Learning languages is not all about its usefulness. It is about immersing oneself in other cultures, in other ways of thinking, so that we may better understand the world. In the case of fictional languages, it helps us to understand the possibilities and celebrate the creative power of the human mind. All I can say to others who have attempted to learn a fictional language is good on you. It is a noble and difficult task to undertake.
lionroar224 It's fantastic and I agree. I'm going to college to be an English and ESL teacher but I also have an interest in linguistics. It's a powerful science and the dedication is remarkable.
The authenticity of the language intrigued me when I first watched the film; reminded me of Tolkien. It helps to create a depth of "reality" in a story. James Cameron sees his world much the same way Tolkien sees Middle Earth. Or perhaps like J.K. Rowling see's Hogwarts. Their stories are in a way "real" to them.
Creating a whole truly working language for a film or series is just a beautiful intuitive level of depth and attention to detail. I love when developers go this deep into the process.
On James Cameron's Avatar.... fans of this film and its aspects usually do not fit the common mold of other Science fiction films , because the film itself has reflective elements relating to core aspects of our own very "real" world challenges and internal aspects of humanity root issues on many levels. Avatar's so called fans often hold strong community bridging conversations upon such matters from a very deep place of collective expression ,, The Na'vi language and its place of expression By refelctive example are a part of this , But our own traditinal peoples source reflect them in there internal language expression strutures in very powerful ways not common in our expression and dialog today,, Take for example the root expression place of Zulu language word "Sawubona" I would have never discovered or had a clue to its "expression" place if was not for the examples of the Constructed Na'vi Language, and the films powerful storyline paired together.. the youtube example from the global oneness project helps define the meaning .. Thank you Paul Former.
@StoneShoulderz We already have languages, specifically for this. Nobody learns them because nobody knows them, and nobody knows them because nobody learns them. They're called International Auxiliary Languages, like Esperanto, Ido, Lojban, etc. Na'vi is much harder to learn than these. People are only learning this because they want to connect to the movie, and don't care so much about what people actually speak.
@ScytheTiger Very good! One little thing though, nì- is the adverbial deriving prefix not the noun one ;) I'll still give you the cookie though because of that nice sentence you wrote for ExSoldierSith ;)
@STAINILIIEY I'm learning japanese because next year I'm going to study there, Learning a foreign language doesn't have to be linked to videogames or cartoons. Oh and for your information, Na'vi is fictional, not real
there are those that know fictional languages like klingon and elvish from lord of the rings so I wouldn't doubt people would be learning something like this.
@polarbearlulz People learn fictional languages all the time. Some colleges offer Elvish, Dwarvish, and Orc languages as classes. If you think it's stupid maybe you should try to learn a new language (real or made up). It really broadens your mind and makes you appreciate other cultures, even if they are just in movies.
I get the point, if youre very interested in language. it would just be something funny to learn Na'vi, can be compared to learning klingon in Star Trek i guess. Fan + Interest in language = Fun learning the language :) As long as people do what makes them happy.
Hillarious, a foreign language based on the English language structure, a very different language structure compared to most of the languages on earth.
@gaurdienshadow: I just watched the film for the first time after seeing it in the theater when it first came out, and now that I am seeing it over agian Im noticing certain aspects of native american culture. I guess how i was thinking african originally was the dialect and the accent... as well as their uses of oral tradition. That was present in both cultures though too. Oh well... I'll call it a mix. LOL.
@GisleAune Well that's good, but I don't believe Grace called it that; I recall it being about two syllables. Maybe she called it "Li'fya". Thanks anyway.
Im not sure what's the problem with all the comments about the avatar's language. I think this guy is very creative, but it's not the first one though. There's a book of a Hobbits language (Remember TLOFR "The Lord of The Ring")m Tolkien invented a supporting language to the full story, just like they have to create clothing, weapons, creatures, vehicles and everything for any movie
linguistics is really fascinating to me. When he talks about strange sounds he's using aspirated sounds such as 끄 and 쁘 like you see in korean (which incidentally I'm kinda lousy at).
