Where does “-ʼá” come from?

-ʼá (Navajo) comes from Navajo ł-, from Proto-Athabaskan *-ɬ — Forms instrumental nouns from verbs.

Ancestry of “-ʼá”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Navajoł-the
2Proto-Athabaskan*-ɬForms instrumental nouns from verbs

Words derived from “-ʼá”

Every word from Proto-Athabaskan *-ɬ →Every word from Navajo ł- →