bi-

amá (“one's mother”) + bi- → bimá (“his/her/its/their mother”)


bi-

Marks a third-person singular indirect object.


di-

Represents multiple homophonous thematic and aspectual prefixes of position I and VI, whose exact meaning and etymology remain mostly speculative.

diidiłjeeh

diidiłjeeh

dilʼéés

dilwosh

disééh

yidiitsʼį́į́h

dinilgai

yą́ą́ʼdíłgééd

bidizóóh

diyin

kʼiidilé

yidiséí

hadii-

díní- (prolongative)

tádi- (diversative)

bibadi-

Unclassified, often entering in the formation of other prefix compounds

dighááh

Forms a number of inceptive verbs, with a (∅/si) paradigm.

dah diighááh

Forms a number of inchoative verbs, with prepounded dah and a transitional (yii/yii) paradigm.

doogááł

didoogááł

dah didoogááł

Forms the future mode of all active verbs along with the progressive yi-.

dijool


di-

Probably cognate with a prefix of similar shape occurring in other Athabascan languages a reflexive possessive pronoun.
Probably cognate with classifier d- marking passive and reflexive verbs.

yishchʼid

nishchʼid

ádíshchʼid

ánáádíshchʼid

Personal prefix used in combination with the prefix of position I à-, marking the reflexive verbs. It always triggers a classifier shift (∅ → d, ł → l).


y-

ii- + -cha + y- → yiicha (“we are crying”)

A peg element added to 1st person plural ∅-imperfective verbs to fit syllable shape restraints


s-

Alternative form of si-, which marks third person of si-perfective verbs


oo-

Marks a third-person subject of a progressive verb


ó-

wósh- (first-person singular)
woo- (duoplural first-person)
daoo- (first-person plural)
wóó- (second-person singular)
wooh- (duoplural second-person)
daooh- (plural second-person)
yó- (duoplural singular third-person)
dayó- (plural third-person)
jó- (duoplural fourth-person singular)
dajó- (fourth-person plural)


da-

bidziil ― he is / they two are strong

dabidziil ― they (three or more) are strong

kin áshłaa

Distributive plural marker, indicating that three or more subjects, objects or events are involved individually in the action denoted by the verb. In addition to verbs, it may also pluralize nouns, pronouns or postpositions. This prefix marks the boundary between disjunct (outer) and conjunct (inner) prefixes.


be-

his, her (indicates secondary or alienable possession, in opposition to bi-. See for example akʼah, beʼakʼah)


l-

Produced from an earlier combination of the two classifiers ł- + d-.

néíłtsááh

náltsááh

the l- classifier or valence-change prefix, a detransitivizing prefix of active verbs that modifies the transitivity or valence and grammatical voice of a verb, and occurs in most passive, mediopassive, reflexive, and reciprocal verbs that are derived from verbs with a ł- classifier


she-

my, me (indicates secondary or alienable possession, in opposition to shi-. See for example abeʼ, sheʼabeʼ)


ná-

Gives a verb a reversionary meaning, equivalent to back, back again, re-


ná-

Gives a verb an iterative meaning, equivalent to "repeatedly"


na-

na- + -nish (“work”) → naalnish (“have a job, work”)

Marks the continuative aspect, describing actions that take place over an indefinite time and move without a fixed direction or goal. Can also be translated as 'around about, here and there'

Marks the diversitative aspect on certain verbs, indicating action taking place in multiple places ("here and there") without taking place over a specific period of time


é-

(disjunct prefix of position I); postpositional prefix meaning “about”, “concerning”; is often found in contraction with ná- (“around”, reversionary) as (b)éé-, where it converges in shape with -í (“against”)

postpositional prefix meaning “about”, “concerning”; is often found in contraction with ná- (“around”, reversionary) as (b)éé-, where it converges in shape with -í (“against”)
► Navajo terms prefixed with é- (postpositional)


daa-

ndaabaah

daakǫʼ

form taken by the distributive plural marker da- when found immediately before the verbal or noun, indicating three or more participants


ał-

ałkʼi

áłká

ałkééʼ

ałkʼijįʼ

ałchʼįʼ

ałhaa

ałhąąh

ałkʼiijééʼ


hi-

hi- + l- (“classifier”) + -ghaał (“wriggle”) → hilghaał (“he/she is wriggling (somewhere)”)

