English and Navajo/Contrastive Grammar
From LING073
Contents
NAV-ENG Tests
Determiners
- Navajo has no equivalent determiner to English's "the" or "a"
- (nav) Jooł nikídílniihí tsáskʼeh biyaa íímááz. → (eng) The basketball rolled underneath the bed.
- (nav) Jooł<n> nikídílniihí<adj> tsáskʼeh<n> yaa<n><px3sg> íímááz<v><iv><perf><p3><sg> → (eng) Ball<n> basketball<adj> bed<n> under<pp> roll<v><iv><past><p3><sg>
- (nav) Wóláchííʼ bighan binaa ałhéénílyeed. → (eng) Go around the ant mound..
- (fra) je<prn><pers><p1><sg><nom> le<prn><pers><p3><m><acc> manger<v><tv><fut><p1><sg> → (spa) yo<prn><pers><p1><sg><nom> lo<prn><pers><p3><m><acc> comer<v><tv><fut><p1><sg>
Postpositions
- Navajo has a wide array of postpositions, also applying possessive inflection on them
- (nav) Jooł nikídílniihí tsáskʼeh biyaa íímááz. → (eng) The basketball rolled underneath the bed.
- (nav) Jooł<n> nikídílniihí<adj> tsáskʼeh<n> yaa<n><px3sg> íímááz<v><iv><perf><p3><sg> → (eng) Ball<n> basketball<adj> bed<n> under<pp> roll<v><iv><past><p3><sg>
- (nav) Wóláchííʼ bighan binaa ałhéénílyeed. → (eng) Go around the ant mound..
- (fra) je<prn><pers><p1><sg><nom> le<prn><pers><p3><m><acc> manger<v><tv><fut><p1><sg> → (spa) yo<prn><pers><p1><sg><nom> lo<prn><pers><p3><m><acc> comer<v><tv><fut><p1><sg>
Pronouns
- Pronouns are often excluded in Navajo, appearing only as morphemes within the verb
- (nav) Atooʼ łaʼ naa deeshkááł. → (eng) I will give you some stew.
- (nav) Atooʼ<n> łaʼ<det> naa<post> deeshkááł<v><tv><fut><p1><sg> → (eng) Stew<n> some<det> around<pp> give<v><tv><fut><p1><sg>
Verb placement
- Verbs always appear at the end of the sentence in Navajo
- (nav) Jooł nikídílniihí tsáskʼeh biyaa íímááz. → (eng) The basketball rolled underneath the bed.
- (fra) je<prn><pers><p1><sg><nom> le<prn><pers><p3><m><acc> manger<v><tv><fut><p1><sg> → (spa) yo<prn><pers><p1><sg><nom> lo<prn><pers><p3><m><acc> comer<v><tv><fut><p1><sg>
- (nav) Wóláchííʼ bighan binaa ałhéénílyeed. → (eng) Go around the ant mound..
- (fra) je<prn><pers><p1><sg><nom> le<prn><pers><p3><m><acc> manger<v><tv><fut><p1><sg> → (spa) yo<prn><pers><p1><sg><nom> lo<prn><pers><p3><m><acc> comer<v><tv><fut><p1><sg>
Future Verb mode
- Unlike English, which conveys the future tense with an auxilliary "will," Navajo encodes this information in the verb, having a slightly different stem and set of subject prefixes for the verb.
- (nav) Atooʼ łaʼ naa deeshkááł. → (eng) I will give you some stew.
- (nav) Atooʼ<n> łaʼ<det> naa<post> deeshkááł<v><tv><fut><p1><sg> → (eng) Stew<n> some<det> around<pp> give<v><tv><fut><p1><sg>