-NISH

Navajo

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *nəš-x (“to move quickly”).

Cognate root found in Chipewyan násnís (“I move quickly”), Northern Tutchone naɣadəlniš (“he is working”).

Root

-NISH

1. to work

Theme	Category	Bases	Transitive bases (O + ł)
l	motion	S works dilníísh (∅-MOM) ńdínílníísh (“good start”) ńdiilníísh (“start”) tádílníísh chʼélníísh (ni-MOM) niilníísh naalnish (CONT) ↳ yinaalnish yilnish (PROG)
ʼa + ∅	motion	work is done ndaʼiiníísh naʼanish (CONT) ooshnish (PROG)

Stem set

Aspect	IMP	PERF	FUT	ITER	OPT
MOM	-níísh	-nish	-nish	-nish	-níísh
CONT	-nish	-nish	-nish	-nish	-nish

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Derived terms

Navajo terms belonging to the root -NISH (work)