Navajo grammar facts for kids
The Navajo language is known for being "verb-heavy." This means it uses a lot of verbs and fewer nouns compared to English. Besides verbs and nouns, Navajo has other word types like pronouns, demonstratives (like "this" or "that"), numerals, and postpositions (which work like prepositions but come after a word).
In Navajo, verbs do a lot of the work that adjectives do in English. Instead of saying "the red house," you would use a verb that means "it is a house that is red."
Contents
The most important part of the Navajo language is the verb. Verbs are like building blocks. They start with a basic part called a stem, and then special word parts called prefixes are added to the beginning to build a complete idea. Every verb must have at least one prefix.
These prefixes are added in a very specific order, like following a recipe. A single Navajo verb can be as long as a whole sentence in English!
Building a Verb
A Navajo verb has a few main parts:
- The stem is the core of the verb.
- The theme is the stem plus some basic prefixes that help define the verb's meaning.
- The base is the theme plus more prefixes that add more detail.
- Finally, inflectional prefixes are added to show things like who is doing the action. This creates the final verb.
While it sounds complicated, most Navajo verbs only use a few prefixes at a time, not the maximum possible.
How Pronouns Work in Verbs
Navajo verbs have prefixes that show who is doing the action (the subject) and who is receiving the action (the object). These are like adding "I," "you," "he," or "she" directly into the verb itself.
Here is a table of the basic subject prefixes:
-
Number Subject Prefixes Singular (one person) Dual-Plural (two or more people) First Person ("I", "we") -sh- -iid- Second Person ("you") ni- -oh- Third Person ("he", "she", "it", "they") -∅- (no prefix) Fourth Person (a special "other" person) ji-
The fourth person is a unique feature. It's used to talk about the main character in a story, to show respect, or to distinguish between two different people being talked about.
Here is an example using the verb "to freeze":
-
Singular Dual-Plural First Person yishtin "I freeze" yiitin "we freeze" Second Person nitin "you freeze" wohtin "you (plural) freeze" Third Person yitin "he/she/it/they freeze" Fourth Person jitin "he/she/they freeze"
Action-Changing Prefixes
Navajo uses four special prefixes called "classifiers." These are added right before the verb stem and can change the action of the verb. For example, they can change a verb from being passive ("it's being boiled") to active ("he's boiling it").
| Classifier | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -∅- | This is a "zero" classifier, meaning there is no prefix. It's the most basic form. | |
| -ł- | The -ł- classifier often makes a verb active and shows that someone is causing the action. |
yibéézh "it's boiling"
yiłbéézh "he's boiling it" |
| -d- | The -d- classifier is often used for passive actions, where something is being done to the subject. |
yizéés "he's singing it"
yidéés "it's being singed" |
| -l- | The -l- is also used for passive actions, usually when the active form uses the -ł- classifier. |
néíłtsááh "he's drying it"
náltsááh "it's being dried" |
How Verbs Show Time and Action
Navajo verbs can show many details about time and the type of action taking place. This is done by changing the verb stem and using different prefixes. These changes are grouped into categories called "modes."
Verb Modes
There are seven main modes for Navajo verbs:
- Imperfective: An action that has started but is not finished. (e.g., "I am eating.")
- Perfective: A completed action. (e.g., "I ate.")
- Progressive: An action that is currently in progress. (e.g., "I am walking along.")
- Future: An action that will happen. (e.g., "I will go.")
- Usitative: An action that happens usually or out of habit. (e.g., "I usually go.")
- Iterative: An action that is repeated over and over. (e.g., "I go again and again.")
- Optative: An action that is wished for or hoped for. (e.g., "I wish it would rain.")
For example, the verb for "to play" has different stems for different modes:
| Mode | Stem Form |
|---|---|
| Imperfective | -né |
| Perfective | -neʼ |
| Progressive/Future | -neeł |
| Usitative/Iterative | -neeh |
| Optative | -neʼ |
Verbs That Classify Objects
One of the most interesting features of Navajo is its classificatory verbs. These are verbs that change based on the shape or type of object being handled. In English, we can say "give me" for almost any object. In Navajo, you have to use a different verb for different kinds of objects.
