DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 027 520 AL 001 654

By- Goossen. Irvy W.Haaisha' Dine Bizaad Dendnitah (Let's Read Navajo Preprimer).Northern Arizona Supplementary Education Center, Flagstaff.Spons Agency-Office of Education (DHEW), Washington. D.C.

Pub Date May 68Grant- 0EG-4-7-662356-0376Note- 47p.Available from-Northern Arizona Supplementary Education Center, Faculty Box 5618, Northern Arizona

University, Flagstaff, Ariz. 86001 ($0.75).EDRS Price MF-100.25 HC Not Available from EDRS.

Descriptors-Consonants, Glossaries, Illustrations, *Instructional Materials, Language Instruction, *Navaho,*Reading Instruction, *Reading Materials, Tone Languages, Vocabulary, Vowels

Identifiers-*PreprimerThis preprimer has been developed by the Northern Arizona SupFilementary

Education Center in response to a renewed interest on the part of the Navaho peoplein learning to read their own language. A brief description of Navaho vowels, vowellength, tones, and consonants, prefaces the Navaho material. All the letters of theNavaho alphabet are introduced, being _presented first in words containingcontrasting sounds. and then in the context of simple sentences. The words containingthe sounds being practiced are vocabulary items basic to Navaho family life, and areillustrated by simple black and white drawings to stimulate word recognition. Apage-indexed Navaho/English glossary of approximately 130 lexical items is

appended. (AMM)

Beiidi UtahU.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE

OFFICE OF EDUCATION

THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE

PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONS

STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDUCATION

POSITION OR POLICY. Let'sRead

Navaja,

A T, 001 6 54_

bq Irvq W Goossen

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",...row,en}oRzwq.5Aptrar..44,061.64,...11M,MISIVIT'Vi"VW-741rr71", ;PM?,".1,.."!1; VIZ,Vvrf, o 4 .

First Printing May 1968 1M

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published by

orthern

'[fL rizona

1 upplementary

7ducation

t enter

-1> creating a climate for change

Larry A. Stout, DirectorFaculty Box 5618 Northern Arizona UniversityFlagstaff, Arizona 86001

This publication was produced by NASEC under Public Law89-10, Title III, Grant No. 4-7-662356-0376, of the U. S.Office of Education.

Permission to reprint and distribute this publication is hereby grantedprovided that: a) it will not be placed on sale, and b) proper acknowledgementis made to the author and the NORTHERN ARIZ ON A SUPPLEMENTARYEDUCATION CENTER.

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1

PREFACE

This preprimer has been developed because of arenewed interest on the part of the Navajopeople in learning to read their own language.The book is primarily printed for them, but

non-Navajos may find it helpful in theirstudy of the language.

A number of teachers on the reservation havefound that Navajo students, not only learn toread better in English, but are also morehighly motivated to study English when theyfind that the marks on paper make sense in

both languages.

All the letters of the alphabet are introducedin the course of the preprimer. Capital let-

ters have not been used except in proper namesbecause older people find them too difficult

at first. Children however would be able torecognize them very soon since they use them

in school.

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:

HOW TO USE THE LESSONS

People who have taught the reading of thelanguage to Navajo students have found thepocket wall chart very useful. They have

usually made their own letters, some withdiacritics, to make up a large number ofsyllables. Since the language is constructedof mono-syllables, a large number of wordscan soon be made from a relatively fewsyllable cards.

Each group will have its_own problems. Moreattention should be given to the difficultparts. Often students find difficulty indistinguishing between the two letters, band d. Diacritics also cause some trouble.Ditto sheets with exercises to give the stu-dents practice are helpful. Word and syllableinsertion exercises are also good. Copyingthe lesson pages has proved very helpful,especially to older students who have hadlittle practice in writing.

ii

THE NAVAJO ALPHABET

VOWELS

1. There are basically four vowels in theNavajo alphabet. The vowels are as follows,the first example being a Navajo word, thelast, the closest apploximation in an Englishword:

a gad - juniper arte etetaah - west meti sis - belt sito hosh - cactus note

2. Vowels may be either long or short induration, the long vowels being indicated by adoubling of the letter. Actually, there arethree regular vowel lengths, a short, a longand an extra long. The extra long occurs regu-larly in syllables closed by a stop consonant,usually /d/ or /'/ (glottal stop). The lengthdoes not affect the quality of the vowel exceptthat /ii/ is always pronounced as /i/ in machine.

sis - belt the vowel is shortsiziiz - my belt the second vowel is long

3. Vowels with hooks under them are nasalized.To nasalize, some of the breath passes throughthe nose in producing the sound.

tsinaahns - wagon naad441 - cornbizcgs - his warts hAg.dift - from where

- salt shilii' - my horse- star d166' - prairie dog

4. When there is a tone mark on a letter, raise

your voice in pitch on that syllable. Say the

first word of the examples given below, andthen the one across from it, after hearing a

Navajo say them.

ni - youazeet- medicinenilf - he is

doo - not

- he saysazee' - mouthnfli - you ared66 - and

Notice the difference in the meanings of the words

in the two columns. The tone alone indicates the

difference.

