-ZO

See also: Appendix:Variations of "zo"

Navajo

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *zʊɣ̇ (“to scrape”).

Cognate root found in Ahtna zogh (“to scrape”), Carrier təszoh (“to rake it”).

In Southern Athabaskan, the root evolved to mean “to mark”, “to draw a line or a border”. In Navajo, it is also found in bases related to the four operations.

Root

-ZO

  1. to mark, to draw, to write

Theme	Category	Bases	Transitive bases (O + ł)
O + ∅	successive	S marks hoodzo (+d passive) naʼazo (CONT) yoozoh (PROG) yiyiizoh (SEM)

  2. to add, to subtract, to multiply

Theme	Category	Bases	Transitive bases (O + ł)
O + ∅	?	S adds... yíizóóh (+) ↳ ahíizóóh yiidizóóh (-) néízóóh (×) ałtsʼéízóóh (÷)

Stem set

Aspect	Imperfective	Perfective	Future	Iterative	Optative
Momentaneous	-zóóh	-zo	-zoh	-zoh	-zóóh
Continuative	-zo	-zo	-zoh	-zoh	-zo
Semelfactive	-zoh	-zoh	-zoh	-zoh	-zoh
Neuter	—	-zo	—	—	—

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Synonyms

to write:

• -CHĮ́

to draw:

• -CHʼĄĄʼ

Derived terms

Navajo terms belonging to the root -ZO (mark)

ałtsʼéízóóh

hahoodzo

hoodzo

náházo

naʼazo

yiyiizoh

yoozoh