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
’Áádóó shą’?
and.then QChidí daats’í bee hólǫ́ ’éí doodaii’ niísh chidí nee hólǫ́?
car maybe 3-with 4-exist.N TOP or 2-Q car 2-with 4-exist.NIChidí naat’a’íísh hooghankáá’góó ch’ínísaal ’éí doodaii’ dziłghąą’góó daats’í?
airplane house-over-along over-3-fly.P TOP or mountain-attached-along perhapsChidíísh bee hólǫ́ doodago ni daats’í chidí nee hólǫ́?
car-Q 3-with 4-exist.N or 2 maybe car 2-with 4-exist.NIda’
Da’ ’ałní’ní’ą́ąjį’ tł’óo’di nishínílnish?
Q noon-until outside-at 2-work.PDid you work outside up to noon?
bookmark- da’ particle for yes/no questions
- ’ałní’ní’ą́ąjį’ noon-untilfind in Navajo Adverb Lexicon
- -jį́’ up to, as far asfind in Navajo Postposition Lexicon
- time
- -di atfind in Navajo Postposition Lexicon
- location
- Perfective (P) (yi, ni, si, yi-∅)find in Navajo Verb Modes
- naashnish workfind in Navajo Verb Modes
Da’ Cubadę́ę́’ tsinaa’eeł nił ní’éél?
Q Cuba-from boat 2-with 3-float.PDibéésh nee hólǫ́?
sheep-Q 2-with 4-exist.NIDichinísh doodaii’ dibáá’ísh dzinízin?
hunger-Q or thirst-Q 3-4-want.NIDíigi ’át’éegoósh ’ájiił’įįh?
this-at 3-be-GO-Q SUP-4-do.PDíí chąą’ shą’ háádę́ę́’ niníyęęzh?
this manure-Q where-from 3-ooze.PDíí haa yit’éego ’atiin?
this how 3-be.NI roadDíkwíí jį́ lá nanilnish?
how.many Q days 2-work.IDíkwíísh nibeegashii?
how.many-Q 2-cowDíkwíísh ninááhai?
how.many-Q 2-winter.NIGohwééh nayiisnii’ídiísh bił bééhózin?
coffee 3-3-buy.P-at-Q 3-with 3-know.NIDo they know where he bought the coffee?
bookmark- Perfective (P) (yi, ni, si, yi-∅)find in Navajo Verb Modes
- nahashniih buy, sellfind in Navajo Verb Modes
- -ísh enclitic for yes/no questions
- -di atfind in Navajo Postposition Lexicon
- location
- -ił withfind in Navajo Postposition Lexicon
- Neuter Imperfective (NI)find in Navajo Verb Modes
- bééhózin there is knowledgefind in Navajo Verb Modes




