Talk:níłtsą́

Classifier and verb stem

This verb appears to have the common classifier -ł- and verb stem -tsʼąʼ. In the entry's present state, this verb is presented as having no classifier at all, not even the null classifier, and a verb stem of -łtsʼąʼ that includes an unprecedented łtsʼ, consonant cluster as the verb stem's initial consonant.

I'm happy to accept the possibility that this particular verb stem is only ever used with the -ł- classifier. However, I don't think that means that the classifier is now part of the verb stem; given what I've read about Navajo verb stems and Athabaskan languages in general, łtsʼ as verb-stem-initial doesn't seem quite right. Deriving -tsʼąʼ from -tsʼąąh is reasonable, but -łtsʼąʼ from -tsʼąąh seems unlikely: where would the ł come from?

Does anyone have any more information? ‑‑ Eiríkr Útlendi │ Tala við mig 18:15, 28 May 2014 (UTC)

Just as some verbs, even in English, semantically can only be transitive, others only intransitive, this sense requires the classifier -ł-. There is no -tsą́, only -łtsą́. -łtsą́ is made from -łtsʼąʼ, which comes from -ł- + -tsʼąąh. If anyone ever makes an entry for -łtsʼąʼ, it will show this.

I had planned to enter all of the verb stems that I could think of, but CFI was changed to exclude most terms in languages such as Navajo, so the project has been shelved. —Stephen ^(Talk) 00:20, 29 May 2014 (UTC)