Easy Guide to Na'vi Prefixes, Infixes, and Suffixes

[TireaAean]

An extensive, simplified rundown of All current affixes.

Because the original thread was from December 2009.

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Notes:

Any adposition (word marked as adp. in the dictionary) may become a suffix on the end of any noun. same with sì (and). Neither may become a prefix, however. Separate before, OR attached after.

+ instead of - means causes lenition.

Lenition: words that start with a certain letter change to start with a different letter.
Lenition chart:
if word starts with this letter -> change it to start with this letter
px -> p
kx -> k
tx -> t
p -> f
k -> h
t -> s
ts -> s
' -> goes away

verb infix positions:
t<0><1>ar<2>on (two syllable regular)
<0><1>om<2>um (two syllable starts with vowel)
srung s<0><1><2>i (si verb)
yomt<0><1><2>ìng (compound, head last)
n<0><1><2>ewomum (compound, head first)

Modal verbs are those marked as vm. or vim. or vtrm. in the dictionary.
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All Current Productive Prefixes :

For nouns or pronouns only :

fì- This. used in order to say "This __<noun>__ ((over here))..."
tsa- That. used in order to say "That __<noun>__((over there))..."
me+ dual. two of something.
pxe+ trial. three of something.
ay+ plural. more than three or some unknown number of something
fay+ These. used in order to say "These __<noun>s__ ((over here))..."
tsay+ Those. used in order to say "Those __<noun>s__((over there))..."
fne- Type of. used in order to say "Type of __<noun>__"
fra- Every. used in order to say "every __<noun>__"
pe+ What. Turns a statement into A QUESTION. used in order to say "What __<noun>__..?"
pay+ What (plural). Turns a statement into A QUESTION. used in order to say "what __<noun>s__..?"

For verbs only :

tsuk- able. used in order to say "<verb>able"
ketsuk- opposite of tsuk-. Used in order to say "un<verb>able"

For adjectives only :

a- this means the adjective is paired with the noun directly before it (to the left)
nì- This is productive to turn an adjective into an adverb. It's similar to English -ly ending.

All Current Productive Suffixes :

For nouns or pronouns only :

Cases :

-l This goes on the noun who is verbing something. (subject) Dont use this if it ends with a consonant.
-ìl The same thing as -l. Use this instead of -l if the noun ends with a consonant.
-it This goes on the noun that the subject is verbing. (direct object) Use this instead of -t if word ends with consonant. Don't use this if word ends in a vowel.
-ti Same as -it May be used regardless of what the word ends with.
-t Same as -ti and -it. Don't use this if the word ends with a consonant.
-ru this goes on the noun to whom or for whom the subject is verbing. (indirect object). Don't use on words ending with consonant.
-ur Same as -ru. use this instead of -r if word ends with consonant.
-r Same as -ru and -ur. Don't use this if the word ends with a consonant.
-yä This goes on the noun to form a genitive. It can be possessive, similar to the English -'s ending. It can also mean "of" e.g. "The <noun> of the <noun>"
-y Short for yä. Rare and colloquial. Used on pnonouns. Dont use if word ends with consonant.
-ä Same as -yä and -y. Use this for nouns ending in consonants, o, or u.
-ri This goes on the topic noun. Topics are first in the sentence and after it comes a comment. Used commonly instead of -yä or -ä for inalienable possession. e.g. with body parts. Don't use on words ending with consonant.
-ìri Same as -ri but for words ending with a consonant.

Other noun/pronoun-only suffixes :

-ya same meaning as ma, can only be used with singular collective nouns. e.g. family, group, etc. rare.
-fkeyk State of. used to say "the state of the __<noun>__"
-o indefinite some. Used to say "Some __<noun>__". Also used on time-related words.to say "for some <unit of time>"
-pe same as pe+. use this for variation or to avoid lenition.
-tsyìp mini/diminuitive. Used to say "dear little __<noun>__" or "mini __<noun>__". can also make a new meaning e.g. utral=tree, utraltsyìp=bush
-tu Typically turns a word into a noun that means a person who specializes in that thing. e.g. reltseo=art, reltseotu=artist
-am previous. This goes on 'time nouns' such as trr(day), kintrr(week), etc. to make it "yesterday", "last week", etc.
-ay next. This goes on 'time nouns' such as trr(day), kintrr(week), etc. to make it "tomorrow", "next week", etc.

