Verbs and Infixes

Na'vi 1

Course 1 · Chapter 5 · Verbs and Infixes

Here is the most distinctive feature of Na'vi: its verbs change by having small pieces inserted inside them. Where English says "hunt, hunted, will hunt", Na'vi says taron, tolaron, tayaron. This chapter covers the basic idea, the tense and aspect infixes, and how to find the right place to put one. Chapter 6 adds the infixes that show the speaker's attitude. For the terms involved (affix, infix, tense, aspect), see Introduction to Linguistics, Chapter 4.

The idea in a box
A Na'vi verb never changes for who is doing it. Time, aspect and attitude are added as infixes, small pieces placed inside the verb root at fixed positions.

Verbs Do Not Agree With the Subject

English verbs change for the subject in the third person ("he hunts" against "I hunt"). Na'vi verbs never do. The verb taron "to hunt" is the same whether the hunter is "I", "you" or "they", since the pronoun or noun (with its case ending, Chapters 3 and 4) already says who it is. This makes Na'vi simpler than Klingon, where a prefix on the verb shows both subject and object (Klingon Grammar 1, Chapter 4).

What Is an Infix?

A prefix goes at the front of a word and a suffix at the end. An infix goes inside. English has only a joke version ("abso-bloomin'-lutely"); Na'vi uses infixes for every verb. To mark an infix, learners write it between angle brackets: t<ay>aron is the root taron with the infix ay placed after the first consonant.

# the root: taron "to hunt" (syllables: ta-ron) taron # hunts (no infix) t<ay>aron # will hunt (-ay- = future) t<ol>aron # hunted (-ol- = perfective) t<er>aron # is hunting (-er- = imperfective)

Where the Infix Goes

Verbs have two infix slots, called position 1 and position 2:

PositionWhereWhat it carries
Position 1in the second-to-last syllabletense, aspect (and mood, Chapter 6)
Position 2in the last syllablethe speaker's attitude (Chapter 6)

Within its syllable, an infix goes after the first consonant and before the vowel. A root with one syllable has no second-to-last syllable, so both infixes go after the single starting consonant, one after the other. So to place a position 1 infix:

  1. Divide the root into syllables (Chapter 2).
  2. Take the second-to-last syllable.
  3. Put the infix between its first consonant and its vowel.
# two syllables: the infix goes in the first syllable ta-ron → t<ay>a-ron = tayaron ka-me → k<am>a-me = kamame # one syllable: the infix goes after the one starting consonant lu → l<ol>u = lolu (was)

The Tense and Aspect Infixes

Position 1 carries two meanings together: when (tense) and how the action is seen (aspect). Na'vi uses a five-point time scale that English lacks:

PastNear pastGeneralNear futureFuture
Plain-am--ìm-(none)-ìy--ay-
Perfective (completed)-alm--ìlm--ol--ìly--aly-
Imperfective (in progress)-arm--ìrm--er--ìry--ary-

The table can be read as a grid: pick the time column and the aspect row. Notice the pattern: the plain row has m for the past, y for the future; the perfective row adds an l and the imperfective row adds an r. For example, "was just hunting" is near past + imperfective: t<ìrm>aron.

One Verb Through the Grid

# taron "to hunt": position 1 (the forms below follow the table's pattern) taron hunts (general) t<am>aron hunted (past) t<ìm>aron just hunted (near past) t<ìy>aron is about to hunt (near future) t<ay>aron will hunt (future) t<ol>aron hunted / has hunted (perfective) t<er>aron is hunting (imperfective) t<ìrm>aron was just hunting (near past, imperfective)

Two Verbs You Know

kame "to see" is the verb inside the greeting. The greeting kameie is kame with the infix ei in position 2 (kam<ei>e: Chapter 6 explains ei). And lu "to be" is a one-syllable verb, so its infixes come right after the l:

# lu "to be" (one syllable: the infix goes after l) lu is l<ol>u was l<ay>u will be # stress stays on the root vowel (Chapter 2) lolú was (not "lólu")
Watch out: the infix goes inside, not on the front
The commonest beginner mistake is to treat an infix as a prefix: aytaron. The correct form is t<ay>aron. Another is putting the infix after the vowel (ta<ay>ron). The rule is always: after the first consonant of the second-to-last syllable.
Watch out: "general" is not the same as English present
The unmarked verb taron is the general form: it states the action plainly, with the time taken from the context. When time matters, add an infix. The "general" column is why Na'vi sentences often have no infix at all.
Common myths
  • "Infixes are rare in languages." They are less common than prefixes and suffixes, but they appear in several language families, including Tagalog.
  • "A Na'vi verb has a different form for each person." No: the verb does not change for the subject at all.
  • "Na'vi has just past, present and future." It has five points on the time scale, and a second dimension (aspect) on top.

Hands-On Exercises

Exercise 1

From taron "to hunt" build: (a) "will hunt"; (b) "just hunted"; (c) "is hunting"; (d) "was hunting a little while ago"; (e) "hunted" (perfective). Mark the infix in angle brackets and give its row and column in the grid.

📄 View solution
Exercise 2

Divide each root into syllables, then place the infix: (a) kame + ay; (b) lu + am; (c) rol "to sing" + ay; (d) ngop "to create" + er. Explain which syllable you chose in each case.

📄 View solution
Exercise 3

Decode: t<ìrm>aron, l<ol>u, t<ay>aron. For each, say the tense, the aspect, and the translation. Then explain why Oel ngati kameie looks as if it has no tense infix, and what the infix ei in it is doing.

📄 View solution

Chapter 5 Quick Reference

  • Verbs do not agree with the subject; the case endings on the nouns do that job
  • Infix = a piece placed inside the verb; written <like this>
  • Position 1: tense and aspect, in the second-to-last syllable; position 2: attitude, in the last syllable
  • An infix goes after the first consonant, before the vowel of its syllable; a one-syllable verb takes both after its single consonant
  • Tense: -am- past, -ìm- near past, none = general, -ìy- near future, -ay- future
  • Aspect: -ol- perfective, -er- imperfective (with the tense: -alm- -ìlm- -ìly- -aly-, -arm- -ìrm- -ìry- -ary-)
  • Examples: taron, t<ay>aron, t<ol>aron, t<er>aron, l<ol>u
Coming next
Na'vi 1, Chapter 6 adds the second slot: the infixes that show the speaker's feeling (ei, äng), doubt and respect, the infixes that mean "cause to" and "oneself", and how to read a verb with two infixes.