Chapter 5: Fì’u sì tsa’u
Topics: Fì- & Tsa-, adjectives, subclauses with »a«
Text
Peyralìl sì peyä ‘eylanìl alu Lo’ak tsawla na’rìngit tok. Mefo tìran.
Peyral and her friend named Lo'ak are in the big forest. The two walk.
Peyralìl syulangit ahì’i tse’a. Poel fìsyulangit a lu ean nìn.
Peyral sees a small Flower. She looks at this flower, which is blue.
Lo’ak za’u nìteng ulte nìn tsasylulangit. Poanìl lahea mesyulangit a lu tsawl tse’a kop.
Lo'ak comes too and looks at that flower. He also sees two other flowers which are big.
Mesa’u tun lu. Lo’akìl a nìn syulangit tun lu a tsamesyulangit wìntxu:
They are red. Lo'ak, who looks at the flowers, shows those two flowers which are red:
Lo'ak:
Nìn fìmesylulangit, mesa’u lor lu!
Look at these two flowers, they are beautiful!
Peyral 'eyng:
Peyral answers:
Peyral:
Srane. Slä eana tsasyulang a tok tsatsengit lor lu nìteng.
Yes. But that blue flower that is there also is beautiful.
Grammar
fì- and tsa-
Na'vi works a lot with different prefices and suffixes to change the meaning of a word, so that one word in Na'vi often is translated into multiple English words. Two of the most important ones are »fì-« and »tsa-«, this and that. Let's look at some examples from the text:
Lo’ak za’u ulte nìn tsasylulangit.
Lo'ak comes and looks at that flower.
Nìn fìmesylulangit, mesa’u lor lu!
Look at these two flowers, they (lit.: "those two things") are beautiful!
Lo’akìl tsamesyulangit wìntxu.
Lo'ak shows those two flowers.
Like you can see, it is also possible to combine »fì-« and »tsa-« with the plural prefixes. In such canses, »fì-« and »tsa-« come before »me+« and »pxe+«, it is for example always »fìmesyulang«, never »*mefìsyulang«! Combined with »ay+«, »fì-« and »tsa-« turn into »fay+« and »tsay+«. Here an overview of all forms:
syulang
fìsyulang
tsasyulang
flower
this flower
that flower
mesyulang
fìmesyulang
tsamesyulang
two flowers
these two flowers
those two flowers
pxesyulang
fìpxesyulang
tsapxesyulang
three flowers
these three flowers
those three flowers
aysyulang
faysyulang
tsaysyulang
(4 or more) flowers
these (4 or more) flowers
those (4 or more) flowers
If you were wondering why in the text the word »mesa’u« was used instead of »tsame’u«, which you probably would have expected after the first part of this chapter, don't worry! We will look at this at the end of this chapter.
One small addition: Grammatically, it is not wrong to say »fìay+« instead of »fay+«. But this is rather unusual and more used in formal speech, in normal daily speech you will most likely never see it.
But why are these two little prefixes so important that we need to take a look at them so early? The answer is simple: The Na'vi seem to love them. Maybe you already noticed that Na'vi words are often a bit like legos - words are build from other words. This makes it easier and easier to learn more words the more you already know as you will recognize a lot! »fì-« and »tsa-« are often used building blocks which you will encounter a lot. One example:
fìtseng
here (lit.: this place)
tsatseng
there (lit.: that place)
Also these two prefixes are used in one of the msot important grammatical structures - more about that in chapter 7!
Adjectives
Adjectives are an useful and important part of the language which allows us to describe nouns. Good news: using them in Na'vi is easy!
If we take a look at the text we can see that adjectives differ in one aspect from English adjectives: They can stand before, but also after the noun. Consider the following examples:
tsawla na'rìng
big forest
syulang ahì'i
small flower
eana tsasyulang
that blue flower
Do you see the small »a« which can be found at any adjective? That always shows on which side the noun is - you can imagine it as a small arrow that shows towards the noun. Therefore, if we want to change the position of the adjective, for example from before to behind the noun, we also have to change the position of the »a«:
tsawla na'rìng = na'rìng atsawl
big forest
syulang ahì'i = hì'ia syulang
small flower
eana tsasyulang = tsasyulang aean
that blue flower
With this easy construction we can use two adjectives for each noun: One on each side. But what if we want to use more than two? There is an easy solution for that:
tsawla syulang aean sì lor
the big, blue and beautiful flower
Note that the adjective added with »sì« doesn't get the »a«! We can add more adjectives just by repeating »sì«.