5. The diphthongs are as follows: ai; aai; ao;

aoo; ei; eii; oi; ooi.

ai hai - winter something like kite

ei a - that one day

oi deesdoi - it is warm buoy

6. When only the first element of a vowel or a

diphthong has a mark above it, the tone is

falling. When the last element is marked, the

tone is rising.

bilasAana - apple defdfiltah - we will read it

d6ola - bull /itsxoof - orange

CONSONANTS

7. /t/ This is the most common consonantalsound in Navajo. It is called a glottal stop

and sounds like the break between the two ele-

ments of the English expression "oh, oh." The

difference between "Johnny yearns" and "Johnny

earrs" is that the latter has a glottal closure

between the two words.

etetaah - west a'lln - a hole

iv

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8. Following are the rest of the consonants and

their English equivalents, as nearly as they

can be given.

b highch chizhch' ch'ahd dibedl d166'

dz dzi/g gahgh hooghanh h&adihw bil hweeshne'j jAdi

k kg

k' k'adkw kwe'e1 lAjish/ /id

I IM MOSLn laadiPs sin

sh shasht tin

t' t'eesht/ t2ahtr tr izits tsahts' tslahw WAlshindoony 54

z zas

zh bizhi'

breadfirewoodhat

sheepprairie dogmountainrabbithoganwhereI told himantelopeshoenowright hereglovesmokecat

cornsongbearice

charcoalointmentgoatneedlesagebrushWashington,D.C.skysnowhis name

v

like p in spotlike ch in church

like t in stoplike dl in paddlinglike dz in adzelike k in sky

like wh in whenlike j in juglike k in kitten

like qu in quicklike 1 in lazy

like m in mosquitolike n in newlike s in soonlike sh in shoe

like ts in hats

like w in washlike y in yeslike z in zerolike z in azure

,4

gah

a

gah

a

naadw

aa

a

aa

aa

1

,

2

ke IIee'

e ee

ke

e

IIeet

ee

e ee

3

sis

i

sis

i

tsidii

iii

tsidii

ii

i ii

to hooghan

0 00

tO

0

hooghan

00

bggh.

aa

baa

b

bg.gh

bIgh

Baa'

Baa'

aa

Baa

B

Baa'

5

PPnaadii' , hanaa'

naaF.,

naa

Baa' bin6A'

binA6'

bi

naad44'

binaadiP

Baa' binaad44'

binaad44' binAA'

w4\'\Na%

i

7

atteed dibe

ee

Atte

ftPat'eed Atte.

Baa' Atte.

Baa' at'eed Atte.

dibe Atte.

attgd bidibe Atte.

Baat bidibe 6tte.

e

8

I.

ashkii

kii

ashkii

kii Atte.

ashkii

ashkii

ashkii 1

Atte.

Kii Atte.

9

dib4

Baal bidibe Atte.

Kii bilffl Atte.

Baa' bidibe naaki.

Kii bilffl naaki.

naaki

2

2

naaki

10

ic4 nibaal

Baa' bikee' Atte.

Baa' binibaal Atte.

ni.

Baa' Ani, shikee' Atte.

Kii gni, Baa' binibaal

Atte.

Kii gni, Baat bikee'

P Iatte, ni.

11

shash bash

sh sh

shash

bash

shashish At'e?

P Paool, shash atle.

bgshish At'e?

aoo', be4sh At14.

Kii bib4ezh Att4.

1

12

dOola dhhaat

doo da

dooda

/Wish Atte?

dooda, doo 14' Attee da.

shashish atte?

dooda, dOola Atte.

Kii bidAghaatAsh Atte?

doo Kii bidgzhaat Attee da.

#

i

i

Ii

1

i

I

!,

,

i

13

shash ch'ah

sha

she

shi shich'ah

Kii Anil shich'ah Atte.

doo Baa' bich'ah

Attee da.

shi shich'ah Atte,

. .ni Kul.

14

beesh aola

beesh Atte.

h6ish bibgzh Atte?

shibeezh Atte ni Kii.

shi shibeezh Atte, ni.

hAish biaola Atte?

