Ma eylan,

Tse, Vospxìvolaw polähem sneyä tì’i’aro, ulte leiu oe txen.

(If you don’t know the reference, try this.)

We haven’t had any new vocabulary in a long time, so here are a couple dozen words I hope you’ll find useful. They’re taken from, or inspired by, the large backlog of submissions I have from the LEP committee. Seysonìltsan, ma smuk!

In no particular order:

keve’o (n., ke.VE’.o) ‘chaos, disorder’

This is from ke + ve’o ‘order.’

Ngeyä aysafpìlmì tse’änga oel keve’ot nì’aw.‘In your thinking, I see only chaos.’

lekve’o (adj., lek.VE’-o) ‘chaotic’

Lam oeru kifkey lekve’o.‘The world seems chaotic to me.’

vurtu (n., VUR.tu) ‘fictional character’

Txon Kihote lu vurtu nì’aw; ke fkeytolok kawkrr.Don Quixote is a fictional character; he never existed.

tstunlan (adj., TSTUN.lan) ‘kind-hearted’

From tstunwi ‘kind’ + txe’lan ‘heart.’ It’s the opposite of kawnglan ‘bad-hearted, malicious.’

kalintu (n., ka.LIN.tu) ‘sweet person’

Lu nga kalintu nìngay.‘You’re really a sweet person.’

Kalintu can be used as an endearing form of address, as in ma kalintu, but it’s not as intimate or affectionate as paskalin.

txeym (adj.) ‘interested’

As an adjective, txeym is used with ’efu. So we now have two ways to say we’re interested in something:

Oeri tsavur eltur tìtxen si.
Tsavuri oe ’efu txeym.
‘I’m interested in that story.’

Txeym, however, yields the noun for ‘interest’:

tìtxeym (n., tì.TXEYM) ‘interest’

Feyä vuri lolu txana tìtxeym.
‘There was great interest in their story.’

tengralì’u (n., TENG.ra.lì.u) ‘synonym’

This is clearly derived from teng ‘same’ + ral ‘meaning’ + lì’u ‘word.’

Melì’u alu pxel sì na lu tengralì’u.
‘The two words pxel and na are synonyms.’

wäralì’u (n., WÄ.ra.lì.u) ‘antonym’

Recall that wä means ‘opposing.’

zal (n.) ‘clay, usually for pottery’

Fkol fìfnetsngalit txula ta zal.
‘This kind of cup is made of clay.’

let’eylan (adj., let.’EY.lan) ‘friendly’ ofp

tì’eylanga’ (adj., tì.EY.la.nga’) ‘friendly’ nfp

Ayhapxìtu soaiä ngeyä lu oeru let’eylan nìwotx.
‘Your family members are all friendly to me.’

Ngeyä aylì’uri atì’eylanga’ seiyi irayo.‘Thank you for your friendly words.’

hasa’ (n. ha.SA’) ‘orphan’

Krrka tsam slängu pxaya ’eveng hasa’.
‘During war, sad to say, many children become orphans.’

yehaw (adj., YE.haw) ‘well-rested, having had enough sleep’

As you recall, ye is an adjective meaning ‘content’ or ‘satiated.’ The second syllable, of course, comes from hahaw ‘sleep.’

Lam frakem letsunslu krra fko ’efu yehaw.‘Everything seems possible when one is well-rested.’

tseovi (n., TSE.o.vi) ‘work of art’

Fìfkxile lu tseovi alor.‘This necklace is a beautiful work of art.’

tìnitram (n., tì.nit.RAM) ‘happiness’

We now have three words that refer to happiness: fpom, lawnol, and tìnitram. Although there is overlap, they’re all slightly different in meaning. Fpom refers to the general feeling or situation of peace and well-being in your life. Lawnol is the most intense of the three—a transcendant feeling of joy. Tìnitram usually refers to the happiness resulting from a particular situation or event.

Note the two equivalent grammatical constructions:

Oe ’efu nitram.
Lu oer(u) tìnitram.
‘I feel happy.’

okupsyu (n., O.kup.syu) ‘dairy product’

Clearly from okup ‘milk’ + syuve ‘food.’

stxang (n.) ‘axe, hatchet, tomahawk’

There was some discussion about whether the Na’vi traditionally use axe-like tools, but it seems plausible that they do, since these are natural tools for chopping down trees and other vegetation.

tìwätenga’ (adj., tì.wä.TE.nga’) ‘controversial’ nfp

Recall the word tìwäte, meaning ‘argument’ or ‘dispute.’

Fipukmì a aysäfpìl lu tìwätenga’ nìtxan.‘The ideas in this book are very controversial.’

velun (n., ve.LUN) ‘logic’

This is a compound of ve’o ‘order’ + lun ‘reason.’

Ngeyä tìhawlìri ke längu kea velun.‘I’m sorry to say there’s no logic in your plan.’

säpxor (n., sä.PXOR) ‘explosion’

Stìmawm säpxorit! Tul!‘(I) just heard an explosion! Run!’

txikx (vtr.) ‘chew’

säkeynven (n., sä.keyn.VEN) ‘step’

This word is colloquially pronounced skeynven and often written that way informally.

Rawng tsaslärä ftu fìtsenge lu vola skeyven nì’aw.‘The entrance to the cave is only eight steps from here.’

kawlo (adv., KAW.lo) ‘not once’

This is a contraction of ke ‘not’ + ’awlo ‘one time.’

Oel keng kawlo ke solar kea räptulì’fyat ngahu!‘I have never even once used vulgar language with you!’

That’s it for now. If you see any typos or other goofs, please let me know!

Hayalovay!