Za'U Adv. Ne X … As “Feel”
Posted by plumps. on 4/10/2026
I had this question in the comments when this construction first appeared back in July 2025 (https://naviteri.org/2025/07/ayu-leketengsyon-various-things/) but Pawl never answered that one <:tongue1:716776477785456722> so I asked him directly:
Quote:
This (by now not) new idiom with za’u + [adverb] + ne + [sense organ] back from July of last year … we have ftxì, nari, mikyun varified and I guess, ontu for smell is unambiguous but you never specified what the sense organ for ‘feel’ might be: is it ta’leng? Or tsyokx/zekwä?
His answer arrived yesterday:
Quote:
As for your Na’vi question . . . it’s a good one! Your suggestions about tsyokx, zekwä, ta’leng are all good candidates. I was going to opt for zekwä, since the first example I thought of was where someone feels a piece of cloth—maybe a new shirt or necktie—with their hand and likes the physical sensation of running their fingers along the smooth material. But then I realized you can enjoy the physical sensation of simply wearing a new shirt without your hands touching it . . . it’s just that it feels good on your body. So since our skin is the sense organ for touch, I’d go with ta’leng.
So, there you have it. Another idiomatic gap filled <:smiley1:719559932986261565>