{"id":3453,"date":"2016-01-04T17:01:06","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T22:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/?page_id=3453"},"modified":"2016-01-04T17:01:06","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T22:01:06","slug":"navajo-language","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/navajopeople.org\/blog\/navajo-language\/","title":{"rendered":"Navajo Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

Din\u00e9 Bizaad – The Navajo Language<\/h1>\n

Ya’at eeh! Greetings <\/strong>
\nThe Navajo language<\/strong>, also known as Din\u00e9 Bizaad<\/strong>, is spoken by approximately 175,000 people in the United States and elsewhere (Gordon, 2005).<\/p>\n

Linguistic Affiliation<\/strong>
\nNavajo is a language of the Apachean subgroup of the Athabaskan<\/strong> branch of the Na-Den\u00e9 language family, along with Apache. Other Athabaskan languages include Chipewyan, Beaver, Sekani, Carrier, Hupa, Slave, Wailaki, Tagish, and more.
\nThe Athabaskan language<\/strong> family includes approximately 44 different language groups native to the Western U.S. and Canada (Gordon, 2005).<\/p>\n

\nLinguistic Sketch<\/h2>\n

The number of phonemes in Navajo is disputed, but many scholars agree that there are thirty-three consonants, including a large number of affricates and fricatives, and twelve vowel sounds. Length is phonemic in Navajo, and vowels appear either short, long, or overlong. Navajo syllables carry either a high, low, rising, or falling tone. Falling and rising tone can occur on long syllables. A rising tone is marked in the orthography by the acute accent on the second vowel, while falling is marked by the acute accent on the first syllable.<\/p>\n

The Navahos call themselves: \u201cDine\u201d <\/strong>which means men or people and in conversing with them they will tell you that \u201cDine\u201d simply means \u201cThe People\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Apache-Navajo language and the other Athabascan languages belong to an entirely different language family from the Amerindian languages. One crucial difference that separates them from the other Amerindian languages and suggests their affinity to the languages of east Asia is that they are tonal; i.e., words with the same phonemes but spoken with different tones have different meanings. This meant that it was almost impossible for adult outsiders to learn these languages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Navajo Language lesson By Clayton Long – 5 min.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Y\u00e1’\u00e1t’\u00e9\u00e9h shik\u2019\u00e8\u00ed d\u00f3\u00f3 shidine\u2019\u00e8 (Hello my relatives and my people.)<\/p>\n

NAVAJO VOCABULARY<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The short vowels are pronounced as follows:<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
a\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in father<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
e\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in west<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
i\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in sit<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
o<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in low<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The long or doubled vowels are pronounced the same, but the sounds are held longer:<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\naa<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in say “aah”<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nee<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in yeah<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nii<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in see<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\noo<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in oh<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The combined vowels are pronounced as follows:<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
ai\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in my<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ao<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in cow<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
ei\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in say<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
oi<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\nas in chewy<\/strong><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

MORE VOCABULARY<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do you do! Good. Yah’eh-teh’.
\nAffectionate greeting. Ah-hah-lah’nih.
\nFriend. Sih-kiss.’
\nGrandfather. Shih-chai.’
\nGrandmother. Shah-mah’ tsah’nih.
\nMister. Grown man. Hosteen’.
\nGrown woman. Ah-dzah’nih.
\nYoung man. Dih-neh’.
\nYoung woman. Chih-keh’.
\nBaby. Ah-wayh’.<\/p>\n

More Navajo language links:<\/h2>\n