A particle may be anything: a prefix, a suffix, an infix, a short adverb, or a short verbal marker. It may be a part of a word that may be applied to other words, or a word that connects words. In Navajo the creation of new words is highly productive due to its ability to insert particles that attach meanings to the stems. Some of them become more stable words altogether, a process that is called “lexicalization”, and sometimes the resulting meaning is quite distant from the sum of its particles.
Due to the constant insertion of the modern realities that need to be named, lexicalization may result in a number of words never reported in a dictionary or grammar, and for this reason, a list of particles may help the student understand new words. This compilation may not be accurate, and many other particles are missing, but it is worth reporting to the student and the community. There are a number of works that have compiled such list, yet this particular list is done for readability.
’á means “the comparator aspect of neuter imperfective verbs such as in nineez (is tall) versus áníłnééz (is taller), may also mean “to make” with the stem root -įįd.”
’áá is a pronoun of place meaning “the mentioned place” and in “áádi” means “at the mentioned place” or “right there.”
’aak’eego means “so that”
’áko ndi means “and yet.”
’ál’į́į́gi means “the place at which”
’ál’í means “the place where people does things with something” like in “azee’ál’į́” whish means hospital, like the place where people are doing things with medications.
’áłch’į́ means there’s a shortage, as in Tó ’Áłch’į́dí (Dilcon, AZ), which means there’s a shortage of water
’ałdó means “also, too”
’ałtso means “finish doing something” + verb in perfective, implying something occurring right after something is finished, as in “shimá ch’iyáán ałtso ’áyiilaago ch’iyáán dadiidiił” which means “after my mom is done having cooked, we will eat the food.”
(a)hoodzą́ means “there’s a hole” as in Tségháhoodzání (Window Rock)
ádeií means “above” as in “Kináhálgaiídi Wááshindoon Adeií Hooghan”, the US senate
akéé means “the one who follows”
áyeií means “below” as in “Kináhálgaiídi Wááshindoon Ayeií Hooghan”, the US house
baa means about but also refers to the beneficiary of an action or a direction of movement “baa níyá” which means “came to visit someone”
báá means “extending” like in the clan “T’iis ch’ébáanii” which means “Gray cottonwood Extending Out”
bąąh is a particle included in béésh bąąh dah si’ání (the one sitting with a metal badge) or díkwíísh bąąh ilį́ (how much is something?), so may be expressing the notion of carrying something, like how much value this is carrying. Glosbe says it means “alongside” like in tábąąhí (water side, coast, coast line).
béé means “about” as in bééhozin (to know about) o béénáshniih (I remember about), may be lexicalized in verbs of knowledge. May be the combination of bee (with, by means of) + é (about) collapsed. Is it possible yééhozin?
bii’ means location exactly inside.
bik’ehgo means “according to”
bikéé means “at the very following place”
bik’i and yik’i imply their wellness, or on their behalf, like in “Diné bik’i adéest’į́į́” (overseeing the welfare of the people)
bilą́ąjį means “ahead of”, where the one who is merely ahead is “alą́ąjį dah sidáhí” or head administrator.
biniiyee means “with the purpose of” right after the sentence that expresses the purpose. The structure of the sentence is Verb + go biniiyee’ (the sentence expressing purpose), _________ (main sentence). Like saying: in order for _______, then ________.
biniina means “because” right after the sentence that expresses the cause. Verb + go biniinaa (the sentence expressing cause), _________ (main sentence). Like saying: because _______, then ________.
biidóó means “from out of it” as in “naaltsoos biidóó ’íhoo’aahígíí” meaning textbooks, referring to the knowledge that comes from the books.
ch’e means “out” as in “T’iss ch’ébáanii” which means “Gray Cottonwood Extending out”
ch’į́ refers to a shortage, as in Tó ’Áłch’į́dí (Dilcon, AZ), which means there’s a shortage of water
chii means “red”
chin refers to something spreading around odor or sensorial impression, such as in łikaní halchin (smells good) or niłchxon (stinks)
chon means “dirty, ugly, disgusting”
deesh means “along” or “to start”, used in me-future tense, and also in the clan Deeshchii’nii “Start of the red streak” or in deet’áázh meaning “we two are moving along” or “we two started moving in a direction”
deet means “various in a direction,” where the t indicates it’s only two people
déez’į means “some is looking”, as in “béeso yik’i deez’į́’í’gíí” or the one who oversees the money, treassurer
di means “at a place” when this is large or usually a proper name
dích’íí means “bitter”
dił means turning as in Dził ná’oodiłnii which means “turning mountain”
dildǫ́ǫ̨́ refers to something that pops or is explosive as in Tsé Dildǫ́ǫ́’ii (a mountain that is a volcano too)
dlii means “flows”
doh means hot, as in Hoozdoh (Phoenix, AZ) which refers to a spatial area that is hot
doo in a verb or after a verb expresses future
dóó bik’ijí after a verb means “after doing something”
éé means “revolving around” as in naashnéé (I played), nít’éé (revolved) or doolééł (will revolve)
éé or é means “about” as in bééhozin (to know about) o béénáshniih (I remember about), may be lexicalized in verbs of knowledge. May be the combination of bee (with, by means of) + é (about) collapsed.
ei in the middle of the verb is a passivizer like in na’neeztą́ą́’ is the third person perfective singular and dual for “teaching” which turns into neineeztą́ą́’ meaning “I’ve been taught”, also a transitivizer like an allomorph to yi as in the middle of the verbal form: wakes up (ch’ínádzííd), wakes someone (despierta a)
ghá means to walk
gi means at a place that’s not a city, or it’s used to signal a place within a place ______di, ______gi. Also refers to a human being at a certain place. Ólta’gi siké. The two (people) are at the school.
