Introduction to Navajo Questions
Any competent speaker of any language will be able to form questions. This resource is a combined grammar and lexicon of Navajo questions. We provide a description of three kinds of questions along with glossed examples and audio recordings of them. We think this resource will be useful to students and teachers of this language, and to professional linguists within and outside Navajo communities.
We distinguish three distinct kinds of questions: Yes/no questions, Content Questions, and Alternative Questions. We treat Tag Questions as a subtype of Yes/no questions. For this project we draw on previous work by Fernald & Perkins (manuscript), Young & Morgan (1987), Young, Morgan & Midgette (1992), and others cited in References [link].
Da’ | Na’nízhoozhígóó | díníyá? |
Q | Gallup-to | 2-go.F |
Are you going to Gallup? |
Mary | ha’át’íí | nayiisnii’? |
Mary | what | 3-3-buy.P |
What did Mary buy? |
’Atsį́’ísh | ’éí | doodaii’ | łóó’ísh | nínízin? |
meat-Q | TOP | or | fish-Q | 3-2-want.NI |
Do you want meat or fish? |
Example (1) is a yes/no question, which has ‛yes’ or ‛no’ as an answer. Questions like this are
used to ask whether a particular statement is true or not. In this example, the statement being
asked about is Na’nízhoozhígóó díníyá, which means ‛You are going to Gallup’
Content questions, like example (2), do not have simply ‛yes’ or ‛no’ as an answer.
Rather than supplying a statement and asking whether it is true or not, they have the effect of
providing a statement with some missing information, and they ask what that information is. In
(2), the idea is that Mary bought something, and the question asks what that something is. Alternative questions present the addressee with a choice between two or more options.
Note that the English gloss in example (3) can be understood as either a yes/no question (if the
intonation is rising on fish) or an alternative question (if the intonation is falling on fish). In
Navajo, the sentence is an alternative question for which the appropriate answer will indicate
which one of the choices is desired.
Glossing conventions and a note on morphology are here [link].
An example search has returned 50 entries
’Adą́ą́dą́ą́’ shá bíighah ’atah ’adishdiłgo ’i’íí’ą́.
yesterday 1-for 3-passing down 1-play.stick.dice.RI-GO evening’Adeesdíilgo dibé sits’ą́ą́’ dah diijéé’.
3-thunder.P-GO sheep 1-away.from start-3-run.Pl.P’Ahbínídą́ą́’ t’óó ’ahodiyeeshdláałgo biniinaa ’ólta’di doo hah níyáa da.
morning-past with pretend-1-move.Prog-GO 3-because school-at NEG quickly 1-go.P NEGI was late getting to school this morning because I dilly-dallied on the way.
bookmark- ’ahbínídą́ą́’ this morningfind in Navajo Adverb Lexicon
- -dą́ą́’ past timefind in Navajo Postposition Lexicon
- time
- t’óó withfind in Navajo Adverb Lexicon
- -niinaa because of, on account offind in Navajo Postposition Lexicon
- -di atfind in Navajo Postposition Lexicon
- location
- hah, hahí fast, quickfind in Navajo Adverb Lexicon
- doo --- da frame to negativize verbs and phrasesfind in Navajo Adverb Lexicon
’Anít’i’ ńtłóo’go biniinaa béégashii t’óó yigháníkah.
fence 3-loose.P-GO 3-because.of cow just 3-through-3-go.pl.P’Aoo’, shí dó’ t’áá ’ákwíinisin.
yes 1 also just 1-think.so.NI’Asdzą́ą́ Báhóózhóní yinishyée dooleeł.
woman happy 1-called.NI future’Ííshją́ą́ díí ’atoo’ béésh bii’ kǫ’í bikáá’ dah séką́.
don’t forget this stew stove 3-top up 1-put.P.OC’Óshą́ą́’ laanaa’ dichin shi’niiłxį́.
1-eat.O wish hunger 1-3-kill.I’Óshą́ą́’ laanaa’ dichin shi’niiłxį́.
1-eat.O wish hunger 1-3-kill.I*Nidlóóhísh doodaii’ doo sha’shin nidlóoh da?
2-cold.X-Q or NEG perhaps 2-cold.X-Q NEG-áátis
-ee
-jí
designates ceremonies, religious and political institutions and lifeways
bookmark