Navajo (Noun)
Meaning 1
A member of an Athapaskan people that migrated to Arizona and New Mexico and Utah.
Classification
Nouns denoting people.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
The Athapaskan language spoken by the Navaho.
Classification
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.
Examples
- The language and traditions of the Navajo were kept alive by elderly community members who continued to teach them to the younger generation.
- By the late 1800s, Navajo was becoming an endangered language due to government assimilation policies and increased English instruction.
- Most bilingual speakers tend to insert words or phrases in English while speaking in Navajo.
- This suggests that while code-switching into Navajo might seem awkward for monolingual speakers of English, switching out of Navajo may feel uncomfortable or alien to monolingual Navajo speakers.
- Anthropologist Ives Goddard claimed that despite not knowing a great deal of the Athapaskan languages that might show such affinities with Navajo.