Marks the seriative subaspect, which describes actions that take place seriatim.


ho-

indefinite deictic 3rd-person subject pronoun denoting space or area


ha-

Represents multiple homophonous thematic prefixes of position I, whose exact identification and etymology remain difficult. Young and Morgan (1987, 1992) identify 6 such prefixes. Their main divider is the perfective paradigm they select (∅-, yi- or yii-perfective).

haigééd

haasííd

haaʼnééh

hainitá

haalzheeh

(∅/si) for, after, search (related to -ka and -ká)

haatih

hadiisǫ́ǫ́s

(yii/yii) completeness, occurs with di- (see hadii-)


ha-

Alternative form of ho- when found immediately in pre-stem position.

halchííʼ

indefinite deictic 3rd-person object pronoun denoting space or area

halneʼ


sh-

sh- + yiłbéézh (“he/she is boiling it”) → yishbéézh (“I am boiling it”)


shi-

-gaan (“arm”) + shi- → shigaan (“my arm”)

-jáád (“leg”) + shi- → shijáád (“my leg”)

my, me (often indicates primary or inalienable possession, in opposition to she-. See for example abeʼ, shibeʼ)


ni-

ni- + bijaaʼ (“one's ear”) → nijaaʼ (“your ear”)

Marks a noun as being have a second-person singular possessor

ni- + bikʼi (“upon him/her/it”) → nikʼi (“upon you”)

Marks a postposition as having a second-person singular object

ni- + yicha (“he/she is crying”) → nicha (“you're crying”)

Marks a verb as having a second-person singular subject


ni-

Marks a verb as belonging to the ni-imperfective paradigm, which contains verbs confined to the momentaneous aspect.


ni-

Marks a verb as belonging to the terminative subaspect.


ba-

Postpositional prefix occurring in conjunction with di- in themes related to exhaustion, completion
► Navajo terms prefixed with ba- (postpositional)


yi-

amá (“one's mother”) + yi- → yimá (“his/her/its/their mother”)


yi-

sh- + -cha + yi- → yishcha (“I'm crying”)

A peg element added to 1st person singular and third person ∅-imperfective verbs to fit syllable shape restraints


yi-

yish- (first-person progressive singular)
yii- (duoplural first-person progressive)
deíníi- (first-person plural progressive)
yí- (progressive second-person singular)
woh- (duoplural progressive second-person)
deínoh- (plural progressive second-person)
yi- (duoplural progressive singular third-person)
deí- (plural progressive third-person)
joo- (duoplural fourth-person progressive singular)
dají- (fourth-person plural progressive)
deesh- (first-person future singular)
dii- (duoplural first-person future)
dadii- (first-person future plural)
yí- (future second-person singular)
díí- (duoplural future second-person)
dadoo- (future plural second-person)
doo- (duoplural future singular third-person)
dadoo- (future plural third-person)
jidoo- (duoplural fourth-person future singular)
dazhdoo- (fourth-person future plural)

-DLOʼ (“to laugh”) + yi- → yidloh (“he/she/it is smiling”)


yi-

Alternative form of hi-, used after dzi-, position IV prefixes, and V prefixes


w-

oh- + -cha + w- → wohcha (“You (plural) are crying”)

A peg element added to 2nd person plural ∅-imperfective verbs and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person optative verbs to fit syllable shape restraints


d-

Proto-Athabaskan *də- (valency decrease), from Proto-Na-Dene *də- (signaling valency decrease); cognate with Haida -d-, Eyak -d-, and Tlingit -d- (reflexive suffix).

