Ebook: Navajo Coordination

Swarthmore College & Navajo Language Academy; 41 с.Coordination is used to combine phrases into larger phrases or sentences into larger sentences. Words like and and or do this in English. The only limit on the number of coordinated phrases in a sentence is the willingness of the hearer to listen:
(1) Shí naa’aash bił tooh tooh nlínígíí biih yiitʼáázh dóó dah ʼadiilkǫǫʼ ʼakó shí naa’aash t’áá nízaadgóó sitsʼázhníłkǫǫʼ ʼáádóó hodíinaʼgo tó naanázlįį léiʼgi bíʼníłkǫǫʼ
1-cousin 3-with river 3-flow-rel 3-in 1dpl-go.P Conj off 1dpl-swim.P Conj cousin just far-toward 1-from-4-swim.P Conj after-a-while water-bend indef-gi 3-1-swim-up.P
My cousin and I got into the river and the current started carrying us along so he swam a
long ways away from me, but after awhile I caught up with him at a bend in the river. (v.
YM 1987:240) 1
(2) ’At’ééd léiʼ dóó bimá dóó bimá sání dóó bicheii ndaʼalkidígóó naaskai
girl indef Conj 3-mother Conj 3-grandmother Conj 3-grandfather movies-to 3-3-go.pl.P
A girl, her mother, her grandmother, and her grandfather went to the movies.Example (1) shows four clauses being coordinated; (2) has four noun phrases being coordinated.
Notice that the verb in (2) contains a plural marker. This indicates that the singular noun phrases count as a plural when coordinated.
In general, the possibilities for coordination depend on the conjunction—the word used to link the clauses or phrases together. Dºº can coordinate clauses, noun phrases, (DPs), ostpositional phrases, and postpositions. Other conjunctions are less versatile. Conjunctions differ in other ways. For example, l¢i’ can be used as a determiner or as a conjunction. Other conjunctions cannot do this, but some can only appear between two clauses while others can additionally appear at the beginning of a sentence. The bulk of this article consists of an explanation of the function and use of each of the major conjunctions, beginning with clausal coordination, followed by the coordination of phrases and words. The final sections discuss general issues relevant to coordination. The section below draws a distinction between coordination and subordination.