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
’Aoo’, shí dó’ t’áá ’ákwíinisin.
yes 1 also just 1-think.so.NI’Aseezį́ binaaltsoos biníkádinishchid.
gossip 3-paper 3-through-1-stick.finger.P’Ałk’idídą́ą́’ kin ’áshłaa ńt’éé’ ’éí t’ahdii bii’ shighan.
quite.long.ago house 3-1-make.P past it still 3-in 1-home’Áshįįh Bii’ Tóógóó náádísdzáago dziłghą́ą́’ hanáádeesh’nah.
Salt.Lake.City-toward again-1-go-GO mountain-back again-1-climb.R’Hágoónee’, béeso shaa ní’aah.
well money 1-for 2-give.SRO.IBéésh ’áłts’ózí bee ’atsidí bee ’aháníłne’.
wire hammer 3-with 3-1-beat.Pbik’ídeediz
3DO-1dpl-wrap.it.around.it.PBikáá’ dah ’asdáhí bikáa’gi doodaai’ ni’góó daats’í nishdaah?
chair 3-top-at or floor-on perhaps 1-sit.NICh’óóshdą́ą́dą́ą́’ shichidí naaki. K’ad ’éí t’ááłá’í.
formerly 1-car two now it oneDa’ chidíísh bee hólǫ́ doodaii’ ni daats’í chidí nee hólǫ́?
Q car-Q 3-with 4-exist.NI or 2 maybe car 2-with 4-exist.NIDoes s/he have a car or do you have a car?
bookmarkDibé bighan báátis dah yiishte’.
sheep corral 3-over up 1-climb.PDibé bighan báátis dah yiishte’.
Sheep corral 3-over up 1-climb.PDibé bighan báátis dah yiishte’.
Sheep corral 3-over up 1-climb.PDibé dził binaashii nanishkaad.
sheep hill 3-across.from 3-1-herd.CIDichinísh doodaii’ dibáá’ísh dzinízin?
hunger-Q or thirst-Q 4-want.NIDoo łá’í ndi naash’áa da.
NEG one but 3-1-hold.SRO.CI NEGdíníshkaad
3DO-1-start.to.herd.them.(animals).Istart to herd them (animals), 1st person singular
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