-CHÍÍL

Navajo

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *tšitɬʼ (“snow”). Compare Navajo chííl (“snowstorm”). The root often appears with the emphatic infix -x-.

The verb yíchííł translates as “a snowstorm arrives” in the imperfective mode, while in the perfective mode it means “it snows”.

Root

-CHÍÍL

1. to snow

Theme	Category	Bases	Transitive bases (O + ł)
Ø	?	a snowstorm moves yíchííł (MOM) iichííł chʼéchííł dichííł haachííł hadíníchííł (díní-, prolongative) iʼniichííł niichííł (ni-, terminative) yichííł (PROG)

Stem set

Aspect	IMP	PERF	FUT	ITER	OPT
MOM	-chííł	-chííl	-chííł	-chííł	-chííł

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Synonyms

to snow:

• -ZAS
• -DZAAZ
• -YOL

Derived terms

Navajo terms belonging to the root -CHÍÍL (snow)