One exception from the »a«-rule are adjectives that begin with a »le-«. If you use them before the noun, you use the »a« normally. But when used after the noun it is common to leave out the »a« - it is already implied by the »le-«. However, it is grammatically not wrong to use the »a« anyway, just extremely uncommon (and considered bad style by some people):
lehrrapa na'rìng
dangerous forest
(= na'rìng alehrrap (extremely uncommon)
The »a« is also left out if the adjective already has an »a« on that side. Note that with the adjective »apxa«, which begins and ends with an »a«, sentences can become ambiguous if you are not careful:
Soaial apxa na'rìngit tok.
The (big?) family is in the (big?) forest.
-> better: Soaial na'rìngit apxa tok.
The family is in the big forest.
This examples shows why we need the »a«: Because of the free word order it can happen that an adjective is between two nouns. Since adjectives can be placed before and after the noun we need some kind of pointer showing where it belongs to - and this pointer is the »a«!
Before we continue with the next topic, one last thing: It is possible to use the same adjective twice on the same noun to increase the meaning:
lora syulang alor
the really, really, really beautiful flower
But this should not be used too often (in fact I barely ever see it) as it really increases the intensity of the adjective a lot.
Subclauses with »a«
This »a« we got to know in the last part cannot only be used attached to adjectives, but also as a word on its own. That way it opens up subclauses which describe a noun. Sounds complicated? It gets clearer when we look at some examples:
Poel fìsyulangit <- a (lu ean) nìn.
She looks at this flower <- which (is blue).
Poanìl lahea mesyulangit <- a (lu tsawl) tse’a kop.
He also sees two flowers <- which (are big).
Lo’akìl <- a (nìn syulangit) (tun lu) a -> tsamesyulangit wìntxu.
Lo'ak <- who (sees the flower) shows those two flowers <- which (are red).
Like you can see, »a« can be translated to multiple English words depending on context (»who«, »which«). Also you can see here what exactly the »a« does: It connects a noun with a subclause. This subclause then gives a more detailed description of that noun it is connected with. This can also be used to connect an endless amount of adjectives to a noun:
Nìn oel syulangti <- a (lu lor sì ean sì hì’i sì ...)
I look at the flower <- which (is beautiful and blue and small and ...)
But like you saw in the example sentences, »a« can be used for much more than just connecting additional adjectives, any type of describing subclause is allowed! But it is important to remember to use »-l« and »-t« if the subclause has a transitive verb:
Tse’a oel taronyut <- a (taron yerikit).
I see the hunter <- who (hunts the yerik).
Lu lor syulang <- a (oel nìn).
The flower <- which I see is beautiful.
In the second sentence there is no »-t«, but still we use »-l« in the subclause. This has a simple reason: Even though the flower isn't marked with a »-t«, as it is in the main clause with an intransitive verb, it still is the direct object in the subclause - it is the thing we see. And always if there is a direct object we need to use »-l«, even if this direct object is not visible! If there was no »-l« on the »oe« in the subclause then that would mean that the action is intransitive, so without a direct obejct. So I am looking, but not at somethign specific, I am just stating that I am looking. That would not make any sense in this context, right?
However, in the first sentence we have a »-t« in the subclause, which automatically makes the »taronyu«, who is the noun connected to the subclause, the subject/»-l« of the subclause. So the »taronyu« is the one hunting here.
Not that complicated yet, right? It gets a bit more complex if we consider free word order again. Like when it is connected to an adjective, the »a« on it's own can be placed before or after the noun, and the noun can be anywhere in the sentence - this yields a lot of different possibilities of which some look a bit strange for an English speaker:
Lu lor syulang <- a (oel nìn).
The flower <- which I see is beautiful.
= Lor syulang <- a (oel nìn) lu.
= Lor syulang <- a (oel nìn) lu.
= Lor (oel nìn) a -> syulang lu.
= Lor lu (oel nìn) a -> syulang.
The only important things to consider are that the subclause has to stay together (the »oel« from the last example sentence for example always has to be next to the »nìn«, but their order may swop) and the »a« always needs to stay between the noun (in this case »syulang«) and the subclause. This freedom also explains how a sentence like this can occur:
Lo’akìl <- a (nìn syulangit) (tun lu) a -> tsamesyulangit wìntxu.
Lo'ak <- who (sees the flower) shows those two flowers <- which (are red).
Looking at this sentence without the parentheses can be a bit confusing. To hear where a subclause starts and where it ends again is something that needs practice, especially for the beginning I recommend to mark the subclauses while translating such sentences to keep the overview over what belongs to which part of the sentence.
