-CHʼIL

See also: chʼil and -chʼil

Navajo

Etymology

Probably from Proto-Athabaskan *čʷ’ə̓tɬ’ (“to shrivel”), with multiple extended meanings.

Cognate roots found in Ahtna naʼugheltsʼetlʼ (“it shrank”), yiłtsʼetlʼ (“he scorched it”), neltsʼetlʼ (“he has his eyes closed”), deltsʼetlʼ (“fire pops”), Koyukon tsʼetł (“shrubs, small willows”), Gwich'in diltrʼal (“fire crackled”), niltrʼal (“he had his eyes closed”), trʼał (“brush, undergrowth”).

Root

-CHʼIL

  1. to curl, to shrivel

Theme	Category	Bases	Transitive bases (O + ł)
l	adjectival	S is curly yishchʼil (NEUT)
l	motion	S curls, peels off yiilchʼííł (TRANS) — — bélchʼil (CON)	S curls O yiiłchʼííł (TRANS) yiʼniiłchʼííł neiłchʼil (CONT)
∅	conversive	S is undercooked shichʼil (NEUT)	S undercooks O, shrivels O by heat yiłchʼil (CONCL)
ni + l	successive	S closes eyes, blinks niilchʼííł (TRANS) niłchʼil (REP) niilchʼił (SEM)

  2. fire crackles

Theme	Category	Bases	Transitive bases (O + ł)
di + l	?	burning wood crackles dilchʼił (REP)
ʼa + di + l	?	lightning strikes łeʼdilchʼííł (MOM) nʼdilchʼil (CONT) adiilchʼił (SEM)

  3. plant

Theme	Category	Bases	Transitive bases (O + ł)
di + ł	adjectival	S is dense, brushy díłchʼil (NEUT) hodíłchʼil

Stem set

Aspect	IMP	PERF	FUT	ITER	OPT
MOM	-chʼííł	-chʼil	-chʼił	-chʼił	-chʼííł
TRANS	-chʼííł	-chʼiil	-chʼił	-chʼił	-chʼííł
CON	-chʼiił	-chʼil	-chʼił	-chʼił	-chʼiił
CONT / CONCL	-chʼil	-chʼil	-chʼił	-chʼił	-chʼil
REP	-chʼił	—	—	—	—
SEM	-chʼił	-chʼił	-chʼił	-chʼił	-chʼił
NEUTER	—	-chʼil	—	—	—

See also Appendix: Roots and stems derivation.

Synonyms

to curl:

• -MÁÁZ
• -TAAZ
• -ZHAʼ

 

to blink:

• -KʼOL

lightning strikes:

• -GĘSH
• -GIZH

Derived terms

Navajo terms belonging to the root -CHʼIL (curl)

Navajo terms belonging to the root -CHʼIL (lightning)

Navajo terms belonging to the root -CHʼIL (plant)