6.6

## 6.6.1 - Degree and Quantity

Adverbs of degree and quantity very often follow the element they modify, **’Rrtamì tsranten nìtxan awngaru nìwotx** *on Earth it matters very much to us all*.

**6.6.1.1** With predicate adjectives a very common pattern is ADJ **lu** ADV, **ngeyä lì’fya leNa’vi txantsan lu nìngay** *your Na’vi is truly excellent*.

## 6.6.2 - With Gerunds

The gerund retains enough of its verbal nature that it, too, may take an adverb, **Koren a’awve tìruseyä ’awsiteng** *the first rule of living together.*

## 6.6.3 - Correlative Comparisons

The verbs **’ul** *increase* and **nän** *decrease* are used idiomatically as correlative adverbs, **’ul... ’ul** *the more... the more* and **nän... nän** *the less... the less*.

* **’Ul tskxekeng si, ’ul fnan.** *The more you practice, the better you’ll get.*
* **’Ul tute, ’ul tìngäzìk.** *The more people, the more problems.*
* **Nän ftia, nän lu skxom a emza’u.** *The less you study, the less chance you have of passing.*
* **Nän yom kxamtrr, ’ul ’efu ohakx kaym.** *The less you eat at noon, the hungrier you’ll feel in the evening.*

## 6.6.4 - Fìtxan and Nìftxan

Both adverbs **fìtxan** and **nìftxan** are used with the conjunction **kuma** (6.18.6) for result clauses,

* **Lu poe sevin nìftxan (or fìtxan) kuma yawne slolu oer.** *She was so beautiful that I fell in love with her.*

In these constructions the **akum/kuma** must be contiguous with the **fìtxan/nìftxan**.

## 6.6.5 - Keng

The adverb **keng**, *even*, is used to prop up unexpected information, **yom teylut keng oel** *even I eat teylu*.

## 6.6.6 - Li

The primary meaning of **li** is *already*, **tìkangkem li hasey lu** *the work is already finished*.

**6.6.6.1** The negative, **ke li**, means “not yet,” and uses pleonastic negation (6.16.2), **fo ke li ke polähem** *they have not yet arrived.*

**6.6.6.2** With imperatives **li** indicates strong urgency, **Ngal mi fìtsengit terok srak? Li kä!** *You’re still here? Get going!* With **ko** (6.22.1), **li ko** (accented on **li**) it means “well, get to it, then,” or “let’s get on it.”

**6.6.6.3** In answers it conveys a somewhat hesitant “yes,” much like English “sort of,”

* A: **Nga mllte srak?** *Do you agree?*
* B: **Li, slä…** *Well, yes, I guess so, but…*

The negative of this, **ke li**, means something like “not really.”

**6.6.6.4** When **li** is paired with the adposition **sre** they mean “by” in the temporal sense of “before or up to but, not after,” **kem si li trraysre** *do it by tomorrow*. If **sre** comes before the noun, it combines with **li** into **lisre**, which like **sre** will cause lenition, **kem si lisre srray** *do it by tomorrow.*

## 6.6.7 - Nìwotx

The adverb **nìwotx** *all (of), in toto, completely* is frequently used with plural nouns and pronouns to give a collective sense, **ayeylanur oeyä sì eylanur lì’fyayä leNa’vi nìwotx** *to all my friends and friends of the Na’vi language*, **tìfyawìntxuri oeyä perey aynga nìwotx** *you are all waiting for my guidance.*

**6.6.7.1** With dual number, the sense of **nìwotx** is both, **mefo nìwotx yolom** *they both ate*.

## 6.6.8 - Nìfya’o

A noun phrase built on **fya’o** can be used freely to produce adverbs of manner. In this construction the entire noun phrase is adverbialized, not just the word **nì-** is prefixed to, **nì-[fya’o letrrtrr]** *in an ordinary way*, **poe poltxe nìfya’o alaw** *she spoke clearly.*

**6.6.8.1** **Nìfya’o** can also take attributive phrases, **nìfya’o a hek** *in a way that’s strange.*

## 6.6.9 - "Kop" and "nìteng"

Both **kop** and **nìteng** answer to the English adverb *also*. **Kop** has more the sense of *in addition, further*, while **nìteng** means *similarly, too, likewise*. Compare **oel poleng kop poru tsa’ut** *I also (in addition) told him that* to **oel poleng nìteng poru tsa’ut** *I told him that, too.*

**6.6.9.1** They can even be used together, **furia nga lu nitram, lu oe kop nitram nìteng** *since you’re happy, I, too, am also happy.*

## 6.6.10 - Sunkesun

The adverb **sunkesun** *like it or not* is a shortened form of **sunu ke sunu** with the default addressee being you, **sunkesun po slayu olo’eyktan** *whether you like it or not, he’s going to become chief*.

**6.6.10.1** Note that **sunkesun** can only be addressed to the listener, otherwise one must use a **ftxey... fuke** construction, **pol vìyewng ayevengit fìha’ngir, ftxey sunu fuke** *He is going to take care of the children this afternoon, whether he likes it or not.*

## Open Questions

**6.6.8.2** - Perhaps a note about sentence adverbs vs. nìfya'o forms?

1. ↑ http://naviteri.org/2012/02/trr-asawnung-lefpom-happy-leap-day/
2. ↑ http://naviteri.org/2012/06/spring-vocabulary-part-3/
3. ↑ http://naviteri.org/2011/02/new-vocabulary-part-2/
4. ↑ http://naviteri.org/2011/09/%E2%80%9Cby-the-way-what-are-you-reading%E2%80%9D/comment-page-1/%23comment-1092
5. ↑ http://naviteri.org/2011/08/new-vocabulary-clothing/
6. ↑ http://naviteri.org/2019/06/50a-liu-amip-40-new-words/