For numbers only :

-ve ordinal. similar to English st, nd, rd, th

For adjectives only :

-a This means the adjective is paired with the noun directly after it (to the right)

For verbs only :

-yu Typically turns a verb into a noun who is a doer of that verb. e.g. taron=hunt, taronyu =hunter


All Verb Infixes :

Pre-first position :

<äp> reflexive. using this means the subject is doing the verb to his/her self. the verb then can only take one subject which gets no case marks. e.g. poan y<äp>ur=He washes himself.
<eyk> Causitive. This makes it so the subject noun is either: A) causing a noun to verb. B) causing a noun to verb another noun. e.g. nga-l oe-ti h<eyk>ahaw=You cause/make me to sleep. Oe-l nga-ru po-ti t<eyk>aron=I cause/make you to hunt him.

First position :

Tenses (having to do with time) :

<am> Past
<ìm> Recent past
<ìy> Near future
<ìsy> Near future with determination
<ay> Future
<asy> Future with determination

Aspects (nothing to do with time) :

<ol> Perfective (action has been done)
<er> Imperfective (action in progress)

Combining tense and aspect :

<alm> Past perfective. Action has happened in the past.
<ìlm> Recent past perfective. Action has just happened recently.
<ìly> Near future perfective. Action will have been done soon.
<aly> Future perfective. Action will have been done.
<arm> Past imperfective. Action was being done in the past.
<ìrm> Recent past imperfective. Action was just being done recently.
<ìry> Near future imperfective. Action is about to be happening soon.
<ary> Future imperfective. Action will be happening

Subjunctive :

<iv> A) required in secondary verbs which come after modal verbs. e.g. Oe zene yivom=I must eat. B)used with wishes, hopes, etc. This includes verbs appearing after fte or fteke. C) used optionally in commands. D) sensible way to translate "would verb"

Combining Subjunctive with Tense :

<imv> Past subjunctive.
<iyev> or <ìyev> Future subjunctive.

Combining Subjunctive with Aspect :

<ilv> Perfective Subjunctive.
<irv> Imperfective Subjunctive.
Either of the above are mostly only used in I wish noun were verbing or I wish noun had verbed. (nìrangal ...)

Participles :

<us> Active Participle. This turns a verb into an attributive adjective in the form "The Verbing noun..." e.g. h<us>ahaw-a nantang=A sleeping Viperwolf
<awn> Passive Participle. This turns a verb into an attributive adjective in the form "The Verbed noun..." e.g. palulukan a-t<awn>aron hrrap ke lu=A hunted thanator is not dangerous.

Second Position :

<ei> This means that whoever speaking has a positive attitude/mood/feeling toward what's being said.
<äng> This means whoever is speaking has a negative attitude/mood/feeling toward what's being said. It commonly turns into <eng> when followed by the letter i.
<uy> Honorific. Formal, ceremonial, and rare.
<ats> Inferential. Used when making assumptions e.g. Pol fìtsengit ke tok. Kelkuti t<ats>ok=He is not here. (he) must be home

[Niri Te]

GUESS WHO JUST SAVED THE WHOLE LESSON IN HER DOCUMENTS???
Niri Te

[Txonä Rolyu]

This is pretty much exactly what I have in my lesson post on here Only difference is the prefixes, suffixes and -a- of attribution.

Post 1

Post 2

-Txonä Rolyu

[TireaAean]

****!!ORIGINAL POST EDITIED!!****


Sorry for redundancy, I just thought it might be helpful to have an all inclusive list of All Productive Affixes with a few examples.

If it needs more examples let me know.

Also, it took me ages to type OP with mobile devices. But imo worth it.


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

[TireaAean]

Wow ma Txonä. Very thorough. This thread OP however was just meant to be a quick exhaustive list rather than a deep analysis which is what you did and I very much appreciate that

[Niri Te]

If you lived next door to me, (Here in west Texas, that means two miles down the road), I would fix your car just for the price of the parts, if you would teach Ateyo and I Na'vi.
Niri Te

[TireaAean]

Sorry I keep editing OP. But I wanted it to get the indentation right as well as move nì to correct section, etc etc.

[Niri Te]

It's OK ma tsmukan, it keeps Ateyo and I on our toes.
Niri Te

['Oma Tirea]

The thread back at LN has been fixed up as well, and I just made some more remarks there....

[TireaAean]

I will update this thread when its LN version gets updated.

[TireaAean]

OP updated to be current with the LearnNavi version. (Clarified Case allomorphs by the persistent suggestion of 'Oma Tirea)