chaaʼ

See also: chąąʼ, -chą́ą́ʼ, -chąąʼ, -CHĄ́Ą́ʼ, and -CHĄĄʼ

Navajo

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *tshaʼ (“beaver”). Cognate with Hän tsà’, Sarcee tsxa, Chipewyan tsáá, Beaver chááʼ, Carrier tsaa, Sekani tsáʼ, Ahtna tsaʼ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʃʰaːʔ/

Noun

chaaʼ

1. beaver
2. tubby, huge, corpulent

Derived terms

• chaalįįd (“castor”)
• chaatʼíní (“dock, sorrel”)
• cháłchaaʼ (“beetle”)
• shichaaʼ (“I'm huge”)

References

• Young, Robert, Morgan, William, Midgette, Sally (1992) Analytical lexicon of Navajo, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, →ISBN, page 74