-ZHĮ́Į́ʼ

Navajo

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Athabaskan *žənʸ (“to be dark,black”).

Cognate root found in Ahtna delzen (“dark colored”), Gwich'in azhrąįį.

Root

-ZHĮ́Į́ʼ

1. 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
TRANS	-zhį́į́h	-zhį́į́ʼ	-zhį́į́ł	-zhį́į́h	-zhį́į́h
CONT	-zhįʼ	-	-	-	-
NEUT	-zhin	-zhin	-	-	-

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Synonyms

dark:

• -TŁIIZH
• -YÉÉL

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)