Difference between revisions of "Navajo/Grammar"

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To form possessives in Navajo, the personal pronoun prefixes get attached to the given noun. The pronouns often appear without change, though in some cases their final vowel may have a high tone. The personal pronouns are displayed below:  
 
To form possessives in Navajo, the personal pronoun prefixes get attached to the given noun. The pronouns often appear without change, though in some cases their final vowel may have a high tone. The personal pronouns are displayed below:  
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{{comment|Use {{tag|px*}}, like {{tag|px1sg}}, for possession.  -JNW}}
  
 
:{| class="IPA wikitable" frame=void style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; white-space:nowrap;"
 
:{| class="IPA wikitable" frame=void style="vertical-align:top; text-align:left; white-space:nowrap;"

Revision as of 02:32, 15 February 2022

//We just gained access to a more comprehensive file on Navajo verbs and are adding those examples with base forms

This page is a brief documentation of Navajo grammar. It includes a part of speech classification and important morphological grammar points.

Parts of Speech

Nouns

Navajo nouns are not inflected for number nor case, and, because Navajo is such a verb-centric language, with much of the needed information to convey what one intends to say, they occur much less frequently than in, for instance, English. There are two three types of nouns in Navajo, simple nouns, nouns derived from verbs, and compound nouns. Simple nouns may be prefixed by a possessive prefix, whereas nouns derived from verbs may not. To derive a noun from a verb, the verb may either be nominalized with an enclitic, í, or simply appear syntactically as a noun without a nominalizer.

Compound nouns may be formed in many different ways:

 1. A noun plus a noun, such as tséso̜' (stone-star) "glass"
 2. A noun plus a postposition, such as łeeghi' (soil|within) "underground"
 3. A noun plus a verb stem, such as tł'ohchin (grass|smells) "onion"
 4. A noun plus a verb, such as tsinaa'eeł (wood|it-floats-about) "boat"
 5. A postposition plus a verb, such as bá'ólta'í (for-her|studying-takes-place|the-one) "teacher"
 6. A miscellaneous category assembled through various means and combinations of nominalization and connection

Simple Nouns

  • béésh<n> ↔ béésh (knife)
  • béésh<n> ↔ bibéézh (his/her knife)
  • hééł<n> ↔ hééł (pack)
  • hééł<n> ↔ shiyéél (my pack)

Derived Nouns

  • náʼoolkiłí<n> ↔ náʼoolkiłí (lt. thing that moves slowly in a circle)
  • hataałii<n> ↔ bibéézh (lt. thing that sings)
  • chʼéʼétiin<n> ↔ chʼéʼétiin (exit, doorway)
  • hoozdo<n> ↔ hoozdo (Phoenix, Arizona (when used as verb, "place is hot")

Verbs

Navajo verbs can be transitive and intransitive. The Navajo verb stem is made of a consonant-vowel or consonant-vowel-consonant. It is also in the bound form, meaning the verbs require at least one prefix. The initials of some of these stems are changed when additional prefixes are added onto the word. The stem however, is never completely absorbed by prefixes and thus it can always be identified. The stem does not change for person or number, these processes being carried out by prefixes.

  • A class of stems indicate positions
    • <v><iv><sg> ↔ sidá (one sits, stays, dwells)
    • ti<v><iv><sg> ↔ siti (one animate object lies)
  • A class of static verbs
    • taz<v><iv><sg> ↔ sitaz (it is bent)
    • sinil<v><iv><pl> ↔ sinil (there are several separate objects)

//Base forms uncertain, guessed upon because of their surfacing forms

Adjectives

Navajo adjectives <adj> exist mainly as descriptive functions within inhering to the verb stem. Forms like this are not modified by conjunction or comparison. However, some of these adjectives resemble verbs because they have static and progressive forms.

  • 'adi<adj> ↔ 'adi (becoming worthy, desiring, outstanding, rare)
  • si<adj> ↔ si (cheerful, hopeful, reassuring, disastrous, harmful)
  • <adj> ↔ yá (out of place, shameful, embarrassing)

Pronouns

Navajo has a highly developed pronominal system, and they are often solely incorporated into the verb or as a possessive prefix. The relationship between the various types of pronouns is very close, and are differentiated more significantly through prefixes and pragmatic forms that are more greatly affected by contractions:

  • tin<prn><pers><p1><sg> ↔ yishtin "I freeze"
  • tin<prn><pers><p1><pl> ↔ yiitin "we (2+) freeze"
  • tin<prn><pers><p2><sg> ↔ nitin "you freeze"
  • tin<prn><pers><p2><pl> ↔ wohtin "you (2+) freeze"
  • tin<prn><pers><p3><sg and pl> ↔ yitin "he/she/it/they freeze"
  • tin<prn><pers><p4><sg and pl> ↔ jitin "he/she/they freeze"
  • tin<prn><pers><p4><sg and pl> ↔ atin "someone/something freezes"

//Fairly certain guess on the base form of this verb

The table above shows the imperfective mode and shows the subject prefixes for the word "to freeze".

Adverbs

There are many Navajo adverbs that modify clauses, sentences, and phrases.

