?!
The answer comes down to the types of words being used, and where they are placed.
A noun is a word for a person, place, or thing. Some examples of nouns include tree, sky, human, home, and street. A verb is a word that describes an action or state. Some examples of verbs include run, eat, sleep, hear, prefer, know, and think. English sentences tend to go “NOUN-VERB-NOUN”.
- The first noun does the action. This is called the subject.
- Between the two nouns is a verb, which is the action being done.
- After that, the noun affected by the action, which is called the direct object.
What happens when we take a sentence swap the nouns? In the resulting sentence, “Jake sees Neytiri”, their relationship is reversed. Now Jake is doing the seeing, and Neytiri is being seen.
Going back to our incorrect Na’vi sentence from before: oe yom payoang. Word for word, this might make sense to you: I, eat, fish. Your English-brain instantly makes assumptions about the relationship between myself and the fish from the word order. But, Na’vi has no set word order. I could have just as easily chosen oe payoang yom, or even payoang yom oe.
So if we can’t use word order to answer who is doing what, how can we?
2. “How do I tell who is doing what?”
Let’s imagine a world where instead of leaning into word order to tell who is doing what, we just said out loud what the role of each noun is. The sentence “Jake sees Neytiri” would become “Jake the subject sees Neytiri the direct object”. Since these roles are clearly labeled, a sentence with odd word order, like “Neytiri the direct object Jake the subject sees”, is suddenly a lot less intimidating. We are still able to answer the question from before: who’s doing what.
This is a very literal version of what Na’vi does. Rather than saying “_____ the subject” or “direct object”, Na’vi uses case endings, which are short sounds that are added to the end of a noun to establish these roles. They communicate the same information, but are less cumbersome.
This is a very literal version of what Na’vi does. Rather than saying “_____ the subject” or “direct object”, Na’vi uses case endings, which are short sounds that are added to the end of a noun to establish these roles. They communicate the same information, but are less cumbersome.
- The subject, or thing performing the verb, takes the case ending of -L or -ÌL.
- -L is used if the word ends in a vowel.
- -ÌL is used if the word ends in a consonant or pseudovowel
- The direct object, or thing affected by the verb, is denoted with -TI, -T, or -IT.
- -TI is always correct. You should default to using it.
- -T can be used if the word ends in a vowel
- -IT can be used if the word ends in a consonant or pseudovowel
- -TI is always correct. You should default to using it.
Think like the Na’vi!
To make your spoken Na'vi as clear as possible, try using the -t and -it endings if the next word begins with a vowel, or the sentence has ended. Though this is not required, it results in fewer consonant-to-consonant clusters, which can be easier to pronounce for you, and easier to distinguish for your listener.
To make your spoken Na'vi as clear as possible, try using the -t and -it endings if the next word begins with a vowel, or the sentence has ended. Though this is not required, it results in fewer consonant-to-consonant clusters, which can be easier to pronounce for you, and easier to distinguish for your listener.
Putting these ideas together word-for-word, “I eat fish” becomes oel yom payoangit. But because we have applied case endings, we now know what role the noun has, regardless of where it is! All of the following examples are legitimate and acceptable:
- oel payoangti yom
- oel yom payoangit
- payoangti oel yom
- payoangti yom oel
- yom oel payoangit
- yom payoangti oel
If we wanted to swap the roles of myself and the fish, and say “fish eats me”, we simply swap the case endings. oe-l becomes oe-t(i), and payoang-it becomes payoang-ìl. As before, you have many options for word order.
- oeti payoangìl yom
- oeti yom payoangìl
- payoangìl oeti yom
- payoangìl yom oet
- yom oeti payoangìl
- yom payoangìl oet
Think like the Na’vi!
A good way to check to make sure your sentence is correct is to simply try another word order. If the meaning changes, you probably forgot a case ending!
A good way to check to make sure your sentence is correct is to simply try another word order. If the meaning changes, you probably forgot a case ending!
Try it yourself!
Identify the subject, direct object, and verb of these sentences. Even though you may not know the vocabulary involved, you should be able to quickly recognize the case endings. For fun, try also looking up the definition of the words once you've identified the roles they have!
Identify the subject, direct object, and verb of these sentences. Even though you may not know the vocabulary involved, you should be able to quickly recognize the case endings. For fun, try also looking up the definition of the words once you've identified the roles they have!
- oel poti tse’a
- yerikti taronyul tspang
- awngal fìtsengti tok
- ngati oel kin
- palulukanìl taron pot
- utralti ngal takuk
3. “Why would I choose one word order over another?”
It’s up to you! Most of the time, word order is just the speaker’s preference. However, there are a few subtleties of the Na’vi language to consider. The first consideration is emphasis. In English, when we want to call attention to a particular piece of information, we stress how we pronounce that word. It’s louder, sometimes held. “I eat fish” (as opposed to someone else who doesn’t). “I eat fish” (as opposed to throwing it at my friends). “I eat fish” (as opposed to some other kind of protein). Notice how, while each of these sentences are using the same words, the way in which they are said changes the goal of the sentence.
Na’vi doesn’t employ this tonal emphasis, as far as we know. Rather, the word that goes last in the sentence is said to carry the “punch”. Because of the flexibility of word order offered by case endings, we are able to put whatever word we choose at the end of a sentence. Most often, this is the verb- without an action, there wouldn’t be much reason to bring up a sentence in the first place!
Na’vi also tends to group subjects and objects next to each other. This helps explain why Subject-Direct Object-Verb, or SOV Order, is the most common in the canon. But remember- this is a preference, not a rule!
Na’vi doesn’t employ this tonal emphasis, as far as we know. Rather, the word that goes last in the sentence is said to carry the “punch”. Because of the flexibility of word order offered by case endings, we are able to put whatever word we choose at the end of a sentence. Most often, this is the verb- without an action, there wouldn’t be much reason to bring up a sentence in the first place!
Na’vi also tends to group subjects and objects next to each other. This helps explain why Subject-Direct Object-Verb, or SOV Order, is the most common in the canon. But remember- this is a preference, not a rule!
Think like the Na’vi!
Practice a wide variety of word orders! Part of learning Na’vi is un-training your brain to expect information to always come in subject-verb-object order.
Practice a wide variety of word orders! Part of learning Na’vi is un-training your brain to expect information to always come in subject-verb-object order.
In Summary
1. What order do words go in the Na’vi language?
Na’vi has limited free word order- there is no one correct way.
2. How do I tell who is doing what?
We use the -L and -T case endings to indicate the subject (performer of the verb) and direct object (affected by the verb). There are different versions of these case endings depending on if the word ends in a vowel or consonant.
3. Why would I choose one word order over another?
The final word of a sentence is sometimes used for emphasis. Often this is the verb, though any word order is valid. Subjects and objects also tend to be next to each other.
Na’vi has limited free word order- there is no one correct way.
2. How do I tell who is doing what?
We use the -L and -T case endings to indicate the subject (performer of the verb) and direct object (affected by the verb). There are different versions of these case endings depending on if the word ends in a vowel or consonant.
3. Why would I choose one word order over another?
The final word of a sentence is sometimes used for emphasis. Often this is the verb, though any word order is valid. Subjects and objects also tend to be next to each other.
NA'VI AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
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(You're at the start!)
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Transitivity and Indirect Objects
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