Wow...I can't believe how much hype this 2010 version of 'Fern Gully' received..now people are wanting to learn a fictional language...can't wait for the sequel...yay..
@QuartuvLarry The script has nothing to do with it, it's more the world Cameron created. Because not everyone likes microscopy and astronomy. Also don't think that people who learn Na'vi have nothing better to do, many have a lot going on in life, we just are open minded and like to try new things unlike some people. Stop judging something just because you personally don't enjoy it. To each their own.
@Xinadium Learning a language, even if it has been created from a Movie, shouldn't deem someone a "nerd." I thought they were called 'Linguists." Rather than shoot down the idea, try it first.
In the end it stood no chance against the much more flexible native indo-european languages like for instance the germanic dialects which spawned highly successful languages like english. Once only spoken by a few hundred thousands, germanic surpassed latin and evolved into languages like german, english, danish, norwegian or swedish. Today english and german are the most widely spoken of them with around 400 million speakers.
I always find make up languages in movies so cringy. Avatar was no exception. Then i looked this guy up and it turned it around, acually pretty damn cool that he did this.
@KarrotKun1 There is already at least one college I've read about that teaches Tolkien Elvish. Who knows. In 50 years maybe they will be teaching Na'vi in universities.
Many of you ask "Why would anyone want to learn Na'vi? whats the point?" The FACT of the matter is: People from all over the world are learning Na'vi, and can finally communicate together with THIS single language. A German cant speak to a French person (assuming he doesnt know French). However if they both know Na'vi, they can communicate! That applies to ALL races. There is no Language barrier! Learn it :)
I am appalled at the amount of insulting comments. Seriously, what is wrong with being a nerd? They build/create things which are cool so whats with the "Get a life!" and what not? I would think people would be like, MAKE MOAR KOOL THINGYS!!
@kitty10174 it's just something fun. i hope no body is learning this to actually use outside of just calling your friend a moron or something. but hey if they do intend on using it for real then it's their problem.
@mindstormsabrewin true, but so what if native languages are lost? i've been thinking about it, but i don't see why culture loss worries so many people. one idea that keeps popping up is 'you need to know where you come from, to know who you want to be'; but its just that, a thought, doesn't lead me to a good answer. peace
@polarbearlulz I ran into some people at a suncoast or whatever that old dvd store was called and they spoke that weird ass elf language from lord of the rings...There are no words.
@2ndprodigy Both languages are completely fictional, however Elvish is incomplete, the grammar rules (depending on whether your learning sindarin or quenya) are kind of jumbled. Tolkein never intended for elvish to be a fully spoken language whereas Frommer does :]
can the professor make like his own youtube account and just go over what he knows maybe if it wasnt so hard to find a good example this thing would really take off.
Learning languages is not all about its usefulness. It is about immersing oneself in other cultures, in other ways of thinking, so that we may better understand the world. In the case of fictional languages, it helps us to understand the possibilities and celebrate the creative power of the human mind. All I can say to others who have attempted to learn a fictional language is good on you. It is a noble and difficult task to undertake.
lionroar224 It's fantastic and I agree. I'm going to college to be an English and ESL teacher but I also have an interest in linguistics. It's a powerful science and the dedication is remarkable.
Irayo for uploading!
Eywa ayngahu!
I think the best-known Na'vi phrase is "I see you" Oel ngati kameie. That would be easy to abbreviate as ONK
haha
The authenticity of the language intrigued me when I first watched the film; reminded me of Tolkien. It helps to create a depth of "reality" in a story.
James Cameron sees his world much the same way Tolkien sees Middle Earth. Or perhaps like J.K. Rowling see's Hogwarts. Their stories are in a way "real" to them.
Aw..thats brilliant... I didn't know the language is moving on like that... fqscinating.
