Introduction
Na'vi has what is referred to as "limited free word order", which means that in most circumstances the way a sentence is arranged is subject to how the speaker wants it to flow. This is achieved through marking nouns for their role in a sentence via noun case endings, which helps to identify their role in the sentence regardless of placement.
The Core Three
There are three primary noun case endings, the agentive, the patientive, and the dative. More information on these three types can be found below:
| Ending (Consonant / Vowel) | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Agentive | / | |
| Patientive | / | |
| Dative | / |
Different noun case endings are used depending on whether the verb in the sentence is transitive or intransitive. Each has two variations, depending on whether the noun ends with a consonant or a vowel.
In simple transitive sentences like , both the agentive and patientive are used. However, there are some exceptions to this rule where one or both of these may be omitted.
The dative can be used with both intransitive and transitive verbs as necessary.
Note that the overview shown above is a simplification, specifically with diphthongs in combination with -ti & -ru, special rules apply which will not be discussed in this introduction.
The Genitive / Possessive
The fourth noun case is called the genitive. In Na'vi, the genitive case is used to create possessive nouns. The genitive case has two endings, which can be found below:
| Ending | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Consonants, -o and -u | ||
| All other Vowels |
The created possessive noun must come directly before or after the noun that it is possessing. For example, to say "my bow", you could either say or and be correct. The possessive case ending can also be roughly translated as "of the", like in the film line . For pronouns, becomes and the ending vowel is dropped ie. does not become *, but instead .
The Topical
The fifth and final noun case is the topical. The topical will always come at the beginning of a clause, and it deals with the topic of a verb or sentence. The topical has two case endings, which can be found below:
| Ending | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Topical | / |
The topical is used for a variety of things in Na'vi. Primarily it serves to set context for a sentence or "cheat" a direct object into an intransitive verb, like in the sentence . This occurs more frequently with intransitive verbs, though it's not impossible to need it for a transitive verb.
The topical can also be used for inalienable possession, which are for things like your , or , that for all intents and purposes can never belong to anyone else.