-TSAʼ

-TSAʼ

Navajo

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *tsαɢ (“to act with teeth by biting”).

In Navajo this root often occurs with the emphatic infix -x-.

It is related to the noun atsá (“eagle”).

Root

-TSAʼ

1. to bite down, to grasp (with teeth or beak), to clench

Theme	Category	Bases	Transitive bases (O + ł)
O + ł	motion	S carries O clamped in teeth or beak yiłtsééh (Ø-MOM) iiłtsééh adeiłtsééh yidiiłtsééh haiłtsééh yisdéíłtsééh yíłtsééh (ni-MOM) chʼííłtsééh niyíłtsééh neiłtsaʼ (CONT) yoołtsah (PROG)
O + Ø	successive	S grasps O with teeth or beak yiyiitsah (SEM) dádiitsxah yidiniitsxah (+d) ↳ ahidiniitsxah
yíní + Ø	stative	S has O clamped in teeth or beak yótsaʼ (NEUT)
di + Ø	?	S releases P from teeth yiiditsééh (MOM)

Stem set

Aspect	IMP	PERF	FUT	ITER	OPT
MOM	-tsééh	-tsaʼ	-tsah	-tsah	-tsééh
CONT	-tsaʼ	-tsaʼ	-tsah	-tsah	-tsaʼ
SEM	-tsah	-tsah	-tsah	-tsah	-tsah
NEUT	-	-tsaʼ	-	-	-

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Derived terms

Navajo terms belonging to the root -TSAʼ (grasp with teeth)