Creating a whole truly working language for a film or series is just a beautiful intuitive level of depth and attention to detail. I love when developers go this deep into the process.
I'm learning Na'vi right now. It's so much fun!
My god that interviewer is annoying. I don't think he could care less about the subject. He makes me cringe everytime he asks a question.
Paul should totally make a video series on how to speak na'vi!!
On James Cameron's Avatar.... fans of this film and its aspects usually do not fit the common mold of other Science fiction films , because the film itself has reflective elements relating to core aspects of our own very "real" world challenges and internal aspects of humanity root issues on many levels. Avatar's so called fans often hold strong community bridging conversations upon such matters from a very deep place of collective expression ,, The Na'vi language and its place of expression By refelctive example are a part of this , But our own traditinal peoples source reflect them in there internal language expression strutures in very powerful ways not common in our expression and dialog today,, Take for example the root expression place of Zulu language word "Sawubona" I would have never discovered or had a clue to its "expression" place if was not for the examples of the Constructed Na'vi Language, and the films powerful storyline paired together.. the youtube example from the global oneness project helps define the meaning .. Thank you Paul Former.
I think its impressive there are entire books on Pandora to go with the film, Cameron literally created a planet.
2017 come on!
There are still active communities to this day :D I'm a part of them
Oel tse'a kemit a nga soli fìtseng.
hhvhhvcz[Hahaw] kaltxì ma Hahaw! Ngaru lu fpom srak?
i think its amazing that people is learning the language.
THATS A FOCKING GENIOUS
That'll be the day... when you can major in Na'vi Language at university lol...
i love that movie :D i watch it alot even on my imvu ima na'vi x3
Alyssa Logan HAHAHAHAHA WOW THIS COMMENT IS HISTORIC
Pissed Myself From Laughter. Bravo.
maybe better questions next time?
wo0w! very exciting to meet Paul Frommer :D he made a nice job
THANKS!
"Dances with Smurfs!"
learning a movie language. sounds like a star trek or star wars phase everyone went through. it will soon die down.
The nerdness of people wanting to learn it aside - it is a pretty beautiful language.
@TheCaligirly Correction: eye in Na'vi is 'Nari'
Pluralized to eyes is 'MeNari'
You slightly roll the 'r'
:)
They learn it because it's of interest to them. So it doesn't have to benefit, but it sparks their interest.
Where can i learn this language?
@StoneShoulderz
We already have languages, specifically for this. Nobody learns them because nobody knows them, and nobody knows them because nobody learns them. They're called International Auxiliary Languages, like Esperanto, Ido, Lojban, etc. Na'vi is much harder to learn than these.
People are only learning this because they want to connect to the movie, and don't care so much about what people actually speak.
@ScytheTiger Very good! One little thing though, nì- is the adverbial deriving prefix not the noun one ;)
I'll still give you the cookie though because of that nice sentence you wrote for ExSoldierSith ;)
@mindstormsabrewin - very much agreed on this. The number of languages we lose in the world is something mindboggling like 10 or more a day.
Great material!
BUT WHY WASN'T IT INCLUDED ON THE DVD/BLURAY RELEASE!!!!
Why learn it? Why learn Klingon? For fun. XP And texting in Na'vi would be really fun to do. HRH!
@STAINILIIEY
I'm learning japanese because next year I'm going to study there, Learning a foreign language doesn't have to be linked to videogames or cartoons.
Oh and for your information, Na'vi is fictional, not real
their not comparing them, its just symbolism
The Challenging sounds he spoke of already exist in the Amharic language which is the main language of Ethiopia. Now i know why it sounded familiar :)
Hopefully I´ll get the "Avatar activist's survival guide" book for my birthday and from then study the language :D
there are those that know fictional languages like klingon and elvish from lord of the rings so I wouldn't doubt people would be learning something like this.
@mindstormsabrewin Bravo my friend! I couldn't have said it better myself.