  • aadę́ę́ʼ<adv> ↔ aadę́ę́ʼ (from there)
  • ádingo<adv> ↔ ádingo (there being none)
  • ííłníiʼjįʼ<adv> ↔ ííłníiʼjįʼ (to the middle)

Postpositions

Navajo uses a series of postpositions, and thus all spatial and most of the other relations are expressed using the possessive prefix, along with the postposition.

  • biyaa<pr> ↔ biyaa (under it)
  • bikááʼ<pr> ↔ bikááʼ (on it)
  • bitah<pr> ↔ bitah (among it)

These postpositions can be combined with any prefix to create a single word.

Conjunctions

There are Navajo words that connect words, phrases, and/or clauses together.

  • <conjcoo> ↔ jó (since)
  • léiʼ<conjcoo> ↔ léiʼ (because)
  • ndi<conjcoo> ↔ ndi (but)

Classifiers

Classifiers in Navajo are located closest to the verb stem and, in most verbs, affect the transitivity of the verb in that they determine the voice and valence. The ł classifier is a causative-transitivizing prefix used for active verbs that have Ø in the classifier position. The d classifier appears in passive, mediopassive, reflexive, and reciprocal verbs that have Ø in the classifier position. The l classifier appears in passive, mediopassive, reflexive, and reciprocal verbs that come from those with an ł classifier:

  • Ø<class> ↔ yibéézh (It is boiling)
  • ł<class> ↔ yiłbéézh (He is boiling it)
  • Ø<class> ↔ yizéés (He is singing it)
  • d<class> ↔ yidéés (It is being singed)
  • ł<class> ↔ néíłtsááh (He's drying it)
  • l<class> ↔ náltsááh (It's being dried)

Some verbs may be used with all of the classifiers to convey different meanings. Further, classifiers in some verbs do not indicate transitivity but rather are thematic prefixes that must occur with certain verb forms.

Particles

"Particle" is linguist for "I don't know what to call these." Is there any chance you could think of them as auxiliaries? If you do end up sticking with the particle "analysis", then use a shorter tag: <prt> might work, or maybe <mark>? -JNW

Navajo has a variety of particles that convey information about temporality, desire, and focus. The future particles dooleeł and doo do not typically appear together, but some speakers find this acceptable.

  • dooleeł<particle><fut> ↔ dooleeł (Future reference time)
  • doo<particle><fut> ↔ doo (Future reference time)
  • nítʼééʼ<particle><past> ↔ náltsááh (Past reference time)
  • laanaa<particle> ↔ laanaa (Positive desire)
  • lágo<particle> ↔ lágo (Negative desire)
  • <particle> ↔ (Topic/Focus Marker) //need to complete this one but struggling to find a source that mentions it
  • do-dah<particle><neg> ↔ do-dah (Negation frame)

Imperfective

The imperfective mode of Navajo indicates an event that has begun but is incomplete or on-going. Without any additional reference time, this mode often translates similarly to the present English tense. When the reference time is changed, it may refer to an on-going event or an event un-completed at that time, for instance, in the past or future. If it is used in the second person, it may also create the meaning of an immediate imperative. It has a distinct stem form, as well as four different prefixes. They are:

 1. ni- terminative prefix in position 7 (nishááh) "I'm in the act of arriving"
 2. si- stative prefix in position 7 (shishʼaah) "I'm in the act of placing a SRO (solid round object)"
 3. with no prefix in position 7 (dah shishʼaah) "I'm in the act of placing a SRO (solid round object) up" 
 4. with either a yi- transitional or yi- semelfactive prefix in position 6 (and no prefix in position 7) (yishcha) "I'm crying"
  • øyííł<v><tv><aa><impf><sg><p1><o_sg> ↔ habéshhííł (I move [it] by pushing)
  • łchxééh<v><tv><aa><impf><sg><p1><o_sg> ↔ habiishchxééh (I am honking [it] lt. I am causing it to cry over and over)
  • øchííł<v><iv><aa><impf><sg> ↔ 'i'niichííł (It is starting to snow) //What to tag for person here?

Perfective

The perfective mode in Navajo indicates that an event has been completed. This gives it a similar connotation to the English simple past tense when referring to past events. Being a mode rather than a tense, however, it can be used to not just to refer to past events but future events too, carrying the meaning of "will have" done an action. The perfective mode has a unique verb stem form and four different prefix forms. Those forms are:

 1. yí- perfective prefix with a high tone in position 7 (yíchʼid) "I scratched it"
 2. ní- terminative prefix with a high tone in position 7 (níyá) "I arrived"
 3. sí- stative prefix with high tone in position 7 (sélį́į́ʼ) "I roasted it"
 4. yi- transitional prefix in position 6 (and Ø- in position 7) (yiizįʼ) "I stood up". 
  • lgásh<v><tv><aa><perf><sg><p1><o_sg> ↔ 'ádeshghash (I [completed action] bit myself)
  • ldlóósh<v><iv><aa><perf><sg><p1><o_sg> ↔ ch'íníshdloozh (I [completed action] went out on all fours)
  • łkááh<v><tv><aa><perf><sg><p1><o_sg> ↔ ch'íníłkáá' (I [completed action] tracked its trail out horizontally)

Optative

The optative mode expresses positive or negative desire to perform a given action. It is used in tandem with the aforementioned particles corresponding to either desire. With certain verbs, the interpretation is also an imperative.

