Navajo grammar

Modes, aspects and tenses

Navajo has a large number of aspectual, modal, and tense distinctions that are indicated by verb stem alternations (involving vowel and tonal ablaut and suffixation) often in combination with a range of prefixes. These are divided into seven "modes" and approximately twelve aspects and ten subaspects. (Although the term mode is traditionally used, most of the distinctions provided by the modes are in fact aspectual.) Each Navajo verb generally can occur in a number of mode and aspect category combinations.

Modes

Navajo has the following verb modes:

1. Imperfective – an incomplete action; can be used in past, present, or future time frames
2. Perfective – a complete action; usually signifying the past tense but also applied to future states (e.g. "he will have gone")
3. Progressive – ongoing action; unlike the imperfective, the focus is more on the progression across space or time than incompleteness
4. Future – a prospective action, analogous to the future tense
5. Usitative – a usual or typical action
6. Iterative – a recurrent or repetitive action; often used interchangeably with the usitative
7. Optative – a potential or desired action, similar to the subjunctive mood of Indo-European languages

The modes above may have up to five distinct verb stem forms. The progressive and future modes share the same stem form as do the usitative and iterative modes. The optative mode usually has the same verb stem as the imperfective mode, although for some verbs the stem forms differ (in the example "to play, tease" below, the perfective and the optative stems are the same). For example, the verb meaning "to play, tease" has the following five stem forms for the seven modes:

Imperfective

The imperfective indicates an event/action that has begun but remains incomplete. Although this mode does not refer to tense, it can usually be translated into English as a present tense form: yishááh "I'm (in the act of) going/coming", yishą́ "I'm (in the act of) eating (something)". With the addition of adverbials, the imperfective can be used for events/actions in the past, present, or future. The mode is used in the second person for immediate imperatives. The imperfective mode has a distinct imperfective stem form and four different mode-aspect prefix paradigms:

1. with a ni- terminative prefix in position 7 as in nishááh "I'm in the act of arriving."
2. with a si- stative prefix in position 7 as in shishʼaah "I'm in the act of placing a SRO (solid roundish object)" in dah shishʼaah "I'm in the act of placing a SRO (solid roundish object) up" (dah "up").
3. with no prefix in position 7, usually identified as a ∅- prefix, as in yishcha "I'm crying."
4. with either a yi- transitional or yi- semelfactive prefix in position 6 (and no prefix in position 7).

Perfective

The perfective indicates an event/action that has been completed. When referring to past situations, it usually corresponds to English simple past: yíyáʼ "I went/came/arrived", yíyą́ą́ʼ "I ate (something)". However, since the perfective mode is not a tense, it can be used to refer non-past actions, such as the future (where it may be translated as English "will have" + VERB). The perfective mode has a distinct perfective stem form and four different prefix paradigms:

1. with a yí- perfective prefix with a high tone in position 7 as in yíchʼid "I scratched it."
2. with a ní- terminative prefix with a high tone in position 7 as in níyá "I arrived."
3. with a sí- stative prefix with high tone in position 7 as in sélį́į́ʼ "I roasted it."
4. with a yi- transitional prefix in position 6 (and ∅- in position 7) as in yiizįʼ "I stood up."

Progressive and future

The progressive indicates an incomplete event/action that is ongoing without reference to the beginning or end of the event/action. This mode may be translated into English as BE + VERB-ing + "along": yishááł "I'm going/walking along", yishtééł "I'm carrying it along".

The future mode is primarily a future tense – indicating a prospective event/action: deeshááł "I'll go/come", deeshį́į́ł "I'll eat (something)". The progressive mode has a yi- progressive prefix (in position 7), the future has a di- inceptive prefix (in position 6) and the yi- progressive prefix.

Usitative

The usitative indicates a repetitive event/action that takes place customarily: yishááh "I usually go", yishdlį́į́h "I always drink (something)". The iterative is a frequentative indicating a recurrent event/action that takes place repeatedly and customarily:

ahbínígo

in the morning

tłʼóóʼgóó

outdoors

chʼínáshdááh

repeatedly go out

"I always (repeatedly) go outdoors in the morning"

nínádiishʼnahgo

when I get up

gohwééh

coffee

náshdlį́į́h

drink (something) repeatedly

"I drink coffee when I get up"

The iterative is distinguished from the usitative by a ná- repetitive prefix (in position 2) and also sometimes by a -d- or -ł- classifier prefix (in position 9).