inh

yizéés

yidéés

the d- classifier or valence-change prefix, a detransitivizing prefix of active verbs that modifies the transitivity or valence and grammatical voice of a verb, occurs in most passive, mediopassive, reflexive, and reciprocal verbs that are derived from verbs with a ∅- classifier; it produces the agentive passive verb forms


ii-

ii- + yicha (“he/she is crying”) → yiicha (“we are crying”)


díní-

dínéeskaad (active)
hadínéeshcha (active)
déesxéél (neuter)
kʼídéesniiʼ (neuter)
díné- (active first-person singular)
dínésh- (active first-person singular)
hadínésh- (active first-person singular)
dínísh- (first-person neuter singular)
díínísh- (first-person neuter singular)
díníní- (active second-person singular)
hadínííní- (active second-person singular)
díní- (neuter second-person singular)
dííní- (neuter second-person singular)
dínéez (active third-person)
s- (active third-person)
hadínées- (active third-person)
déez (neuter third-person)
s- (neuter third-person)
dínée- (active)
dínéed- (active)
hadínée- (active)
hadínéed- (active)
díníi (neuter)
díníid (neuter)
dííníi- (neuter)
dííníid- (neuter)
dínoo- (active)
dínooh- (active)
dísío- (active)
dísíoh- (active)
hadínóo- (active)
hadínóoh- (active)
dínó- (neuter)
dínóh- (neuter)
díínó- (neuter)
díínóh- (neuter)

Unknown. Probably the combination of various lexical or aspectual di- and ni- prefixes of disparate meanings ("oral", "noise", "color", "legs", inceptive, static, neuter...). The high tone is an especially striking feature of this prefix complex.
It seems that the two prefixes di- and ni- when combined together are prone to receiving a high tone, in a fashion similar to yíní-. Compare:
* imperfective nishdaah "I sit down"/ future dínéeshdaał "I will sit down", where the di- prefix of the future mode in contact with the lexical ni- prefix triggers a high tone.
* imperfective nishkaad "I drive them into it" / imperfective díníshkaad "I start to drive them along", where the inceptive di- triggers a high tone.
Young (2000) analyses díní- as a prolongative prefix complex, composed of inceptive di- and terminative ni-. He also proposes that the complex may originally derive from di- + yíní- (directive) in neuter perfective verbs (see below).


bí-

áchį́į́h (“one's nose”) + bí- → bíchį́į́h (“his/her/its nose”)


jí-

Marks a fourth person subject of a ni-imperfective verb


í-

(disjunct prefix of position I); postpositional prefix meaning “against”; it is often found in contraction with ná- (“around”, reversionary) as (b)éé-, where it converges in shape with -é (“about”)


yí-

Marks a third person subject of a ni-imperfective verb


yí-

Marks a second person singular subject of a progressive verb


oh-

oh- + yicha (“he/she is crying”) → wohcha (“you (plural) are crying”)


wó-

Contraction of w- (peg element) + ó- (optative mood)

Marks a third person subject of an optative mode verb


yibéézh

yiłbéézh

naʼniyęęsh

something flows about in a meandering fashion (naʼni-∅-yęęsh)

naʼniłhęęsh

he’s making it flow about in a meandering fashion (naʼni-ł-yęęsh)

siʼą́

a roundish object lies in position (-∅-ʼą́)

séłʼą́

I keep a roundish object in position (-ł-ʼą́)

the ∅- classifier (valence-change prefix), which is the absence of a prefix and usually marks an active verb as intransitive


yi∅ltłʼééł

represents a third-person singular subject, which does not have any explicit marking on Navajo verbs.


joo-

Marks a fourth person subject of a progressive verb


ł-

From Proto-Athabaskan *ɬ (progressive suffix), from Proto-Na-Dene *ɬ (progressive suffix); cognate with Eyak *ɬ (progressive suffix), and Tlingit *n (progressive suffix). The same or a similar classifier prefix is found in all of the Athabaskan languages, as well as the more distantly related Eyak and Tlingit. It has also been compared with Proto-Yeniseian *l (progressive suffix).

