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Like most native American languages Navajo has a complex system of personal pronouns that do not correspond exactly to English forms (English derives from mainly Germanic roots, so it is not surprising that they have nothing in common).

The phrase shi naashlnish (I am working) includes both a pronoun (shi) and an internal first person marker element (-sh-) to produce the meaning "I am the one doing this". It is clear from this that the verb must change form to agree with the pronoun, so for example "you are working" would be ni nanilnish (ni + -ni-).

In fact the story is far more complicated than this, but it gives you some idea of the way Navajo pronouns are applied.

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13y ago

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