# Na'vi/Adpositions

Besides case, the role of a noun in a clause may be indicated with an adposition. This may occur either as a preposition before the noun, as in English, or as an suffix at the end of the noun, as in Japanese, a greater degree of freedom than human languages allow. For example, "with you" may be either hu nga or ngahu. When used as suffixes, they are much like the numerous cases found in Hungarian and Finnish.

## Attested adpositions

Adpositions may be stressed when they occur as prepositions, but not as suffixes, where they have no effect on the stress of the noun.
    Adp.Len. EnglishExampleTranslation äo−"under"äo Utral Aymokriyäunder the Tree of Voices eo−"before (place), in front of"eo ayoengbefore us io−"above" uo−"behind" fa−"with", "by means of" (instrument)aylìʼufa ʼeylanäin the words of a friend fkip−"up among" fpi+"for the sake of" ftu−"from" (direction)Note irregular ftu sat "from that" hu−"with, together with" (accompaniment)Eywa ngahu hu EywaGaia (be) with you with Eywa ìlä+"via, along, by" ka−"across" kip−"among"ayngakipamong you kxamlä−"through (the middle of)"(kxam "the middle" ìlä "via") lok−"close to"lok ʼawkx, ʼawkxloknear the cliff (also a verb, "to approach") luke−"without"lu luke kxube without harm maw−"after" (in time)maw hìkrrin a moment mì+"in", "on"mì teʼlan ʼRrtamì fìtrrmìin the heart(s) on Earth on this day mìkam−"between"(mì "in" kxam "the middle") mungwrr −"except"éyktanmungwrrexcept the leader na−"like", "as"na ayskxe mì teʼlan rel na uniltìranyulike stones in my heart (simile) a picture as an avatar (form) ne−"to" (direction)terìran ayoe ayngane tsenge a tsane po karmäwe are walking your way the place to which she was going nemfa−"into"(from ne mì+fa) pxaw−"around" pxel−"like", "such as"sute pxel ngapeople such as you ro+"at" (location)ro fäpa, ro helkuat the top, at home sì−"and" (phrases)trrä sì txonä, aylìʼut horentisìof day and night, words and rules sìn−"on", "onto" (?) sre+"before" (time)sreseʼaprophesize ta−"from" (generic)aungia ta Eywaa sign from Eywa takip−"from among" tafkip−"from up among" teri−"about, concerning"teri lìʼfya leNaʼvi plltxe talk about the Naʼvi language vay−"up to" (space or time)vay set vaykrrup to now, still, (with a negative verb) not yet until wä+"against"(as in "fight against")
Various locative and temporal adverbs are derived from these: neʼìm "toward the back", nefä "upwards", nekll "downwards"; taʼem "from above"; mawkrr "after, afterwards"; srekrr "before, beforehand". Note also kä neto "go away (toward the distance)" and tok mìso "be there in the distance", both perhaps based on the particle to "than". Sreseʼa "to prophesize" is literally "to foresee", sre+tseʼa.
There are words besides traditional adpositions that have the same dual preposition/suffix use, such as sì "and" and pe+, -pe "which?", though the latter case is a dual prefix/suffix (peu, ʼupe "what?"—see Questions), never a preposition.
Though a prefix, the adverbial nì- "-ly" functions as a generic adposition: nìfyaʼo alaw "in a clear manner". It may be used where no specific adposition is correct; mì fyaʼo, for example, would mean literally "in the way, on the path", not *"in the manner".

## Lenition and the ambiguity of short plurals

When used as prepositions, certain of these trigger lenition, marked "+" in the table above. One of the leniting prepositions is mì "in", as in mì sokx "in the body", from tokx "the body". This may cause some ambiguity with short plurals: mì sokx could also be short for mì aysokx "in the bodies". When mì is used as a suffix, however, the noun is not lenited.
    nounpreposition + nounnoun-suffix Singular tokx"body"mì sokx"in the body"tokxmì"in the body" Short plural sokx"bodies""in the bodies"sokxmì"in the bodies" Long plural aysokxmì aysokxaysokxmì

## Notes

* ↑ Kxamlä does not cause lenition, though its component ilä does.
* ↑ Syntactically, sì is a conjunction, and is used regardless of the presence of true adpositions or case, but it is included here because it may be either preposed or suffixed as the adpositions are.
* ↑ Perhaps related to the em in emzaʼu "to pass a test, overcome a challenge".
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