-HAI

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *x̣aɣʸ (“winter”).

In Navajo, the initial fricative *x̣ 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

-HAI

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

a winter or a year passes

  • yihááh
↳ beehááh

a winter or a year returns

  • náhááh, bináhááh
 

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

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Antonyms

Derived terms

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

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