tʼáádóo leʼé
The Navajo phrase for "nothing" is tʼáádóo leʼé.
tʼáádóo leʼé is used to express the concept of not any thing.
Meaning: not any thing (pron)
Did you know?
- Navajo utilizes 'evidentiality', meaning a speaker might phrase 'nothing' differently depending on whether they saw there was nothing or were told there was nothing.
- Navajo is a 'verb-heavy' language, so expressing 'nothing' often involves describing the state of something not existing rather than naming the 'nothing' itself.
- Because Navajo is a tonal language, changing the pitch or inflection of a phrase like tʼáádóo leʼé can potentially change its nuance or meaning.
Example conversation
Brandon and Jessica are looking inside an empty refrigerator.
- BrandonDíísáá tʼáádóo leʼé hólǫ́?Is there nothing in here?
- JessicaÁáʼá, tʼáádóo leʼé hólǫ́.Yes, there is nothing.
- BrandonNihił tʼáádóo leʼé hólǫ́?Do we have nothing?
- JessicaTʼáádóo leʼé hólǫ́.There is nothing.
