From Proto-Athabaskan *-ł (progressive suffix), from Proto-Na-Dene *-ł (progressive suffix); cognate with Eyak -ɬ (progressive suffix), and Tlingit -n (progressive suffix). The same or a similar classifier prefix is found in all of the Athabaskan languages, as well as the more distantly related Eyak and Tlingit. It has also been compared with Proto-Yeniseian *l (progressive suffix).
ł-
- the ł- classifier or valence-change prefix, a causative-transitivizing prefix of active verbs that modifies the transitivity or valence and grammatical voice of a verb; it often transitivizes an intransitive -∅- (unmarked) verb:
- yibéézh (“it’s boiling (yi-∅-béézh)”) + ł- → yiłbéézh (“he’s boiling it (yi-ł-béézh)”)
- naʼniyęęsh (“something flows about in a meandering fashion (naʼni-∅-yęęsh)”) + ł- → naʼniłhęęsh (“he’s making it flow about in a meandering fashion (naʼni-ł-yęęsh)”)
- siʼą́ (“a roundish object lies in position (-∅-ʼą́)”) + ł- → séłʼą́ (“I keep a roundish object in position (-ł-ʼą́)”)