Optative

The optative indicates a positive or negative desire or wish. The mode is used with the addition of adverbial particles that follow the verb, such as laanaa and lágo: nahółtą́ą́ʼ laanaa "I wish it would rain", nahółtą́ą́ʼ lágo "I hope it doesn't rain". With punctual verbs, the optative mode can be used to form a negative imperative: shinóółʼį́į́ʼ (lágo) "don't look at me!". In certain adverbial frames, the optative indicates positive or negative potential.

Aspects and subaspects

The primary aspects:

1. Momentaneous – an action that takes place at a specific point in time
2. Continuative – an action that covers an indefinite timeframe, without a specific beginning, goal, or even temporal direction
3. Durative – similar to the continuative, but not covering locomotion verbs
4. Conclusive – similar to the durative, but emphasizing the completed nature of the action when in the perfective mode
5. Repetitive – an action that is repeated in some way, dependent on the sub-aspect and sub-sub-aspect type used
6. Semelfactive – an action that is distinguished from a connected group or series of actions
7. Distributive – an action that occurs among a group of targets or locations
8. Diversative – an action that occurs "here and there", among an unspecified group of targets or locations
9. Reversative – an action involving change in physical or metaphorical direction
10. Conative – an action the subject attempts to perform
11. Transitional – an action involving transition from one status or form to another
12. Cursive – an action of moving in a straight line in space or time

The subaspects:

• Completive – event/action simply takes place
• Terminative – stopping of action
• Stative – sequentially durative and static
• Inceptive – beginning of action
• Terminal – inherently terminal action
• Prolongative – arrested beginning or ending of action
• Seriative – interconnected series of successive separate & distinct acts
• Inchoative – focus on beginning of non-locomotion action
• Reversionary – return to previous state/location
• Semeliterative – single repetition of event/action

Navajo modes co-occur with various aspects. For example, the verb "rain falls" can occur in the perfective mode with the momentaneous and distributive aspects: -tsąąʼ (perfective momentaneous), -tsįʼ (perfective distributive). As with the modes, different aspects have different stem forms even when in the same mode, as seen with the previous "rain falls" perfective stems. Thus, a given verb has a set of stem forms that can be classified into both a mode and an aspect category. Verb stem paradigms of mode and aspect are given below for two different verbs:

As can be seen above, some aspect and mode combinations do not occur depending mostly upon the semantics of the particular verb. Additionally, some aspects do not occur at all with a particular verb. The patterns of verb stem alternations are very complex although there is a significant amount of homophony. A particularly important investigation into this area of the Navajo verb is Hardy (1979).

Classificatory verbs

Navajo has verb stems that classify a particular object by its shape or other physical characteristics in addition to describing the movement or state of the object. Athabaskan linguistics identifies these as classificatory verb stems and usually identifies them with an acronym label. The eleven primary classificatory "handling" verb stems appear listed below (in the perfective mode):

To compare with English, Navajo has no single verb that corresponds to the English word to give. To say the equivalent of Give me some hay!, the Navajo verb níłjool (non-compact matter (NCM)) must be used, while for Give me a cigarette! the verb nítįįh (slender stiff object (SSO)) must be used. The English verb to give is expressed by eleven different verbs in Navajo, depending on the characteristics of the given object.

In addition to defining the physical properties of the object, primary classificatory verb stems also can distinguish between the manner of movement of the object. The stems may then be grouped into three different categories:

1. handling – movement of an object by continuing physical contact throughout the movement (take, bring, carry, lower, attach, etc.)
2. propelling – movement of an object by propulsion (throw, toss, drop, etc.)
3. free flight – movement of a subject of its own without causative agent (fly, fall, etc.)

