Etymology Explorer › Navajo

Where does “Tséyiʼ” come from?

Tséyiʼ (Navajo) comes from Navajo tséyiʼ, from Navajo tsé, from Proto-Athabaskan *tseˑ, from Proto-Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit *caj.

Ancestry of “Tséyiʼ”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Navajotséyiʼcanyon
2Navajotsérock, stone, boulder
3Proto-Athabaskan*tseˑ—
4Proto-Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit*caj—
Every word from Proto-Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit *caj →