There are eleven main categories for handling objects:
| Verb Stem (Perfective) | Acronym | What it's used for |
|---|---|---|
| -ʼą́ | SRO | Solid Roundish Object (like a ball, bottle, or box) |
| -yį́ | LPB | Load, Pack, or Burden (like a backpack or a sack) |
| -ł-jool | NCM | Non-Compact Matter (like a bunch of wool or grass) |
| -lá | SFO | Slender Flexible Object (like a rope or a pair of socks) |
| -tįʼ | SSO | Slender Stiff Object (like a pencil, an arrow, or a saw) |
| -ł-tsooz | FFO | Flat Flexible Object (like a blanket or a piece of paper) |
| -tłééʼ | MM | Mushy Matter (like mud or ice cream) |
| -nil | PLO1 | Plural Objects (like eggs, coins, or animals) |
| -jaaʼ | PLO2 | Plural Objects (smaller, like seeds, marbles, or sugar) |
| -ką́ | OC | Open Container (like a glass of milk or a spoonful of food) |
| -ł-tį́ | ANO | Animate Object (a living thing, like a person, animal, or even a doll) |
So, to say "Give me a pencil," you would use the verb with the stem for a Slender Stiff Object (SSO). To say "Give me some hay," you would use the verb for Non-Compact Matter (NCM).
Respecting 'Liveliness' in Sentences
Navajo grammar has a special way of ranking nouns based on how "alive" or important they are. This is called an animacy hierarchy. The general ranking is:
Humans → Big animals → Mid-size animals → Small animals → Insects → Natural forces → Inanimate objects → Ideas
In a sentence, the noun that is higher on this list must come first. The verb then uses a special prefix, yi- or bi-, to show who is doing what.
- yi- means the first noun is the subject (doing the action).
- bi- means the second noun is the subject.
For example, "boy" and "girl" are equal in animacy, so both sentences are correct: (1) Ashkii atʼééd yiníłʼį́. ("The boy is looking at the girl.") (2) Atʼééd ashkii biníłʼį́. ("The girl is being looked at by the boy.")
However, a "girl" is more animate than a "bird." So, the girl must come first in the sentence: (3) Atʼééd tsídii bishtąsh. ("The girl was pecked by the bird.") It would sound wrong to a Navajo speaker to put "bird" first in this sentence.
Most nouns in Navajo are simple and don't change to show if they are plural. Plural is usually shown in the verb. There are two main types of nouns: simple nouns and nouns made from verbs (deverbal nouns).
Nouns Made from Verbs
Many Navajo nouns are created from verbs. For example:
- náʼoolkiłí ("clock") comes from a verb meaning "it is moved slowly in a circle."
- hataałii ("singer") comes from the verb "he sings."
These can become very long and descriptive. For example, the word for "army tank" is chidí naaʼnaʼí beeʼeldǫǫhtsoh bikááʼ dah naaznilígíí, which literally means "the car that crawls around, that a cannon sits on top of."
Possession
To show that something belongs to someone, Navajo adds a prefix to the noun. For example:
- béésh ("knife")
- shibéézh ("my knife")
- bibéézh ("his/her knife")
Some nouns, like body parts and family members, must always have a possessive prefix. You can't just say "mother"; you have to say "my mother" (shimá) or "someone's mother" (amá).
Postpositions
In English, we use prepositions like on, under, or in before a noun. Navajo uses postpositions, which come after a noun and are attached to it.
- biyaa (under it)
- bikááʼ (on it)
- shiyaa (under me)
Navajo uses a base-10 counting system, just like English.
-
Number Navajo Word 1 tʼááłáʼí 2 naaki 3 tááʼ 4 dį́į́ʼ 5 ashdlaʼ 6 hastą́ą́ 7 tsostsʼid 8 tseebíí 9 náhástʼéí 10 neeznáá
- Numbers from 11 to 19 are made by adding the suffix -tsʼáadah to the numbers 1-9. For example, 11 is łaʼtsʼáadah.
- Numbers for tens (20, 30, 40, etc.) are made by adding the suffix -diin to the numbers 2-9. For example, 20 is naadiin, and 30 is tádiin.
- 100 is neeznádiin.
- 1000 is mííl, which comes from the Spanish word for thousand.
