Talk:yicha

Etymology

What does "peg element" mean and why do none of the components of this term mean "cry"? 71.66.97.228 17:35, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

A peg element is a dummy syllable added as a prefix to the verb stem. Except in a few, rare cases, Navajo verbs are not allowed to have only one syllable. The verb stem together with any lexical prefixes carries the meaning. In this case, there are no lexical prefixes, so the verb stem -cha is the imperfective mood with the meaning of cry. —Stephen ^(Talk) 17:57, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Thank you; should we have a Wiktionary entry for peg element 71.66.97.228 22:07, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

You could make an entry for it, but I usually don’t make English entries. You could work on it for two hours and then some other editor might decide that it was either encyclopedic or the sum of its parts and delete it. But you can try to make the entry if you want to. —Stephen ^(Talk) 02:09, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

If "-cha" means "cry," the etymology should probably say "imperfective verb stem for 'cry'" rather than simply "imperfective verb stem." 71.66.97.228 22:07, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Should not need to repeat it. The verb means cries and this is the only verb stem that the verb has. If you say that -cha means cry, then how will you describe -né in naané? -né by itself doesn’t mean anything. Besides, saying -cha means cry is misleading, since it is only the imperfective stem. The future stem, for example, is -chah. It is enough to say that yicha means he is crying, and that -cha is the imperfective stem. —Stephen ^(Talk) 02:05, 31 May 2011 (UTC)