Who created the Na'vi language for Avatar?

Who created the Na’vi language for Avatar? Linguist Paul Frommer created the Na’vi language for Avatar.

Frommer developed Na’vi for James Cameron’s 2009 film after Cameron’s production company contacted the University of Southern California. Cameron had already written roughly 30 words, but the movie needed a complete language that sounded alien while remaining pronounceable and learnable for the actors and human characters.

Frommer built the language’s sound system, grammar, and vocabulary from Cameron’s initial ideas. Cameron favored a sound featuring ejective consonants, which helped shape Na’vi’s distinctive pronunciation. Frommer also worked with the cast during production, coaching actors on stress, intonation, and the delivery of their dialogue.

Na’vi was initially created only as much as the film’s script required, but it later developed into a fuller constructed language. Its vocabulary grew from about 1,000 words around the film’s release to more than 2,600 words as Frommer expanded it for later projects and public use. Tolkien, Okrand, and Peterson are also associated with constructed languages, but they did not create Na’vi.