I IKii Ani, shi aola atte.

shi shiaola Attg, ni.

Kii bibgzh clOO biaola Atte.

1

nazhahi Kii bibeezhIII

zh

zha

zh

ezh

'dish binAzhahi Atte?

Baat binAzhahi

'dish bibgzh At'e?

Kii bibgzh Atte.

zh

sh zh

15

r

16

rilzhahi lltsini

hi 16

ha he la le

hi ho li lo

ho lo

Baa' binAzhaht 11616.

Baa' bilAtsini holg.

bilAtsiniish hOlfo

aoo', bilAtsini 11616.

.0td,

?i,op

*4)4,

yr

z

"'914

'tto

ed)440Itr

P.t)

18

beesh adeel adeezhi

dee dee

, IKii bideezhi atte.

bideezhi bibeesh gdee'

h616.

Baal Kii bideezhi Atte.

Kii Baa' binaai Stt4.

binaai

Baal binaaf 11616.

v

azhet.ft

e ama

Baat bimg. hO16.

Kii bimA. 11616.

Baat d.(SO Kii bimA he)*

Kii bizhete hOlg.

Baat bizhete 1164.

Kii (166 Baa' bizhe'eft

11616.

ft

zhe ma

19

20

Kii bizhete wOlAchiii

wol

chii

Kii bizheie Atte.

Bizhe'e Chii wolye.

Baa' bizhe'e Chii wolye.

wolye

Kii dOO Baa' bizhe'e

Chii wolye.

21

haaz'ef Haazbaa'

haaz Haaz

Baa' bimg Haazbaa'

wolyg.

Kii bimg Haazbaa'

wolye.

Baa' bimA clOO bizhe'e

Haazbaa' d6O Chii wolye.

22

dibe naaki dibe tA61

ashdla'

Chii bidib4 naaki.

Haazbaa' bidibe alt.

Chii &SO Haazbaa'

bidibe dahOli.

bidib4 ashdla'.

t66' 3

ashdla' 5

...

...- -1

441' .r54:C

..

/, - , ._ _ _ _ . ..._ . -. .; sa....- a

200'

11loot tt 6114?

tt AS.

tt412Ati 1.

23

ch'al ch'al. Lint

ehta ch'a

ch'al Atte.

/a' ch'al wolye.

II I I.el doo ann. da.

lat 41 Ant.II I A I Iel chtal anut . wolye.

tISA tt6e)

chta2. Aninf. VO6 gni.

25

fr."#

tsidii dlgt

dii

dif tsidii wolye.

tsidii

dii d166' wolye.

d166' a/dOt nL

a2d6t

d6e

ag ao t Ani.

6F

,

,

I

1

it

-

tit izi

27

tr oh

tr i tlt o

(lit ti, izi Stte.

dii. tr oh Atte.

tit izi. dOsS tit oh At t 4.

tlt izi tlt oh yilchozh.

tit izi tit oh MI iikan.

at oh yachozh.

tit oh bil iikan.

28

iitsxoof. ashicii.

tsxo

ashkii iitsxoof.

iitsxooi bU iikan.

altsxoof. ef. litsxo.

ashiike ylzhi iitsxoof.

bil daalkan.

62chini. iitsxoof.

F. Iiiyis . daalkan.

tlt aalcal yistiA

tl* a tie

tit tihg_sh b tr aalcal Apt t e?

Baa' bimg. bitl* aakal

Att4.

hli bistg gtt4?

KU. bistIg gt*4.

Kii. bistie naaki.

I I Pamasani acheii

Baa' biragsgmi dg

bicheii h616.

Dii Bae biragAni Ave.

bicheii IA/ yAtAtIgh.

shicheii shim/ yAtAtteeh,

shimAsS.nf. shi/

yltAtteeh.

31

dzaaneez tsinaabits

Baa' bicheii bidzaangz

11616.

dzaangez bijaa' nineez,

rum Baa'.

shicheii bitsinaabffs

11616, ni Kii.

shimAg&ni dzaangez doo

bil yg.'gt'eeh da.

32

jaat1'661 lljish

Baa' shimAski

bijaat1'6O1 he)*

Bijaatl'OL nizhOni.

shimAsAni bilgjish

al&S' h616.

bilgjish ald6' nizhOni.

16jish ajaa'

ji jo je ja

33

atsi.' ts'in

Kii dibe bitsi.' Wl iikan.

ts'in doo bi/ /am da.

dib4 bitsi.'ish nil iikan,

. ..Ma', ni Kul.

aoo', ei shil iikan. ni

daatsq. ts'in nil likan?

dooda, ts'in doo std./

likan da.

