Talk:beeʼeldǫǫh

Compare "bee"

When one follows the "compare 'bee'" wikilink the definition is "water," not something seemingly related to explosions. Can that be explained a bit more in the entry? 71.66.97.228 02:32, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

You were looking at the language that follows Navajo. That bee means water in the Tetum language of Polynesia. Navajo is above that alphabetically. —Stephen 03:29, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Thank you; now it's clear. But does eldǫǫh mean "explosion," then? 71.66.97.228 00:16, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Navajo undergoes sound changes, often extreme sound changes, as words are put together. You can’t just take apart a word and expect the parts to be words. When words are built up, frequently certain prefixes or other parts are dropped, or elided, and parts that remain may change significantly. It is often difficult to figure out the original underlying forms. For this word, suffice it to say that it means what the etymology says it means. Eldǫǫh is not a word. In some form, and with a range of prefixes, it comes from a verb meaning it explodes. —Stephen 16:07, 9 January 2010 (UTC)

Wow, that is complicated. It reminds me of Arabic, where one can often figure out the 3-phoneme root which occurs in different permutations. So, that makes wikilinking individual words in a multi-word Navajo entry sometimes impossible (though sometimes it works if the component words occur in the language in that form). 71.66.97.228 05:43, 10 January 2010 (UTC)

Yes, links for individual words need to point to the lemma, or citation form. Most words are verbs, and the conjugation is complex. To promise is ádee hazhdidziih (literally, "he/she/one/they/people promise(s)", the appreciative 3rd person imperfective), but some of the many forms of it include ádee hadideesdzih (future), ádee hadisdziih (imperfective), ádee hadeesdzííʼ (perfective), ádee hańdísdzih (iterative), ádee hadósdziih (optative). Then if you take just ádee hadideesdzih (future, I shall promise), there are ádee hadidíídzih (you will promise), ádee hadidoodzih (he/she/they will promise), ádee hazhdidoodzih (he/she/one/they/people will promise), ádee hadidiidzih (we will promise), and ádee hadidoohdzih (you all will promise). The citation form for all of these is ádee hazhdidziih, the appreciative 3rd person imperfective. Navajo grammar is extremely difficult and Navajo is considered to be among the most difficult of all languages to learn as a second language, if not the most difficult. —Stephen 05:27, 11 January 2010 (UTC)