Na'vi Language

The Na'vi language is the constructed language of the indigenous Na'vi used in the Avatar films and video games. It was created by Paul Frommer, a professor at the Marshall School of Business with a doctorate in linguistics. He designed the language according to fit it to some of James Cameron's ideas of how the language should sound. Beside this, the only constraint was that it had to be learnable and pronounceable by the actors.
The Na'vi have a tribal communal culture. Their history is passed down by oral tradition through stories. Humans, in order to document it, use most English alphabet letters, plus two diacritics (ä, ì), digraphs to represent the three ejectives (px, tx, kx), and an apostrophe as a glottal stop.
There are several avenues available to learn Na'vi. Two main websites are dedicated to the learning of the language: Kelutral.org and LearnNa'vi.org.
Paul Frommer regularly uploads pronunciation guides to his Soundcloud channel, The Sounds of Pandora, and continues to describe and expand the language on his blog, Na’viteri.
==Na'vi pictograms==
The Na'vi do not have a phonetic or ideographic script for the language, but do have pictograms. These are seen at the Old School House for example.https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2017/03/countdown-to-pandora-the-world-of-avatar-continues-with-first-look-at-navi-translator-device/ Na'vi made signage in the park reflects that, with totems used to signify where rides are.http://wdwnt.com/blog/2017/03/new-details-pandora-world-avatar-no-attraction-signage-wilderness-explorers-banshee-connect-avatar-no-disney-bags-etc/https://twitter.com/visitpandora/status/835211619294658565
In some earlier sources there was evidence of a written script, but these are now considered non canonical. These include readable signs and texts in the 2009 Nintendo DS game, written by the Tawkami Clan, a clan known for their sharing of lore. The weapons of the Anurai Clan in the 2009 Wii/PSP game were also engraved with runes.
==Vocabulary==
* https://dict-navi.com/ (searchable, multi-language database)
* https://reykunyu.lu/ (another multi-language database with audio samples)
==Behind the scenes==
The Na’vi language was created by Paul Frommer, a professor at the Marshall School of Business with a doctorate in linguistics. Na'vi was designed to emulate the general aural feel and flavor of Polynesian languages,http://usoproject.blogspot.com/2009/11/interview-with-paul-frommer-alien.html such as Maori, one of the three official languages of New Zealand.https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/3248154/Avatar-language-based-on-Maori
==See also==
* Spoken Na'vi in Avatar
* Spoken Na'vi in Avatar: The Way of Water
* Spoken Na'vi in Flight of Passage
* Spoken Na'vi in Na'vi River Journey
==References==
==External links==
*Paul Frommer's blog
*Kelutral.org
*The Sounds of Pandora - Pronunciation Clips
*LearnNa'vi.org
de:Na'vi (Sprache)
es:Lengua na'vi
ja:ナヴィ語
nl:Na'vi taal
pl:Język Na'vi
ru:На’ви (язык)
Category:Avatar
Category:Language
Category:Na'vi culture