Editing Navajo language (section)

===Nouns===
Nouns are not required in order to form a complete Navajo sentence. Besides the extensive information that can be communicated with a verb, Navajo speakers may alternate between the third and fourth person to distinguish between two already specified actors, similarly to how speakers of languages with [[grammatical gender]] may repeatedly use pronouns.<ref name="Kozak 2013 161">{{Harvnb|Kozak|2013|p=161}}</ref>

Most nouns are not inflected for number,<ref name="Young Morgan 1992 882"/> and plurality is usually encoded directly in the verb through the use of various prefixes or aspects, though this is by no means mandatory. In the following example, the verb on the right is used with the plural prefix {{lang|nv|da-}} and switches to the distributive aspect.

Some verbal roots encode number in their lexical definition (see classificatory verbs above). When available, the use of the correct verbal root is mandatory:

{{interlinear |lang=nv |indent=2
|Béégashii sitį́.
|cow 3.SUBJ-lie({{gcl|1|one subject}}).PERF
|'The (one) cow lies.'}}

{{interlinear |lang=nv |indent=2
|Béégashii shitéézh.
|cow 3.SUBJ-lie({{gcl|2|two subjects}}).PERF
|'The (two) cows lie.'}}

{{interlinear |lang=nv |indent=2
|Béégashii shijééʼ.
|cow 3.SUBJ-lie({{gcl|3+|three or more subjects}}).PERF
|'The (three or more) cows lie.'}}

{{interlinear |lang=nv |indent=2 |glossing3=yes |italics2=yes
|Bilasáana shaa niʼaah.
|bilasáana sh-aa {{gcl|Ø|empty morpheme}}-ni-ʼaah
|apple 1-to 3.OBJ-2.SUBJ-give(SRO).MOM.PERF
|'You give me an apple.'}}

{{interlinear |lang=nv |indent=2 |glossing3=yes |italics2=yes
|Bilasáana shaa ninííł.
|bilasáana sh-aa {{gcl|Ø|empty morpheme}}-ni-nííł
|apple 1-to 3.OBJ-2.SUBJ-give({{gcl|PLO1|plural object 1}}).MOM.PERF
|'You give me apples.'}}

Number marking on nouns occurs only for terms of kinship and age-sex groupings. Other prefixes that can be added to nouns include possessive markers (e.g., {{lang|nv|chidí}} {{gloss|car}} – {{lang|nv|shichidí}} {{gloss|my car}}) and a few adjectival enclitics. Generally, an upper limit for prefixes on a noun is about four or five.<ref name="Mueller 2008 12"/>

Nouns are also not marked for [[grammatical case|case]], this traditionally being covered by word order.<ref>{{Harvnb|Speas|1990|p=203}}</ref>

{{interlinear |lang=nv |indent=2
|Atʼééd ashkii yiyiiłtsą́.
|girl boy 3.OBJ-3.SUBJ-saw
|'The girl saw the boy.'}}

{{interlinear |lang=nv |indent=2
|Ashkii atʼééd yiyiiłtsą́.
|boy girl 3.OBJ-3.SUBJ-saw
|'The boy saw the girl.'}}