31#

hooghan ktaa'

k'a

ktad

Baat bimAsAni ktad

Aleidi baghan.

kwete baghan Avg'

ndi ktad Aleidi baghan.

biml ktad t=46 kwe'e baghan.

bima Aleidi baghan twee'.

35

P I P Iamasani bee'adizi

adiz

Baa' bimAsgni adiz.

adizgo chigh deey6.

hwAah, ni.

Baa' a/c16' hwAah, ni.

doo adiz da ndi.

ttOO chtgh deeyA.

hwAah hwiih

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GLOSSARY

The numbers between the words and definitionsindicate the page on which the word is introduced.

NEW WORD PAGE

acheii 31

adiz 34

adizgo 35

ajaa'ft

a/dO'

amaft I I

amasaniI

ani

31

25

19

31

11I 1

anin1aoo'

24

11

ashdla' 22

ashkii 8

At'e 7

at'eed 7

atsi' 34

azhe'e 19

Baa' 5

b&lh 5

baghan 34

bee'adizf 35

beesh 11

beesh adee' 18

bibeezh 11

bibeesh adee' 18

bicheii 31

bich'ah 13

bidAghaa' 12

bideezhf 18

bidibe 7

bidzaangez 31

bijaa' 31

bijaatl'O61 32

bikee' 10

DEFINITION

a maternal grandfathershe is spinning (wool)she spinning (wool)an earalso, tooa mothera maternal grandmotherhe, she, it saysthe one who saysyesfiveboyhe, she, it isgirl

meat, flesha father

Bah, feminine namebreadhis, her, its homespindleknifespoonhis knifeher spoonhis, her maternal grandfatherhis hathis moustachehis younger sisterher sheephis mulehis earhis ear stringhis, her shoes

37

38

bilAjish 32

bi/ 27

bilAtsini 16

8

bim 19

bimAsAni 31

binAl' 6

binaadiP 6

binaaf 18

binAzhahi 15

binibaal 10

bistIA 29

bitl'aakal 29

bitsi' 33

bitsinaabw 31

bizhe'e 19

ch'ahch'a/ch'eghChii

daats'idaalkandAghaa'

dahO16deeyadibedif

dOOdoodadoo...dadOoladzaaneez

his, her gloveswith him, her, ither bracelethis horsehis, her motherhis, her maternal grandmotherhis, her, its eyeshis cornhis, her older brotherhis, her necklacehis, her tenthis, her socksher skirthis, her, its fleshhis wagonhis, her father

13 hat, headgear24 frog35 in vain, futilely20 Chee, masculine name

34

28

12

22

34

7

25

25

25

14

12

12

12

31

maybethey are good to the tastemoustachethey existhe, she is goingsheep

this, theseprairie dogalso, tooandno

notbull

mule

44' 2 garment

ei 24 that one

39

gah 1 rabbit

Haazbaa' 20 Hasbah, feminine namehaaz'clf. 20 ladder

hAf 29 who, whichhAfsh 14 who, whichhanAP 6 his, her eyeshOli 16 he, she, it existshooihan 4 hogan, homehwAah 35 phew!

hwiih 35 satisfied

Liyisi 28 really

jaati'Ocil 32 ear string

k'aa' 34 arrowk'ad 34 now

2 shoe

Kii 8 Kee, masculine namekwe'e 34 here

/a' 23 a, one, somelAjish 32 glove, mittenlAtsini 16 bracelet

8 horselikan 27 it is good to the tz...te

/itso 28 yellow, nickel/itsxoof 28 orange/CZ' 23 fish

naadii' 1 cornnaaki 9 two

nAzhahf 15 necklacendi 35 but, even

10 he, she, it saysnfbaal 10 tent, tarpni/ 33 with younizhOnf 32 she, it is prettyAleidi 311 over there

40

shash 11 bear

shi 13 1

shibgzh 14 my knife

shich'ah 13 my hat

shi/ 32 with me

shimS yAzhi 32 my maternal aunt

sis 3 bPlt

tSS' 22 three

t'SA 23 just

t'SAIS'i 23 one

tl'aakal 29 skirt

tl'izi 27 goat

tl'oh 27, hay

t6 4 water

t'OO 24 merely

tsfdii 3 bird

ts'in 33 bone

k

t

tsinaahais 31 wagonl

I

wOlAchitt 20 red ant

wolye 20 he, she, it is called

ylzhi 17 the little onepp

yAfAt'gh 30 it is good

yi/chozh 27 it is eating, grazing

yist/4 29 socks

YiY4 28 he, she, it is eating it

!

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