-MAL

Navajo

Etymology

Root not found in other Athabaskan languages. Maybe related to mąʼii (“coyote”).

Root

-MAL

1. to gobble, to eat quickly

Theme	Category	Bases	+ Unspec object
∅	operative	S eats O yiʼniimaał (MOM) yimal (DUR)	S eats ? (MOM) amal (DUR)

Stem set

Aspect	IMP	PERF	FUT	ITER	OPT
MOM	-maał	-mal	-mał	-mał	-maał
DUR	-mal	-mal	-mał	-mał	-mal

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Synonyms

to eat:

• -ʼAAL (hard O)
• -CHOZH (leafy O)
• -DÉÉL (plural O)
• -DLĄ́Ą́ʼ (liquid O)
• -GHAL (meat)
• -KID (chunky O)
• -TSʼEEʼ (mushy O)
• -YĄ́Ą́ʼ

gluttonous:

• -BID

Derived terms

Navajo terms belonging to the root -MAL (gobble)