  • łzááł<v><iv><aa><opt><sg><p1><o_sg> ↔ ch'óossááł (I wish to float through the air)
  • łzííł<v><iv><aa><opt><sg><p1><o_sg> ↔ ch'óossííł (I wish to grind it coarse)
  • ø'éésh<v><tv><aa><opt><sg><p1><o_pl> ↔ ch'óosh'éésh (I wish to lead them)

Future

The Future mode is the most tense-like of the Navajo modes. It is an inflected form, occurring in the form of a prefix. However, it cannot be fully classified as a tense, as it contrasts with other modes that are not tense-like, and a lack of this mode gives no information about the future. Moreover, it may only occur with event words. The future tense is made up of the progressive prefix, yi, and the inceptive prefix, di.

  • łjooł<v><iv><aa><fut><sg><p1><o_sg> ↔ bínéishjooł (I will add to it [wool, loose hay])
  • dch'ish<v><iv><aa><fut><sg><p1><o_sg> ↔ 'ádideeshch'ish (I will grate myself, I will cut myself)
  • ø'eeł<v><iv><aa><fut><sg><p1> ↔ ch'ínísh'eeł (I will float out horizontally)

Negation

Negation in Navajo is formed similarly to that of Korean, with a negation frame of the particles do and dah and the positive statement being placed between the two. However, sometimes, dah is omitted from the negation frame. The negation frame combined with various aspects of Navajo grammar leads to different meaning, such as a negative imperative (when combined with fourth person), inability (with the optative mood), and so on.

// Ask how to tag negation frame

  • Gad doo dit’in da<v><tv><perf><neg><sg><p3> ↔ Gad doo dit’in da (The juniper is not dense)
  • Hérii hanii dibé nayiisnii’, Sirii ga’<v><iv><perf><neg><sg><p3> ↔ Hérii hanii dibé nayiisnii’, Sirii ga’ (It is not Harry who bought the sheep, it was Siri.)
  • Doo yichaada<v><iv><impf><neg><sg><p3> ↔ Doo yichaada (S/ he is not crying)

Comparative Form

In Navajo, adjectives are commonly used for comparison, to describe numerals, and money. Some of these verbs resemble verbs in having static and progressive forms. These forms are modified by changing the word that precede the verb, and thus behave like adverbs. Below are some examples of some Navajo adjectives in the comparative form.

  • 'ayó áńenéz<adj><comp> ↔ 'ayó áńenéz (I am the tallest)
  • 'ayó áńlnéz<adj><comp> ↔ 'ayó áńlnézر (it is longer)
  • 'ayó áńlzád<adj><comp> ↔ 'ayó áńlzád (it is farther)

//should we add person or number tags based off of the English gloss?

Possession

To form possessives in Navajo, the personal pronoun prefixes get attached to the given noun. The pronouns often appear without change, though in some cases their final vowel may have a high tone. The personal pronouns are displayed below:

Use <px*>, like <px1sg>, for possession. -JNW

Singular Dual Plural
First shi- nihi- danihi-
Second ni- nihi- danihi-
Third bi-
Fourth (3o) yi-
Fourth (3a) ha-, hw-
Indefinite (3i) a-

However, Navajo distinguishes two types of possession, that is, inalienable possession and alienable possession. The former is used for relatives, body parts, homes, and the like, requiring the use of a personal pronoun or the 3rd person indefinite prefix a- to convey the meaning of "someone's (noun)" for these words to occur. The latter is used in cases not within the realm of inalienable possession.

  • łeezh<n> ↔ shileezh (my soil)
  • hééł<n> ↔ shighéél (my pack)
  • béésh<n> ↔ shibéézh (my knife)
  • so̜'<n> ↔ sizo̜' (my star)
  • sis<n> ↔ siziiz (my belt)
  • hílaʼ<n> ↔ shílaʼ (my hand)
  • hílaʼ<n> ↔ nihílaʼ (our hand)
  • <n> ↔ shimá (my mother)
  • <n> ↔ amá (someone's mother)
  • <n> ↔ bimá (his/her mother)
  • k'aa'<n> ↔ shik'a' (my arrow)
  • ts'aa'<n> ↔ sits'aa' (my basket)
  • <n> ↔ shito' (my water)
  • tsé<n> ↔ sitse' (my stone)

Irregular Verbs

In Navajo, there are certain verbs that do not follow the verb rules. Of these verbs, the most irregular features are phonetic. Below are some examples of these verbs that change the stem initial:

  • decál<v><iv><future><sg><1p> ↔ decál (I shall go)
  • yicáh<v><iv><impf><sg><1p> ↔ yicáh (did not go)
  • dinál<v><iv><future><sg><1p> ↔ dinál (did not come)
  • nnáh<v><iv><impf><sg><1p> ↔ nnáh (did not bring)

//We need to find base forms in addition so we can do the analysis. Perhaps in the young and morgan file?