łį́į́ʼ

See also: Appendix:Variations of "lii"

Etymology

Of the extant senses, pet is oldest; the original meaning, retained in Athabaskan cognates, was dog.[1] Upon the reintroduction of the horse to North America, the Navajo language transferred the usage of łį́į́ʼ to the horse (which became the new favored "pet" in Navajo culture), with the dog being referred to by a derived term, łééchąąʼí (literally shit pet), i.e. pet which eats excrement. Compare Dogrib tłı̨ (dog).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɬĩ́ːʔ/
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Noun

łį́į́ʼ (compound łéʼé-, łéé-, łį́į́ʼ-, possessed form bilį́į́ʼ)

  1. pet
  2. livestock
  3. horse

Inflection

Derived terms

References

  1. Sapir, Internal Linguistic Evidence Suggestive of the Northern Origin of the Navaho , p. 227

Western Apache

Noun

łį́į́ʼ

  1. horse

See also

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