-ZHĮ́Į́ʼ

Navajo

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Athabaskan *šəŋʸ ~ *žəŋʸ (“to be dark, black”).^[1]^[2]

Cognate root found in Ahtna delzen (“dark colored”), Gwich'in azhrąįį. Also distantly cognate with Ket сьъʼн (sʲʌˀn, “blue; green; grey; brown”), for which see Proto-Yeniseian *çajVŋʷ (“dark-colored”) for more.

Root

-ZHĮ́Į́ʼ

black

Theme	Category	Bases	Transitive bases (O + ł)
łi + ∅	adjectival	S is black (neuter impf.) łizhin (NEUT) dinilzhin halzhin
d		S is black (neuter perf.) deeshjin (NEUT) jíjin haajin haashjin kʼíjíjin naashjin naajin náshjin
d		S becomes — yiijį́į́h (TRANS) hoojį́į́h hiłiijį́į́h	S makes O — yiyiishį́į́h, yiyiiłjį́į́h (TRANS) ↳ ádiilzhį́į́h (+d refl.)
d	motion	black S moves naajįʼ (CONT) yijį́į́ł (PROG)

Stem set

Aspect	IMP	PERF	FUT	ITER	OPT
MOM	-zhį́į́h	-zhį́į́ʼ	-zhį́į́ł	-zhį́į́h	-zhį́į́h
CONT	-zhįʼ	—	—	—	—
NEUT	-zhin	-zhin	—	—	—

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Synonyms

dark:

to blacken:

-TʼÉÉZH

Antonyms

Colors:

-BAʼ (gray)
-CHIIʼ (red)
-GAII (white)
-TŁʼIIZH (blue, green)
-TSOII (yellow)

Derived terms

Navajo terms belonging to the root -ZHĮ́Į́ʼ (black)

Tsézhįįh Deezhlį́

^ Leer, Jeff (1996), Comparative Athabaskan Lexicon‎^[1], volume sh/zha-sh/zhe, Alaska Native Language Archive, page 19
^ Fortescue, Michael; Vajda, Edward (2022), “69.) ~*çej-Vŋʷ”, in Mid-Holocene Language Connections between Asia and North America (Brill's Studies in the Indigenous Languages of the Americas; 17)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 358

[1] Leer, Jeff (1996), Comparative Athabaskan Lexicon‎^[1], volume sh/zha-sh/zhe, Alaska Native Language Archive, page 19

[2] Fortescue, Michael; Vajda, Edward (2022), “69.) ~*çej-Vŋʷ”, in Mid-Holocene Language Connections between Asia and North America (Brill's Studies in the Indigenous Languages of the Americas; 17)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 358

[1]

[2]