Na'vi made human that and brought back to our world to stand trial
This reminds me of that one movie there that one orphan spoke Klingon from star trek.
I never though i would actually see a genuine nerd. I have now seen one.
You know what they need, a patch for spore for Avatar, like so you could make parts from avatar, that would be sweet! XD
@polarbearlulz People learn fictional languages all the time. Some colleges offer Elvish, Dwarvish, and Orc languages as classes. If you think it's stupid maybe you should try to learn a new language (real or made up). It really broadens your mind and makes you appreciate other cultures, even if they are just in movies.
i have no intention of learning this but it would be funny if more people started speaking na'vi instead of esperanto
haha pause at 3:43 laughted my ass off
I get the point, if youre very interested in language. it would just be something funny to learn Na'vi, can be compared to learning klingon in Star Trek i guess. Fan + Interest in language = Fun learning the language :) As long as people do what makes them happy.
Hillarious, a foreign language based on the English language structure, a very different language structure compared to most of the languages on earth.
Right Up there with Klingon & Elvish!
You sir, deserve an award for that comment :d
Now if only the PhD programs at Universities would accept this as a foreign language!
@gaurdienshadow: I just watched the film for the first time after seeing it in the theater when it first came out, and now that I am seeing it over agian Im noticing certain aspects of native american culture. I guess how i was thinking african originally was the dialect and the accent... as well as their uses of oral tradition. That was present in both cultures though too. Oh well... I'll call it a mix. LOL.
@GisleAune Well that's good, but I don't believe Grace called it that; I recall it being about two syllables. Maybe she called it "Li'fya". Thanks anyway.
Got that right :). + They also need to make Huttese (Star Wars/Star Terk) and Alienese (Futurama) for Rosetta Stone too :D.
@StoneShoulderz That is precisely my opinion. Who else's opinion could it have been?
My car would say to that guy:you will never be one of the people
Im not sure what's the problem with all the comments about the avatar's language. I think this guy is very creative, but it's not the first one though. There's a book of a Hobbits language (Remember TLOFR "The Lord of The Ring")m Tolkien invented a supporting language to the full story, just like they have to create clothing, weapons, creatures, vehicles and everything for any movie
He sounds like a cool professor!
i would love to learn Na'vi but it just seems to hard
but i love the language!! its so fucking awesome!!
Wow... I managed to make an error in there. One internet cookie to the one that can find it ;-)
linguistics is really fascinating to me. When he talks about strange sounds he's using aspirated sounds such as 끄 and 쁘 like you see in korean (which incidentally I'm kinda lousy at).
Wow...I can't believe how much hype this 2010 version of 'Fern Gully' received..now people are wanting to learn a fictional language...can't wait for the sequel...yay..
AND THEY SHOW THE MEANEST CHARACTER OF ALL!? He destroyed avatar!
@shadowkatten i just meant its cool that you can do that write most of the elvish script. thats awesome in my opinion I was just praising you.
Native Americans.... and the Navi.... as a person who ENJOYED and LOVE the movie... I thought the Navi resembeled more African culture then anything.
The Navi language, eh?
"Look!" "Hey! Listen!" repeat ad nauseum.
@CUREZERO
Sanskrit is a good language to start with
afterall
avatar is sanskrit word and navi means blue in sanskrit
IVONG NA'VIYA!
Ma smukan, ma smuké, Oel ngati kameie!
ngáru seiyi iréiyo!
I see you. I see you. I wish I hadn't seen this movie.
@Skywalker91 I have it too now :) Yes I noticed, but it is still good for practice :)
Valyrian is probably the most beutiful conlang I've heard yet.
4:22 Good Question. How would I text in Na'vi? I can barely read it on the page!
@Fuzzyhairdudefuzz it could be used in real life, if it became popular enough
guys, this happened with lord of the rings too...calm down!
