{"id":12174,"date":"2010-04-26T16:25:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-26T23:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/the-science-of-language-navi-that-is\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T10:05:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T18:05:02","slug":"the-science-of-language-navi-that-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/the-science-of-language-navi-that-is\/","title":{"rendered":"The Science of Language (Na&#8217;vi, That Is)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2010\/04\/avatar-frommer-top-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2010\/04\/avatar-frommer-top-1920x1080.jpg 1920w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2010\/04\/avatar-frommer-top-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2010\/04\/avatar-frommer-top-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"A Na'vi character from Avatar\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  USC Dornsife alumnus Paul Frommer created a language for the film <em>Avatar<\/em>. (Image source: 20th Century Fox\/ Avatar: Fire and Ash Image Gallery.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=arts-and-culture\">Arts and Culture<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>The Science of Language (Na&#8217;vi, That Is)<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  As <em>Avatar: Fire and Ash<\/em> hits theaters, how USC Dornsife alumnus Paul Frommer, PhD \u201981, created the Na\u2019vi language still resonates.\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Susan Andrews<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">April 26, 2010<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 4.0350275 0 1.5167124.60096154 2.9475732 1.68841575 4.0350274 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<p>\u201cStars are fascinating,\u201d Paul Frommer enthused. \u201cI recall many a New York night when as a child I stood out in a vacant lot bundled up against the cold, holding a star map and a flashlight covered in red cellophane [red light interferes less with night vision], trying to pick out the constellations in the sky. And I could rattle off the names of the 20 brightest stars from memory: Sirius, Canopus, Alpha Centauri, Vega, Arcturus, Capella, Rigel, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>From age 8 until a junior in college, Frommer thought astronomy was his destiny. But he changed his path from astrophysics to math as an undergraduate and then to linguistics as a graduate student.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLinguistics can be quite technical and analytic, and mathematical to an extent,\u201d he said. There is often a correlation between quantitative and linguistic ability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frommer earned a Ph.D. in <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/ling\/\">linguistics<\/a> from USC College (now the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences) in 1981, with the internationally renowned linguist Bernard Comrie as his dissertation adviser. In the mid-\u201970s, Frommer taught English in Iran for a year while intensively studying Persian, which heavily influenced his dissertation topic: \u201cPost-verbal Phenomena in Colloquial Persian Syntax.\u201d He is currently a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marshall.usc.edu\/personnel\/paul-robert-frommer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Professor Emeritus of Clinical Business Communication<\/a> with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marshall.usc.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USC Marshall School of Business<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In a remarkable turn of fate, Frommer\u2019s lifelong love of astronomy coalesced with his passion for linguistics in the realm of space. He had received an e-mail forwarded to him by Professor of Linguistics Ed Finegan about Lightstorm Entertainment\u2019s search for an expert to develop a new language for what would become James Cameron\u2019s $400 million science fiction epic film, <em>Avatar<\/em>. Frommer answered the call, and the rest is Na\u2019vi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--signup-form \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--signup-form\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"text-image-container\">\n  <div class=\"text-container\">\n\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Building Na\u2019vi: Then and Now\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  <p>With the release of <em>Avatar: Fire and Ash<\/em>, interest in the Na\u2019vi language has surged again. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/avatar-how-the-navi-language-was-constructed\/a-75206320\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent interview<\/a> with <em>Deutsche Welle<\/em>, USC Dornsife alumnus Paul Frommer reflected on how creating the language for James Cameron\u2019s <em>Avatar<\/em> films changed the course of his life.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been quite a remarkable event in my life,\u201d Frommer said, recalling his first encounter with Cameron.<\/p>\n<p>With each new film in the franchise, the Na&#8217;vi vocabulary expands. More than two decades since the premiere of the original <em>Avatar<\/em>, Frommer estimates there are now more than 3,000 Na\u2019vi-language words. He says the project continues to evolve \u2014 carefully and deliberately \u2014 even as new tools like artificial intelligence emerge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though large language models could presumably spit out countless new Na\u2019vi words that would follow my rules, I\u2019d rather go more slowly and just give each word its own thought and make sure that it just feels right to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Source: Deutsche Welle<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n      <\/div>\n\n      <div class=\"image-container\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2010\/04\/avatar-frommer-450x450-1.jpg\"\n                    data-sizes=\"(min-width:1024px) 50vw, (min-width:768px) 100vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  role=\"none\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Listening to the actors speak