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Haʼátʼíísh hwíínítáál? "What did you (one person) sing?"

two people sing: hootáál?

three or more sing : dahootáál?

More polite: this is a fourth person something that we don't have in English and is hard to explain but is sort of like "one sang":

hojíítáál? (One or two people), dahojíítáál? --three or more people.

Use the same word for "what" with them all or you can use : ha'át'íishą'

Navajo grammar is more complex than English so if you want to say what did you sing over and over it is :

hwíínítał?

There are modes and aspects in Navajo grammar.

Note on pronouncing: Navajo has many more sounds than English so a system was made to represent it.

A mark over a vowel makes it high tone. You have to say this as it changes meaning like in Chinese or Vietnamese. It is not an accent or stress mark.

The mark between after the T' means it is different than a regular t and is glottalized. Hold your breath in your throat and make the T sound.

The mark under a vowel makes it nasalized like in the o i the French word "bon".

Two aa and two oo are held longer than one. The a is like in "father" the o like in "goat" or in Spanish "poco"

One i is as in "bit", two as in "bee"

The hw is a h sound but with the lips in a rounded w position like in "whirl" for some English speakers.

The h has more breath to it

The ' is a glottal stop like in uh'oh. It is one of the most common Navajo consonants.

The L with a line is as in Welsh, hold your tongue as in L and breath out along the sides but don't voice it. It is to L as s is to z in English.

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11y ago

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