Díí naaldlooshii danél’ínígi bighan. Este animal vive en el zoológico.
gi means “how to do something” and goes right after the verb as in “k’idileyéegi yínida’niłtin” meanin “they 3+ teach how to plant”
giizh means “cuts” as in the verb but also in names of places where a cut through the mountain is implied, then it may mean a passage, as in ma’ii deeshgiizhnii “Coyote Pass”
góne’ means “at” like location but not exactly inside, also metaphorically if added to numbers makes ordinals or states series.
ha is contained in hadzíí which means to speak, to exclaim, to make a speech, where -dzíí means breathed, and ha means “to start a process”
hadi is contained in hadizíí’ which means to vow, to promise, and to swear, where -dzíí means breathed, and hadi means “all the way”
hal means “prairie, open space” as in halgai which means white valley
hí means “place, where they’re located, the thing you use to do” as in the clan Tsé sikéhí (where the two rocks are sitting)
hí means “the thing that is useful for” like in “bee akʼeʼelchíhí” which means “pencil or the thing that is useful to write”
Hootsoh means “the big place” and refers to a meadow among the rocks as in Tséhootsoh (Fort Defiance, AZ)
hwii refers to two people in the act of knowing something
í means “the one who has”
íí is a prefix that appears too often in a verb meaning to study “ííłta’”
íí may be referring to the past, or specific point in time, as in ííłta which means I studied, he/she studied, they (2) studied
ííl’í refers to the person who does or build something, like in hoghan ííł’í “the one who does houses” or “construction worker”
ííł’íní is the person who does things with something, like in “azee’ííł’íní” which means doctor, the person who does things with medications
’į́ means “to see”
ii means “the one who does” or the doer, as in naabaahii which means the doer of war
jį means “at a place” just like “di” and “gi” but may be referred to another types of places.
jí means “in a direction”
ká may imply to receive something from someone, like help, as in Da’ nihiká ’iishyeed? (can I help you (2 or 3+)?)
ką́ą́ means “has it written, stuck, on”
ké means plural in words like at’ééké (girls) versus at’ééd (girl).
k’adę́ę means “after”
k’eh means in the way of like in Dinék’ehjí (in the way of the Navajo, referring sometimes to the language), or in k’ehgo or k’ehgį́ (in accordance with)
lahda means “sometimes”
ła means “some”, “a little bit”, “a bunch” or “one.”
łi means “in a color” or “in a way” as when a color is named as in łitsoi, which means “yellow”
ná is contained in nádzíí which means to heal a wound, where -dzíí means breathed, and ná means once again, so it’s like making someone breath again.
naa means something is done regularly or repeatedly.
na’a may be a variant of “naa” connected to the thing used to do something that is done regularly or repeatedly, as in na’a’eeł which contains optative ’eeł (to float) and na’a implies a device to float.
nááz means “round” as in “Názbąs” in T’is Názbąs “the grove of trees is round” or Náázlíní, the (river) that flows in a circle
nees / neez means “tall”, and may also mean “big” or “important”
ní means “of a color, in a way”
ní at the end means “the one who”
nii means “in a series, in a group” as in the names of the clans like in Tó dich’íínii or “Bitter water clan”
nidi means “although” or “even when” or “despite”, right after the sentence “shił hóyée nidi” meaning “despite feeling tired,” then adds something else. May also mean “still” at the very end of the sentence.
niłt’ílí means “it’s crystal clear as in “Tónilts’ílí”
ool refers to progressive as in oolkił (time) or ó’ool’į́į́ł (culture).
shą́ą́ refers to an area where there’s sunshine, as in Shą́ą́’tóhí “the place where water is in a sunshine”
sh appears inside a verb meaning me in the imperfective form, but along with z and s may refer to the third person singular/dual past or specific (perfective?) temporality
tá means “referring to water” and it’s a prefix substituting “tó” as in the name of the clan Táchii’nii meaning Red Running into the water”
táá góó, doo is a structure used in the following way: t’áá ______góó, (means “only if”, where space is a verb), _______ doo (then will ….)
t’áá ’áłtso means “all” right after the noun, as in “siláołtsooí t’áá ’ałtso” meaning “all soldiers.”
t’áadi means “near” like in the clan Dził t’áadi which means near the mountain, also t’áá might be referring to a mentioned place where something is located like “right at the mountain”
t’áadoo means “don’t” in a command.
t’ah means “cover, shade, leave, tense, state, yet”
tł’ah means “cover, cave”
tł’ash means “bottom” as in Tł’ááshchi’í which means “Red Bottom people” and also nishtł’ají
tsíín refers to a joint
ts’iin refers to the bone or something hard
tsin is a tree
ts’íís is the body or the flesh
ts’id is a tendon or something flexible
tsą́ is the inners
Ts’ózí means “thin”
yah implies coming in the direction of the speaker, like in woshdę́ę́ yah ’aninááh meaning you, come in (towards me)
yah means “up” or “upward” or “on” mostly after movement, or in a dynamic environment.
yi before the verb means the verb needs an object, and also implies direction
yíní is contained in yínídzíí’ which means to curse, where -dzíí means breathed, where yí means “directed at” and ní means “piercing”
yikáá means “on” referring to static physical presence.
yiyaa means “under” referring to static physical presence.
yóó means “away from sight” as in yóó’ííyá “is lost”
zah means “twisted” but I need to confirm and find an example