bee hólǫ́

Comprised of bee (“by means of it”) + hólǫ́ (“there is/are”).

Other languages have similar constructions, using verbs of existence with locative markers to indicate literally that something exists by someone, in order to express that someone has that thing. Compare Japanese 私には夫がいます。 (Watashi ni wa otto ga imasu., “I have a husband.”, literally “As for by me, there is a husband.”)

bee hólǫ́

1. to have, possess

See the inflections of bee and hólǫ́.

• bee ádin (“to lack, not have”)

• Robert W. Young and William Morgan, Sr. (1987), The Navajo Language. A Grammar and Colloquial Dictionary, Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press, page 157.