Na\u2019vi, the audience probably doesn\u2019t give a second thought to the imagination, training and hard work that went into its development. According to Frommer, it started with phonetics and phonology. \u201cThe sound system has to be all nailed down first, so that there is consistency in the language,\u201d he explained. Early on he provided Cameron with three \u201csound palettes\u201d for Na\u2019vi. \u201cCameron passed on the first two but liked the third very much,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Na\u2019vi is composed of 20 consonants, seven vowels and four diphthongs. If Na\u2019vi sounds to the listener as if it was derived from no particular language family, then Frommer is pleased. His goal was for this language to sound utterly new. He admits that there are Persian influences in the grammar from the year he spent teaching in Iran. There may also be some words reminiscent of Bahasa Malaysia from a year in Malaysia as a Peace Corps volunteer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you create a language, you experience the joy of rolling sounds around in your mouth, hearing unusual sounds, playing with the sounds and structural properties of language \u2014 it\u2019s a process that took about six months for the basics,\u201d he said. His linguistic passion and enthusiasm is undeniable as he describes the nuts and bolts of developing Na\u2019vi.<\/p>\n<p>Cameron developed 30 of the first words of the language, including the word Na\u2019vi. Most of the words he created were names of characters and places. According to Frommer, Cameron had just returned from New Zealand, which may be a reason there are several words that may sound Polynesian in origin.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to sound and vocabulary, languages require morphological and syntactic rules. In English, for example, the word order in a sentence is typically subject, verb and object. In Na\u2019vi, there exists a very free word order by virtue of a case system that allows those elements to permute in six ways. Also, adjectives may precede or follow a noun without a change in meaning.<\/p>\n<p>Na\u2019vi contains some suffixes and prefixes, but mainly infixes to inflect verbs, which take a root and shove meaningful elements in the middle. There is no agreement for person and number, unlike English and many other languages. As far as tense goes, Frommer said that Na\u2019vi has five points on a timeline \u2014 general past, proximate past, present, proximate future, and general future.<\/p>\n<p>Frommer hopes <em>Avatar<\/em> generates an interest in language throughout the world. \u201cIt would be wonderful if Na\u2019vi raised awareness of real endangered languages. When a language dies, a whole way of viewing the world dies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Frommer met with the actors, four who played native Na\u2019vi speakers and three who played humans who learn it as a second language, for one-on-one tutorials. \u201cI created MP3s and broke the language down by sentence, then by phrase, and then by words \u2014 similar to a language learning tape,\u201d Frommer said.<\/p>\n<p>The voices of the 10-foot blue creatures from the planet Pandora who speak Na\u2019vi were not electronically altered in post-production to reflect their larger jaws, tongues or air tubes. Frommer explained that Cameron\u2019s desire was to have the Na\u2019vi people possess human-sounding voices.<\/p>\n<p>During the five years that Frommer has worked with Cameron, he has found him to be \u201cextremely engaging, cordial, supportive and very in tune to what is happening with Na\u2019vi.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since <em>Avatar<\/em>\u2019s 2009 release, Frommer has received droves of e-mails from people around the world who want to know more about Na\u2019vi and how they can learn it. Only time will tell if it takes on a life of its own like <em>Star Trek<\/em>\u2019s Klingon, the gold standard in sci-fi languages.<\/p>\n<p>The lexicon of Na\u2019vi currently stands at approximately 3,000 words. The vocabulary will expand in the future to meet not only the needs of potential prequels or sequels but also of the growing community of Na\u2019vi enthusiasts. In the interim, Frommer has developed new words to emulate rough conversations among army privates and to identify varying types of armor worn for the Avatar video games.<\/p>\n<p>A big challenge for Frommer was keeping the Na\u2019vi lines roughly the same length as their English equivalents. \u201cEnglish is a very concise and compact language with a large number of one syllable words. Though it is a crafted language, Na\u2019vi is similar to many other natural languages in that it is 30 to 40 percent wordier than English,\u201d he said. However, he noted that the constraint of time in a movie often requires language translations to be similar in syllable count.<\/p>\n<p>Another challenge for Frommer was responding on short notice to Cameron\u2019s need for new words on 12- to 13-hour days on the set.<\/p>\n<p>To coin a phrase, literally, about his <em>Avatar<\/em> experience, Frommer said: \u201cLu skxom as\u00ecltsan frato m\u00ec s\u00ecrey!\u201d (It\u2019s the opportunity of a lifetime!)<\/p>\n<p><i>[Dec. 18, 2025: This story was originally published in<\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/the-life-issue\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USC Dornsife Magazine<\/a> <em>on<\/em><i> April 26, 2010, and has been updated.]<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From harmony (meoauniaea) to brainworm (eltungawng), Paul Frommer Ph.D. \u201981 creates a brand new language for the film <em>Avatar<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":26198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[57,155,109],"class_list":["post-12174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","tag-entertainment","tag-linguistics","tag-usc-dornsife-magazine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Science of Language (Na&#039;vi, That Is)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As &quot;Avatar: Fire and Ash&quot; hits theaters, how USC Dornsife alumnus Paul Frommer, PhD \u201981, created the Na\u2019vi language still resonates.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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