Navajo (Diné Bizaad), also known as Diné, is part of the Athabaskan branch of the Na-Dené family. Most of Diné are located in northern Arizona, but also now extended to south of Utah and northwest of New Mexico. It is the largest spoken language in the Na-Dené language family and is closely related to the Apache, which belongs to the same language family. Various types of media have been translated into Navajo, such as the movie Star Wars.
There is little regional variation in pronunciation and vocabulary among the various types of Navajo spoken in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
According to the 2010 census, there were only 7,600 Navajo speakers alone. In urban areas, young Navajo tend to change to English.
Navajo Words and Phrases in English
Let us work on Navajo words translated to English language meanings:
| English | Navajo |
| one | Łáá’íí |
| two | Naaki |
| three | Táá’ |
| four | Dįį’ |
| five | Ashdla’ |
| man | Hastiin |
| woman | Asdzání |
| dog | Łééchąą’í |
| sun | Shá |
| moon | Tł’éhonaa’éí |
| water | Tó |
| white | Łigaii |
| yellow | Łitsooí |
| red | Łichíí’ |
| black | Łizhiní |
| eat | Yiyą |
| see | Yoo’į |
| hear | Yidiists’a’ |
| sing | Hashtaał |
| leave | Diiyá |
| Please | T’aa shoodi |
| Thank you | Ahéhee’ |
| Good morning | Yá’át’ééh abíní |
| Good afternoon | Yá’át’ééh |
| Good evening | Yá’át’ééh ałní’íní |
| Evening greeting | Yáʼátʼééh iʼííʼą́ |
| Good night | Yá’át’ééh hiiłchi’į’ |
| Goodbye | Hágoónee’ |
| Yes | Aoo’ |
| No | Dooda |
| hello | Yá’át’ééh |
| I love you | Ayoó án ín shí |
| bon appetit | Nizhónígo adííyį́į́ł |
| family | k’é (kinship, extended family); ak’éí; hakʼéí; hooghan hazʼą́ |
| relative | hakʼéí |
| father | shizhé’é |
| mother | Shimá |
| child, children | awééʼ; áłchíní |
| son | biyeʼ; biyáázh; ghe’ |
| daughter | achʼéʼé; hatsiʼ |
| husband | Hahastiin |
| wife | hweʼesdzáán |
| brother | shinaaí; shitsilí |
| sister | shiadí, shideezhi |
| uncle | shi bízhí zhéʼí’ yázhí |
| aunt | shi bízhí – shimá |
| niece | Atsi |
| grandparent | Bitsoi |
| grandchild | Bitsóóké |
| grandson | hatsóí ashkiígíí |
Navajo has a rich list of consonants. Among the most distinctive features of the Navajo consonants are the following:
- There is a three-way difference between plain, aspirated, and ejective stops and affricates. Aspirated consonants are produced by breathing through the air when they are released and marked with a raised mark. Ejective consonants are produced by increasing the air pressure in the mouth, so when the consonant is released, there is a significant burst of air, marked with an Apostrophe.
- There are velar stops with labialized and fricatives. These are produced by simultaneous rotation of the lips.
- There is a lateral fricative without a voice.
- Use of tones.
Use of Navajo in World War II
Navajo was a pre-19th-century unwritten language. By the turn of the 20th century, however, a number of religious texts, language programs, and dictionaries were compiled by missionaries, each using a different writing system.
During World War II, the U.S. Navy, created a unit of so-called Navajo Code Talkers as a way to encrypt messages at the level of intelligence in a Pacific theater. The so-called code was the jargon the Navajos in the unit established amongst themselves to explain the necessary battlefield knowledge or information. Its effectiveness was demonstrated by the fact that the Navajo soldier who was captured by the Japanese before the development of the code could not explain the messages despite the torture of his captors.
The Navajo language is one of the most difficult for any English-speaking person to master. It shines with explosive sounds and breath checks, often called glottal stops, which are difficult to perform, or even hear.