naazhjaaʼ

Navajo

Etymology

na- (atelic, circuital) + -z- (si-perfective 3rd person subject prefix) + -Ø- (classifier) + -jaaʼ (neuter perfective stem of root -JAAʼ, “to handle a profusion of objects”).

Verb

naazhjaaʼ

they lie around somewhere, are located somewhere (groups of profusion of small, visually difficult to count objects as sand, seeds or pebbles)

Usage notes

This verb is limited to expression in the third person and refers to multiple groups of small items. Also occurs with distributive da- as ndaazhjaaʼ, referring to a greater plurality of groups.

For a single group, use the verb shijaaʼ.

This is a neuter verb that uses only the perfective stem.

Conjugation

Paradigm: Neuter perfective (si), third person only.

PERFECTIVE	singular	plural	dist. plural
3rd person	(shijaaʼ)	naazhjaaʼ	ndaazhjaaʼ

Related terms

neijaah
shijaaʼ
yijááh
yíjááh
yoojih