yibéézh (“it’s boiling (yi-∅-béézh)”) + ł- → yiłbéézh (“he’s boiling it (yi-ł-béézh)”)

naʼniyęęsh (“something flows about in a meandering fashion (naʼni-∅-yęęsh)”) + ł- → naʼniłhęęsh (“he’s making it flow about in a meandering fashion (naʼni-ł-yęęsh)”)

siʼą́ (“a roundish object lies in position (-∅-ʼą́)”) + ł- → séłʼą́ (“I keep a roundish object in position (-ł-ʼą́)”)

the ł- classifier or valence-change prefix, a causative-transitivizing prefix of active verbs that modifies the transitivity or valence and grammatical voice of a verb; it often transitivizes an intransitive -∅- (unmarked) verb:


nihi-

amá (“one's mother”) + nihi- → nihimá (“our/your mother”)

your; our (used to refer to two or more people)


shí-

áchį́į́h (“one's nose”) + shí- → shíchį́į́h (“my nose”)


náá-

Marks the semeliterative aspect, which indicates that the action of a verb is repeated one time


noh-

Marks a second person duoplural subject of a ni-imperfective verb


nish-

Marks a first person singular subject of a ni-imperfective verb


yish-

Marks a first person singular subject of a progressive verb


yii-

Marks a second person duoplural subject of a progressive verb


wooh-

Contraction of w- (peg element) + ó- (optative mood) + oh-

af

Marks a second person duoplural subject of an optative mode verb


deesh-

deesh- + yideeł (“he/she is rushing at it”) → deeshdił (“I will rush at it”)

Marks a first person singular subject of a future mode verb


díí-

From di- + yí-, the latter equivalent to yi- + ni-

díí- + yideeł (“he/she is rushing at it”) → díídił (“You will rush at it”)

Marks a second person singular subject of a future mode verb


dii-

dii- + yideeł (“he/she is rushing at it”) → diidił (“we will rush at it”)

Marks a first person duoplural subject of a future mode verb


doo-

Marks a second person duoplural subject of a future mode verb


doo-

doo- + yideeł (“he/she is rushing at it”) → doodił (“He/she will rush at it”)

Marks a third person subject of a future mode verb


dooh-

dooh- + yideeł (“he/she is rushing at it”) → doohdił (“You (pl.) will rush at it”)


hodoo-

Marks a spatial/areal subject of a future mode verb


jidoo-

Marks a fourth person subject of a future mode verb


wósh-

Contraction of w- (peg element) + ó- (optative mood) + sh-

Marks a first person singular subject of an optative mode verb


wóó-

Contraction of w- (peg element) + ó- (optative mood) + ni-

Marks a second person singular subject of an optative mode verb


jó-

Marks a fourth person subject of an optative mode verb


hó-

Marks a spatial/areal subject of an optative mode verb


yíní-

Marks a second person singular subject of a yi-perfective verb


łi-

łi- + -gai (“white”) → łigai (“it is white”)

łi- + -tso (“yellow”) → łitso (“it is yellow”)

An adjectival prefix that forms neuter imperfective verbs, especially those relating to color


diid-

diid- + yileeh (“he/she is becoming”) → diidleeł (“We will become”)


ʼadoo-

Marks an indefinite subject of a future mode verb


dadii-

Marks a first person plural subject of a future mode verb


dazhdoo-

Marks a fourth person plural subject of a future mode verb


dadoo-

Marks a third person plural subject of a future mode verb


dadooh-

Marks a second person plural subject of a future mode verb


ʼa-

Marks a verb as having an unspecified subject.

Marks a verb as having an unspecified object.


chʼí-

A thematic prefix describing outward horizontal motion.


dzi-

A thematic prefix describing motion or extension away and into the distance.


deii-

deii- + yicha (“he/she is crying”) → deiicha (“we (3+) are crying”)


daah-

daah- + yicha (“he/she is crying”) → daahcha (“you (3+) are crying”)


daji-

daji- + yicha (“he/she is crying”) → deiicha (“they (3+ obviate nouns) are crying”)


dajó-

fourth-person plural singular/duoplural of ó-