Na'vi/Adpositions

Besides case, the role of a noun in a clause may be indicated with an Glossary adp adposition. This may occur either as a Glossary preposition before the noun, as in English, or as an Glossary 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. {| class=wikitable !align=left| Adp. !!align=left| Len.    !!align=left| English !!align=left| Example !!align=left| Translation |- | äo ||− || "under" || äo Utral Aymokriyä || under the Tree of Voices |- | eo ||− || "before (place), in front of" || eo ayoeng || before us |- | io ||− || "above" || |- | uo ||− || "behind" || |- | fa ||− || "with", "by means of"  (instrument) || aylìʼufa ʼeylanä || in 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 ngahuhu Eywa ||Gaia (be) with youwith Eywa |- | ìlä ||+||"via, along, by" |- | ka ||− ||"across" |- | kip ||− || "among" || ayngakip || among you |- | kxamlä ||− || "through (the middle of)" || || (kxam "the middle" ìlä "via")Kxamlä does not cause lenition, though its component ilä does. |- | lok ||−|| "close to" || lok ʼawkx, ʼawkxlok || near the cliff (also a verb, "to approach") |- | luke ||−|| "without" || lu luke kxu || be without harm |- | maw ||−|| "after" (in time) || maw hìkrr || in a moment |- | mì ||+|| "in", "on" || mì teʼlanʼRrtamìfìtrrmì || in the heart(s)on Earthon this day |- | mìkam ||−|| "between" || || (mì "in" kxam "the middle") |- | mungwrr   ||−|| "except" || éyktanmungwrr || except the leader |- | na ||− || "like", "as" || na ayskxe mì teʼlanrel na uniltìranyu || like stones in my heart (simile)a picture as an avatar (form) |-valign=top | ne ||− || "to" (direction) || terìran ayoe aynganetsenge a tsane po karmä || we are walking your waythe place to which she was going |- | nemfa ||− || "into" || || (from ne mì+fa) |- | pxaw ||− || "around" || |- | pxel ||− || "like", "such as" || sute pxel nga || people such as you |- | ro ||+ || "at" (location) || ro fäpa, ro helku || at the top, at home |- | sì ||− || "and" (phrases)Syntactically, sì is a Glossary 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. || trrä sì txonä,aylìʼut horentisì || of day and night,words and rules |- | sìn ||− || "on", "onto" (?) || |- | sre ||+ || "before" (time) || sreseʼa || prophesize |- | ta ||− || "from" (generic) || aungia ta Eywa || a sign from Eywa |- | takip ||− || "from among" || |- | tafkip ||− || "from up among" || |- | teri ||− || "about, concerning" || teri lìʼfya leNaʼvi plltxe   || talk about the Naʼvi language |-valign=top | vay ||−|| "up to" (space or time) || vay setvaykrr ||up 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";Perhaps related to the em in emzaʼu "to pass a test, overcome a challenge". 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 Glossary 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. {|class=wikitable ! !!colspan=2| noun !!colspan=2| preposition + noun ||colspan=2| noun-suffix |- !Singular | tokx || "body" ||rowspan=2| mì sokx || "in the body" || tokxmì || "in the body" |- !Short plural | sokx ||rowspan=2| "bodies" ||rowspan=2| "in the bodies" || sokxmì ||rowspan=2| "in the bodies" |- !Long plural | aysokx || mì aysokx || aysokxmì |} Notes Pronouns Adjectives