Talk:neestʼą́

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Latest comment: 13 years ago by Stephen G. Brown in topic Definition 1
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Definition 1[edit]

Shouldn't definition 1 be a noun? 71.66.97.228 03:43, 17 October 2010 (UTC)Reply

As I have often said, the part of speech headers are a terrible idea for a language like Navajo. This word is a verb. It can be used where in English we would use a noun or an adjective, but it is only a verb. It means "it is ripe". So you could put it under the header of a verb that translates to a noun and an adjective, or I suppose you could put the translations under their own headers and not acknowledge the Navajo part of speech. Neither is satisfactory, but since we have to try to force Navajo into an Indo-European grammar pattern, I don’t see any reasonable solution. —Stephen (Talk) 19:59, 10 December 2010 (UTC)Reply

A simple usage note summarizing what you are describing would work very well to explain the actual sense and usage. 71.66.97.228 21:35, 10 December 2010 (UTC)Reply

If there were only a couple of such words, that solution would be fine. Since this affects most of the Navajo vocabulary, it is not a good idea at all. It will only lead to confusion and misconception. —Stephen (Talk) 08:14, 11 December 2010 (UTC)Reply