-YĄ́Ą́ʼ

See also: Appendix:Variations of "yaa"

Navajo

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Athabaskan *hanʸ (“to eat”).

The first consonant fuses with the preceding consonant from classifiers or subject prefixes, resulting in various alternations : YĄ́Ą́ʼ, DĄ́Ą́ʼ, SĄ́Ą́ʼ, SHĄ́Ą́ʼ, ZĄ́Ą́ʼ.

Compare also Navajo dą́ą́ʼ (“food, corn”).

Root

-YĄ́Ą́ʼ

1. to eat

Theme	Category	Bases	+ Unspec object
O + ∅	operative	S eats O yiʼniiyį́į́h niyíyį́į́h yiyą́ (DUR)	S eats iʼniiyį́į́h (MOM) niʼíyį́į́h (MOM) ayą́ (DUR) naʼayą́ʼ (CONT) táʼdíyį́į́h (DIV)
O + d	operative	S overeats O ? néidínídį́į́h (MOM) néineesdááʼ (perf.) yidą́ (DUR)	S overeats iʼniidį́į́h (MOM) ńdíʼnídį́į́h náʼneesdą́ą́ʼ (perf.) adą́ (DUR)
O + ł	operative	S feeds P with O yiyiisą́	S feeds P yiʼiisą́ (DUR)

Stem set

Aspect	IMP	PERF	FUT	ITER	OPT
MOM	-yį́į́h	-yą́ą́ʼ	-yį́į́ł	-yį́į́h	-yą́ą́ʼ
DUR	-yą́	-yą́ą́ʼ	-yį́į́ł	-yį́į́h	-yą́ą́ʼ
CONT	-yą́ʼ	-yą́ą́ʼ	-yįįł	-yįįh	-yą́ʼ

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)
• -MAL

Derived terms

Navajo terms belonging to the root -YĄ́Ą́ʼ (eat)