@QuartuvLarry The script has nothing to do with it, it's more the world Cameron created. Because not everyone likes microscopy and astronomy. Also don't think that people who learn Na'vi have nothing better to do, many have a lot going on in life, we just are open minded and like to try new things unlike some people. Stop judging something just because you personally don't enjoy it. To each their own.
I wish someone would have the guts to NOT make a sequel to a great movie with a complete story.
@1000Errors I think people who kill themselves thinking there gonna reincarnate into a Na'vi alien is even more sad.
@Xinadium Learning a language, even if it has been created from a Movie, shouldn't deem someone a "nerd."
I thought they were called 'Linguists."
Rather than shoot down the idea, try it first.
damn, what if this turns into some like secret code language that people start speaking all over the place?
In the end it stood no chance against the much more flexible native indo-european languages like for instance the germanic dialects which spawned highly successful languages like english.
Once only spoken by a few hundred thousands, germanic surpassed latin and evolved into languages like german, english, danish, norwegian or swedish.
Today english and german are the most widely spoken of them with around 400 million speakers.
I always find make up languages in movies so cringy. Avatar was no exception. Then i looked this guy up and it turned it around, acually pretty damn cool that he did this.
@gabbonoo Because it's had what, 30 years to become popular and mainstream? Give Na'vi more time and I'm sure more people will be speaking it.
@KarrotKun1 There is already at least one college I've read about that teaches Tolkien Elvish. Who knows. In 50 years maybe they will be teaching Na'vi in universities.
Many of you ask "Why would anyone want to learn Na'vi? whats the point?"
The FACT of the matter is: People from all over the world are learning Na'vi, and can finally communicate together with THIS single language.
A German cant speak to a French person (assuming he doesnt know French).
However if they both know Na'vi, they can communicate!
That applies to ALL races.
There is no Language barrier!
Learn it :)
i wonder how many of the folks to learn fictitious languages like Na'vi, or Klingon, actually know more than one or two natural languages.
I am appalled at the amount of insulting comments. Seriously, what is wrong with being a nerd? They build/create things which are cool so whats with the "Get a life!" and what not? I would think people would be like, MAKE MOAR KOOL THINGYS!!
Faysawtute... ayfol ke tslam säfpängìlit uo fìlì'fya... 'IVONG NA'VI !!!!
@Cozaa360 I have learnt latin, so this is a new one to perfect :P
I want to learn 7 languages, but I can't afford classes or any programs. =/
@kitty10174 it's just something fun. i hope no body is learning this to actually use outside of just calling your friend a moron or something. but hey if they do intend on using it for real then it's their problem.
@mindstormsabrewin true, but so what if native languages are lost? i've been thinking about it, but i don't see why culture loss worries so many people. one idea that keeps popping up is 'you need to know where you come from, to know who you want to be'; but its just that, a thought, doesn't lead me to a good answer. peace
@polarbearlulz I ran into some people at a suncoast or whatever that old dvd store was called and they spoke that weird ass elf language from lord of the rings...There are no words.
@2ndprodigy Both languages are completely fictional, however Elvish is incomplete, the grammar rules (depending on whether your learning sindarin or quenya) are kind of jumbled. Tolkein never intended for elvish to be a fully spoken language whereas Frommer does :]
@mindstormsabrewin Doesn't that involve a much larger commitment? I mean, these guys are viewing this as a hobby- not a save the world campaign.
can the professor make like his own youtube account and just go over what he knows maybe if it wasnt so hard to find a good example this thing would really take off.
@chasetheenemy lmao x
@polarbearlulz all languages started as fiction and made up but then we derive half of the languages today to them
@mindstormsabrewin Love the comment, true, very true indeed!
@polarbearlulz, like klingon, quenya, syndarin...?.
Oh, and the Voinich Manuscript!.
AWESOMEEEEEEEEEE
@australianpirates oh yea n u don't think is something they could've did in here to make even more noise?
@Gwuinivyre i think its a mix too but it is well made anyway :P
I'd rather pluckout my ball hairs one by one than learn this crazy language.