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Etymology

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From Proto-Athabaskan *x̣aɣʸ (winter).

In Navajo, the initial fricative * of Proto-Athabaskan didn't sonorize to gh, so in verbal stems and in the nominal stem hai (winter) the initial voiceless fricative h is maintained (with the exception of the adverbial derivative díí ghaaí or dííghaaí (this winter), which shows a later sonorization). See also -ZHĮ́ (summer) for a similar situation.

Root

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-HAI

  1. a winter, a year passes
Theme Category Bases Reversionary (+ná)
motion

a winter or a year passes

beehááh

a winter or a year returns

 

Stem set

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Aspect IMP PERF FUT ITER OPT
MOM -hááh -hai -hah -hah -hááh

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Navajo terms belonging to the root -HAI (winter passes)