By the way, »a« also is part of many words. Do you remember when I promised that Na'vi is a bit like legos? One example is the word »alu« we already got to know, that actually just is »a« plus »lu«:
Taronyu a lu Peyral
The hunter who is Peyral
-> Taronyu alu Peyral
The hunter named Peyral
Poan, Poe & Tsa’u
Last chapter, we looked in details at pronouns. But that wasn't everything about them yet! In this chapter's text we encountered two new pronouns, and in the first chapter we actually already saw tsa'u, without it being fully explained:
»Poan« and »poe« are used to avoid confusion. In the last chapter »po« was introduced as gender neutral pronoun which is used in nearly all situations, as the Na'vi very often prefer to use gender neutral words. »poan« and »poe« usually are only used when »po« would lead to ambiguous sentences. Int the text above for example we have a female and a male character, so the usage of the word »po« only would cause confusion - who are we talking about? In such situations, »poan« and »poe« can be very helpful. But those two words don't have a plural form! When talking about more than one person, always »mefo«, »pxefo« or »(ay)fo« are used.
»Tsa'u« on the other hand is the neuter third person pronoun, »it«, used for inanimate things. What exactly counts as inanimate for the Na'vi, so when we have to use »po« (living being) and when »tsa'u« (not living), is not answered in detail yet, we will have to wait for further confirmation by Karyu Pawl for that. What we know for now is that insects are referred to with »tsa'u«, while for animals you have an emotional bond to like your own ikran »po« is used. We even have an example where a plant is reffered to as »po«, however, the plant in question is a species which is, according to the Avatar Survival Guide, something inbetween plant and animal. You see, this topic is compley, and sadly, like mentioned before, we are missing some details here.
»Tsa'u« (as well as it's short form »tsaw«) has, like most other pronouns, also a dual, trial and plural - that's where the »mesa'u« comes from we saw before:
tsa'u / tsaw
mesa'u / mesaw
pxesa'u / pxesaw
(ay)sa'u / (ay)saw
it
they (2, inanimate)
they (3, inanimate)
they (4 or more, inanimate)
For all four forms there are, like shown above, also shorter forms which are used in colloquial speech. While the long forms behave in combination with case endings like expected, those short forms are worth looking at in details:
No case ending
tsaw
mesaw
pxesaw
(ay)saw
-l
tsal
mesal
pxesal
(ay)sal
-t
tsat(i)
mesat(i)
pxesat(i)
(ay)sat(i)
-yä
tseyä
meseyä
pxeseyä
(ay)seyä
Like you can probably already guess, there is also fì'u - this thing. That one will be more important in future chapters.
Summary
fì- and tsa-
fìsyulang
this flower
tsasyulang
that flower
fìmesyulang
these two flowers
tsamesyulang
those two flowers
fìpxesyulang
these three flowers
tsapxesyulang
those three flowers
faysyulang
these 4 or more flowers
tsaysyulang
those 4 or more flowers
(very uncommon: fìaysyulang)
Adjectives
syulang ahì'i = hì'ia syulang
small flower
na'rìng lehrrap = lehrrapa na'rìng
dangerous forest
na'rìng apxa = apxa na'rìng
big forest
eana syulang ahì'ì sì lor
blue, small, beautiful flower
lora syulang alor
very, very, very beautiful flower
Subclauses with »a«
Lu lor syulang <- a (oel nìn).
The flower <- which I see is beautiful.
= Lor syulang <- a (oel nìn) lu.
= Lor lu (oel nìn) a -> syulang.
Poan, poe & tsa'u/tsaw
No case ending
tsaw
mesaw
pxesaw
(ay)saw
-l
tsal
mesal
pxesal
(ay)sal
-t
tsat(i)
mesat(i)
pxesat(i)
(ay)sat(i)
-yä
tseyä
meseyä
pxeseyä
(ay)seyä
Exercises
1. Reading
Read the text aloud. Focus on the exact pronunciation, even if it makes you speak more slowly. If you have the possibility, look for someone on Discord who can read with you.
2. Find and correct the mistakes in the following sentences:
- a) Ean aysyulangìl tok fìtsengti! Adjective marker is missing: Eana aysyulangìl tok fìtsengti - There are blue flowers here.
- b) Tìran oe hu foan. The specific gendered versions of »po« have no plural: Tìran oe hu fo. - I walk with them.
- c) Ioang a oe nong yom. The »oe« needs a case ending. Two things are possible here: Ioang a oel nong yom. - The animal that I follow eats. or Ioang a oeti nong yom. - The animal that follows me eats.
- d) Tsaaysyulang lu lor. »Tsa-« + »ay+« combines to »tsay+«: Tsaysyulang lu lor. - Those flowers are beautiful.
