Na'vi, the language used by the fictional beings on Pandora, is gaining popularity amongst diehard Avatar fans. Websites like learnnavi.org have vocabulary and grammar lessons, along with forums for members of the growing Na'vi community to interact and practice. The website even alludes to conventions where people can learn Na'vi and refine their skills.
Paul Frommer, a linguist at USC, was enlisted by James Cameron to create the Na'vi language. Frommer decided he would first decide what sounds to include what sounds to exclude. The second criteria is just as important as the first, he says, because a language with too many kinds of sounds would sound unrealistic. The language he developed has characteristics that many people describe as similar to Polynesian languages, however it is not really based in any single group of languages. Frommer attempted to make Na'vi unique and not necessarily to any certain languages. He included sounds and sound patterns that were similar to south-east Asian languages, among others. However he also used some grammatical structures that have never been used in a language before, for example infixed verb conjugation.
By the movie's release, Frommer had created 1,000 words for Na'vi to be used in the movie and its video game, but he was still the only person who understood the structure of the language. After the movie's release, it became clear that Na'vi would gain a cult following similar to the people who learn the Klingon language of the Star Trek franchise. Frommer has stated that he is working on a more comprehensive dictionary for Na'vi to be published at some point in the future. For now, the Na'vi community must remain content with the 1,000 or so words that are currently available, along with the limited information Frommer has given about the language.
I have written about the Na'vi language lately too. It is amazing to see the Avatar fans going crazy about the Na'vi language. I have written about a young linguistics student who is so fond of the Na'vi language in the movie that he has been learning it since he saw the movie and looking for a girlfriend who can speak the language fluently. And I wonder how come he can be so thrilled about a language that is only created for a movie and is not as comprehensive as languages that we speak. It is definitely not the most elaborate language in the world, but, as I argued in my blog entry, I think that the prestige and fame that are associated with the movie do also influence the Na'vi language.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea so much thought went into fake languages in movies. It seems ironic that people can get so attached to movies like Avatar and the Star Trek series and strive to learn those languages, yet it is so difficult to save, for example, an indigenous language. Does the younger generation really have that much influence on what languages survive and what languages don't? I think the fact that people are trying to learn the Avatar language says a lot about the influence of the younger generation.
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