2 questions regarding Na'vi alphaber

[_Omaticaya_]

Yeah, the 'a's are different, way different, and in every language it's pronounced differently. I speak italian too (lived in Italy 14 years) and I can tell you it's obviously totally different to say 'cAsa' and 'fAther', way different. Plus as Tm20 said there' all the various dialects and accents, I'm english so my 'a' sounds different in american or irish scottish or australian, thas what makes languages so cool i think And also, i studied latin for 5 years, and for example there are things called 'diphtongs' like 'ae', in a word like 'Rosae' and with two vows together you only pronounce the 'e', the second one. Anyway, I'm getting boring, but just to say, our aphabet varies tone aswell I reckon.

[Kroen]

But Na'vi is NOT a tonal language... a tonal language means there are words, that, you can pronounce the SAME word in different ways and it would mean something else... for example, in mandarin chinese, the word ma, if pronounced one way, means mother, but if pronounced in another way it means horse. Does Na'vi have words in which the SAME word can mean 2 different things? If the answer is "no" then there's zero need for two different a's.

[_Omaticaya_]

I guess you're right mate, well I can't help you more than that because I don't know enough about this stuff, and not enough Na'vi... It'd be good to ask Frommer all you needed to know hey?

[Wameyn]

I'd go here and ask, I'm pretty sure they can help you out

Learn Na'vi Community - Index

[Crunchy Hamster]

Hello!

I am a newbie to this forest - so to speak, so please be kind to me. I have taught ESL and EAP for the past 6 years, studied Japanese and Chinese as undergrad majors and Applied Linguistics as a postgrad.
So, hopefully, my response is based on factual information and is understandable enough. First, there are a couple of clarifications that must be made.

TL;DR Here:

1. a and ä, while both are vowel sounds, are pronounced differently - in a different part of the mouth.

a = Open front unrounded vowel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
ä = Open central unrounded vowel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2. Paul didn't make a writing system because he didn't need to - he just needed the cast to be able to speak the words, not write them.
Personally, I think that Na'vi only being a spoken language fits: culture - including history and language, is instead passed down in song.

Longer explanation:

A) There is a difference between sounds and tones.

All languages have sounds. Some languages have tones. Using the example you gave earlier: "ma". Ma, by itself, is a sound.
Said with a tonal inflection that falls and then rises (mǎ), it means horse. Said with a tonal inflection that is flat (does not rise or fall) (mā), it means mother.

B) The differences between written and spoken language and phonetic transcription

There seems to be a bit of confusion in that, in English, both "father" and "cat" are written the same. This is true - in writing, both are written with an "a". However, the "a" is said differently.
To address this, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) was created. Link: International Phonetic Alphabet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Currently, its symbols can be used to create any sound, tone or noise in all 'known' languages.
You will see the IPA used in many dictionaries, both online and offline. For example, please have a look at the entries for the following:

Cat: Cat | Define Cat at Dictionary.com
Father: Father | Define Father at Dictionary.com

As you will see, the pronunciation of the a in cat is represented with the symbol æ (Near-open front unrounded vowel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
The pronunciation with the a in father is represented with the symbol ɑ (Open back unrounded vowel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Now, the above example shows a clear difference in how two words are written compared to how they are said. Some languages other than English, however, are pictographic - the words are symbols or characters.
For example, Chinese, is pictographic: the characters or hanzi are made up of small parts called "radicals" (Cojak Hanzi Dictionary: Unihan Hanzi Radical Chart) Some radicals provide meaning and others provide pronunciaton.
To assist with pronunciation, a transcription system called pīnyīn was also created. mǎ and mā are both examples of this: Pinyin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
So, in Chinese, you have pictographic writing and a transcription system that can help with the pronunciation of tones.

If you are learning Chinese as a second or other language, you can use the IPA to help you - as you can see, there is a large section on tones: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...t_2005_png.svg
However, personally, I would start by learning the sounds used in Chinese, colloquially called bopomofo (Bopomofo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) - this would be similar to learning the English alphabet.
Then, you would learn pīnyīn beginning with the memorisation of characters in terms of meaning and pronunciation.

There are two reasons why I bring the above points up. First, due to the existance of pīnyīn the IPA is not absolutely necessary to learning Chinese. Better to use a system created specifically for the language.
This brings me to my second reason: Na'vi does not have its own writing system. From the wiki page: "The fictional language Na’vi of Pandora is unwritten. However, the actual (studio) language is written in the Latin alphabet for the actors of Avatar." (Na'vi language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Thus, the Na'vi language is written down in a way that can be easily pronounced - and the IPA is used to assist pronunciation.

I hope this helps - if anyone wants anything I have written to be clarified, please let me know!

- Crunchy Hamster

[Crunchy Hamster]

Sorry to add another post, but I found an excellent resource that will help with the phonetics and phonology of Na'vi: Na'vi Phonetics and Phonology

Similar to Dictionary.com entries, the above page provides the IPA transcription and what they call a "literal" spelling.

Using an IPA chart that links to sound recording such as this one: ipachart, you can listen to and practice all the sounds in the Na'vi language!

[Ximphron]

For a couple of reasons. The a in "cat" and "father" are pronounced differently. In most languages this would be represented by an accent mark like in na'vi, but English has a terrible spelling system and doesn't differentiate.
Using just a, e, a, o, and u are okay for languages that only have five vowels. English has 12 vowels (excluding diphthongs) and only 5 symbols for them. Na'vi needs that mark to show the found difference. If you were speaking Na'vi and messed up a vowel you might be saying something completely different.

From what I understand, there is no na'vi written language. They have no need for one.

[MarkD]

I wonder if the Na'vi have a written language at all? One author, Xenobia who wrote Tiger's Hunt does show this. the Na'vi in her story have a writing system. IMO who knows in the movies if we'll see this or not.

[Ximphron]

I wonder if the Na'vi have a written language at all? One author, Xenobia who wrote Tiger's Hunt does show this. the Na'vi in her story have a writing system. IMO who knows in the movies if we'll see this or not.

The Na'vi have none of the conditions that furthered the development of writing here on Earth. Writing has always been formed out of necessity, and fallen out of use when it is no longer needed. The Na'vi have no use for writing, so my guess would be no.