Using an example for the solid roundish object (SRO) category, Navajo has:

1. -ʼą́ "to handle (a round object)"
2. -neʼ "to throw (a round object)"
3. -l-tsʼid "to move independently (intransitive; of a round object)"

yi-/bi- alternation (animacy)

Like most Athabaskan languages, Navajo shows various levels of animacy in its grammar, with certain nouns taking specific verb forms according to their rank in this hierarchy. For instance, nouns can be ranked by animacy on a continuum from most animate (a human or lightning) to least animate (an abstraction) (Young & Morgan 1987: 65–66):

humans/lightning → infants/big animals → midsize animals → small animals → insects → natural forces → inanimate objects/plants → abstractions

Generally, the most animate noun in a sentence must occur first while the noun with lesser animacy occurs second. If both nouns are equal in animacy, then either noun can occur in the first position. So, both example sentences (1) and (2) are correct. The yi- prefix on the verb indicates that the 1st noun is the subject and bi- indicates that the 2nd noun is the subject.

(1)

Ashkii

boy

atʼééd

girl

yiníłʼį́.

yi-look.at

'The boy is looking at the girl.'

(2)

Atʼééd

girl

ashkii

boy

biníłʼį́.

bi-look.at

'The girl is being looked at by the boy.'

But example sentence (3) sounds wrong to most Navajo speakers because the less animate noun occurs before the more animate noun:

(3)

*

Tsídii

bird

atʼééd

girl

yishtąsh.

yi-pecked

'The bird pecked the girl.'

To express this idea requires that the more animate noun occur first, as in sentence (4):

(4)

Atʼééd

girl

tsídii

bird

bishtąsh.

bi-pecked

'The girl was pecked by the bird.'

Note that although sentence (2) and (4) are translated into English with a passive verb, in Navajo it is not passive. Passive verbs are formed by certain classifier prefixes (i.e., transitivity prefixes) that occur directly before the verb stem in position 9. The yi-/bi- prefixes do not mark sentences as active or passive, but as direct or inverse.

Nouns

Many concepts expressed using nouns in other languages appear as verbs in Navajo. The majority of true nouns are not inflected for number, and there is no case marking. Noun phrases are often not needed to form grammatical sentences due to the informational content of the verb.

There are two main types of nouns in Navajo:

1. simple nouns and
2. nouns derived from verbs (called deverbal nouns)

The simple nouns can be distinguished by their ability to be inflected with a possessive prefix, as in

Deverbal nouns

Deverbal nouns are verbs (or verb phrases) that have been nominalized with a nominalizing enclitic or converted into a noun through zero derivation (that is, verbs that are used syntactically as nouns without an added nominalizer).

náʼoolkiłí

náʼoolkił

it.is.moved.slowly.in.a.circle

=í

NMZ

"clock"

hataałii

hataał

he.sings

=ii

NMZ

"singer"

Converted deverbal nouns include chʼéʼétiin "exit, doorway" and Hoozdo "Phoenix, Arizona". When used as verbs, chʼéʼétiin may be translated into English as "something has a path horizontally out" and hoozdo as "place/space is hot".

Deverbal nouns can potentially be long and complex, such as:

chidí naaʼnaʼí beeʼeldǫǫhtsoh bikááʼ dah naaznilígíí

chidí naaʼnaʼí

tractor

beeʼeldǫǫhtsoh

cannon

bikááʼ

on.it

dah naaznil

they.sit up

=ígíí

NMZ

"army tank"

Number

Most nouns are not inflected for number. Plurality is usually encoded directly in the verb through the use of various prefixes or aspects, though this is by no means mandatory. In the following example, (2) is used with the plural prefix da- and switches to the distributive aspect.

(1)

Kin

kin

house

áshłééh.

á-Ø-sh-łééh

make-3.OBJ-1.SUBJ-make.MOM.IMPF

'I build a house.'

(2)

Kin

kin

house

ádaashleʼ.

á-da-Ø-sh-łeʼ

make-PL-3.OBJ-1.SUBJ-make.DIST.IMPF

'I build houses.'