- e) Poel tìran ulte wìntxu aysyulangti. »Tìran« is intransitive, therefore no -l ending for »poe«: Poe tìran ulte wìntxu aysyulangti. - She walks and shows the flowers.
3. Translate the following sentences:
- a) The big yerik sees the small hunter and runs. Yerikìl atsawl hì'ia taronyuti tse'a ulte tul.
- b) Fayyerik a tul lu win. These yeriks which run are fast.
- c) The small animals which are there are dangerous, but also beautiful. Hì'ia ayioang a tsatsengit tok lehrrap lu, slä lor kop.
- d) Feyä sa'nok a lu lor sì tsawl 'eyng. Their mother who is tall and beautiful answers.
- e) Do you see these two blue yeriks which are in the forest? Srake tse'a ngal eana fìmeyerikit a na'rìngit tok?
- f) Tsapxeskxawngìl fayioangit lehrrap fwew. Those three idiots search for these dangerous animals.
4. Free writing
Look around and pick four things. Write one or two sentences describing them - where are they, how do they look? Example: Lu oeru 'ewll a tok fyanyot. Tsasyulang lu hì'i ulte tsaru lu ayrìk aean. - I have a flower which is on the table. That flower is small and it has green leafes.
Feel free to send the sentences either directly to me (Tekre#3259 on discord) or into the learning channel of a Na'vi community so they can be corrected!
Vocab
‘eyng (vin.) [ʔɛjŋ] - to answer | Peyral 'eyng. - Peyral answers.
a (part.) [a] - that, which, who (subclause marker) | Poel fìsyulangit a lu ean nìn. - She looks at this flower, which is blue. | Lo’akìl a nìn syulangit tun lu a tsamesyulangit wìntxu. - Lo'ak, who looks at the flowers, shows those two flowers which are red.
ean (adj.) [ˈɛ.an] - blue, green | Poel fìsyulangit a lu ean nìn. - She looks at this flower, which is blue.
fì'u (pn.) [fɪ.ˈʔu] - this thing, it | Fì'u lu lor! - This is beautiful!
fìtseng(e) (n./adv.) [fɪ.ˈ͡tsɛ.ŋɛ] - here, this place | Oel fìtsengti tok. - I am here. | Fìtseng oel ayioangit nìn. - Here I watch animals.
hì'i (adj.) [ˈhɪʔ.i] - small | Peyralìl syulangit ahì’i tse’a. - Peyral sees a small flower.
kop (adv.) [kop] - also, too, as well, additionally | Poanìl lahea mesyulangit a lu tsawl tse’a kop. - He also sees two other flowers which are big.
lahe (adj.) [ˈla.hɛ] - other | Poanìl lahea mesyulangit a lu tsawl tse’a kop. - He also sees two other flowers which are big.
lehrrap (adj.) [lɛ.ˈhrˌ.ap] - dangerous | Lehrrap na'rìng lu. - The forest is dangerous.
lor (adj.) [loɾ] - beautiful, pleasant to the senses | Nìn fìmesylulangit, mesa’u lor lu! - Look at these two flowers, they are beautiful!
poan (pn.) [po.ˈan] - he | Poanìl lahea mesyulangit a lu tsawl tse’a kop. - He also sees two other flowers which are big.
poe (pn.) [po.ˈɛ] - she | Poel fìsyulangit a lu ean nìn. - She looks at this flower, which is blue.
slä (conj.) [slæ] - but | Srane, slä eana tsasyulang a tok tsatsengit lor lu nìteng. - Yes, but that blue flower that is there also is beautiful.
syulang (n.) [ˈsju.laŋ] - flower | Poel fìsyulangit a lu ean nìn. - She looks at this flower, which is blue.
tìran (vin.) [tɪ.ˈɾan] - to walk | Mefo tìran. - The two walk.
tsatseng (n./adv.) [tsa.ˈ͡tsɛŋ] - there, that place | Pol tsatsengti tok. - He is here. | Tsatseng oel ayioangit nìn. - There I watch animals.
tsaw (pn.) [t͡saw] - that thing, it | Nìn fìmesylulangit, mesaw lor lu! - Look at these two flowers, they are beautiful!
tsawl (adj.) [t͡sawl] - big, tall | Poanìl lahea mesyulangit a lu tsawl tse’a kop. - He also sees two other flowers which are big.
tseng(e) (n.) [ˈ͡tsɛ.ŋɛ] - place | Tseng a yerikìl tok lu lor. - The place where the yerik is is beautiful.
wìntxu (vtr.) [wɪn.ˈtʼu] - to show | Lo’akìl a nìn syulangit tun lu a tsamesyulangit wìntxu. - Lo'ak, who looks at the flowers, shows those two flowers which are red.