-YIZ

Navajo

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Athabaskan *ɣ̇əz (“to turn, to whirl”).

Root

-YIZ

1. to turn

Theme	Category	Bases	Transitive bases (O + ł)
Ø	motion	S slides (as a boulder) yiyéés (Ø-MOM) iiyéés chʼéyéés diyéés diiyéés naayéés yíyéés (ni-MOM) niiyéés naayiz (“rock”) (CONT) yiyis (PROG) ...
ná + Ø	successive	S turns around slowly náyéés     nááyis (PROG)	S turns O around slowly néíłhéés yiłhiz (REP) yiyiiłhis (SEM) náyoołhis (PROG)
l	motion	S rushes, stampedes (a crowd, a herd) iilyéés chʼélyéés diilyéés ńdiilyéés ...
l	?	S wiggles, zigzags, jerks, dodges dilyéés nánílyéés (“to balk”) ńdílyis (iter.) naalyiz (“to rock”) (CONT)	S wiggles O       neiłhiz (CONT)
		S is startled dilyéés hodilyéés tsídíyéés	S startles O   hodiłhéés tsíyidíłhéés
ni + Ø	adjectival	S is cylindrical, tubular níyiz (NEUT)
		S gets — niłhis (CONCL)	S makes O — yiniłhis (SEM or CONCL ?)

Note: cf. The pair níyiz / yiniłhis parallels the pair nímas / yiniłmas, but YM doesn't call the latter a Conclusive aspect?

Stem set

Aspect	IMP	PERF	FUT	ITER	OPT
MOM	-yéés	-yiz	-yis	-yis	-yéés
CONT	-yiz	-yiz	-yis	-yis	-yiz
REP	-yiz	-	-	-	-
SEM	-yis	-yis	-yis	-yis	-yis
CONCL	-yis	-yis	-yis	-yis	-yis
NEUT	-	-yiz	-	-	-

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Synonyms

to slide:

• -DÁÁZ (rocks, seeds)
• -KID (small O)
• -TÉÉL (animate O)
• -ZHÓÓD (massive O)
• -ZHOOZH (rocks, seeds)

to wiggle, to squirm:

• -GHAL
• -TAAZ
• -TŁʼIIZH

to be nervous:

• -NÁÁʼ
• -TŁAH
• -TLID
• -TSIZ

 

to rock, to sway:

• -KAAD
• -WOD

Template:mid2 to turn:

• -BAAL (quickly)
• -DIZ
• -GIZ

to twirl:

• -MÁÁZ (baton, hat)
• -TAAZ

crowd or herd moves:

• -DÉÉL
• -NÁ
• -NIIʼ
• -TEEL
• -YOL
• -ZĄ́

Derived terms

Navajo terms belonging to the root -YIZ (turn)