Possession

Possession in Navajo is expressed with personal pronoun prefixes:

Most of the time, these prefixes take a low tone, but in some nouns and postpositions, the final syllable of the prefix takes a high tone, such as shílaʼ "my hand," nihílaʼ "our/your hand."

The prefixes are also used when the possessor in a possessive phrase is a noun, as in:

Jáan

John

bimá

his-mother

"John's mother"

Navajo marks inalienable possession for certain nouns – relatives, body parts, homes and dens. These nouns can only appear with a possessive prefix, as in shimá "my mother." If one wishes to speak of mothers in general, the 3rd person indefinite prefix ʼa- "someone's" is used, amá.

Postpositions

Navajo uses a number of postpositions where European languages tend to favor prepositions; thus, all spatial and most other relations such as under, on, or above are expressed by using the possessive prefix in combination with a postposition. All postpositions are inalienable, meaning that a prefix or fusion with a true noun is mandatory.

Examples include:

• biyaa (under it)
• bikááʼ (on it)
• bitah (among it)

These can be combined with all prefixes to construct forms such as shiyaa (under me). Occasionally, postpositions are fused with true nouns to form a single word, such as Dinétah.

Numerals

Navajo uses a decimal (base-10) numeral system. There are unique words for the cardinal numbers 1–10. The numerals 11–19 are formed by adding an additive "plus 10" suffix -tsʼáadah to the base numerals 1–9. The numerals 20–100 are formed by adding a multiplicative "times 10" suffix -diin to the base numerals 2–10.

In the compound numerals, the combining forms of the base numerals have irregular vowel and consonants changes. The numeral "1" has three forms:

• łáaʼii (used in counting "one", "two", "three", etc.)
• -łaʼ- (a shortened combining form)
• tʼááłáʼí (used in larger numbers and with a distributive plural prefix)

The combining form łaʼ- is used in the compound łaʼ-tsʼáadah "11". The numeral tááʼ loses the final ʼ consonant while the final vowel in hastą́ą́ is shortened when the -tsʼáadah "+10" suffix is added. The suffix loses its initial tsʼ becoming -áadah when added to ashdlaʼ "5". Several changes occur when the -diin suffix is added involving a loss of the final consonant or a reduction in vowel length:

• naaki → naa-
• tááʼ → tá-
• dį́į́ʼ → díz-
• ashdlaʼ → ashdla-
• hastą́ą́ → hastą́-
• tsostsʼid → tsostsʼi-
• tseebíí → tseebí-
• náhástʼéí → náhástʼé-
• neeznáá → neezná-

For the cardinal numerals higher than 20 between the multiples of 10 (i.e., 21–29, 31–39, 41–49, etc.), there are two types of formations. The numerals 21–29 and 41–49 are formed by suffixing the ones digit to the tens digit, as in:

naadįįnaaki

22

←

=

naadiin

20

+

naaki

2

dízdįįłaʼ

41

←

=

dízdiin

40

+

-łaʼ

1

Here the -diin suffix appears in the combining form -dįį-. The combining form -łá "1" is used as well:

The other numerals are formed by placing dóó baʼąą "and in addition to it" between the tens digit and the ones digit, as in:

tádiin

30

dóó baʼąą

+

tʼááłáʼí

1

=

31

ashdladiin

50

dóó baʼąą

+

tʼááʼ

3

=

53

The numerals 41–49 may also be formed in this manner:

dízdiin

40

dóó baʼąą

+

naaki

2

=

42

or

dízdiin

40

+

naaki

2

→

=

dízdįįnaaki

42

The cardinal numerals 100–900 are formed by adding the multiplicative enclitic =di to the base numerals 1–9 and adding the word for "hundred" neeznádiin, as in:

The base numerals with a high tone in the last syllable change to a falling tone before =di.

For the thousands, the word mííl (from Spanish mil) is used in conjunction with =di:

• tʼááłáhádí mííl "one thousand"
• naakidi mííl "two thousand"

The word for "million" is formed by adding the stem -tsoh "big" to mííl: mííltsoh "million" as in:

• tʼááłáhádí mííltsoh "one million"
• naakidi mííltsoh "two million"