Where does “yiyiʼ” come from?

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

yiyiʼ (Navajo): in it/him/her/them, within it/him/her/them,...

Definitions

  1. in it/him/her/them, within it/him/her/them,...

Ancestry of “yiyiʼ”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Navajoyi-night, dawn
2Navajoní-forms the comparative form of neuter imperfective verbs
3Navajoł-the
4Proto-Athabaskan*-ɬForms instrumental nouns from verbs
Every word from Proto-Athabaskan *-ɬ →Every word from Navajo ní- →Every word from Navajo yi- →