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Colors In Navajo – How To Name And Pronounce The Colors

This post covers how to say and pronounce the different colors in Navajo.

Learning the colors is super important as it allows you to accurately describe things, expand your conversations and understand others better.

So what are the colors in Navajo?

Colors In Navajo

The main colors in Navajo are:

  • Red – Łichíí’ (Kh-li-chi)
  • Blue – Yágo dootłʼizh (Yah-go door-tlizh)

Yágo literally means ‘sky’ so yágo dootłʼizh means ‘sky blue’.

  • Green – Tátłʼidgo dootłʼizh (Tat-lid-go door-tlizh)

Tátłʼidgo literally means ‘algae’ so tátłʼidgo dootłʼizh means ‘algae green’. This is usually a slightly more yellowish green. 

  • Green – Ch’ilgo dootłʼizh (Ch-il-go door-tlizh)

Ch’ilgo literally means ‘plant’ so ch’ilgo dootłʼizh means ‘plant green’.

  • Yellow – Łitso (Kh-lit-soh)
  • Black – ​​Łizhin (Kh-li-zhin)
  • White – Łigai (Kh-li-gai)
  • Gray – Łiba (Kh-li-ba)
  • Orange – Łitsxo (Kh-lit-skwoh)
  • Purple – Tsédidééh (Tseh-di-deh)
  • Pink – Dinilchii (Din-il-chi)
  • Brown – Dibéłchiʼí (Dibe-khl-chi-e)
  • Colors – Nidaashch’a̜a̜’ígíí (N-dash-ch-aa-i-gi)

To ask what color something is in Navajo, you can say:

  • What color is this? – Díí hait’áo naashch’a̜a̜’? (Di hait-ao nash-cha-ah)

Here are two ways you can say what color something is:

  • This is + (color) – Díí éí + (color)
  • It’s + (color) – Éí + (color)

For example:

  • This is green – Díí éí ch’ilgo dootł’izh (Di ey ch-il-go door-tlizh)
  • It’s black – Éí łizhin (Ey kh-li-zhin)

Simply say díí éí + (color) to say ‘this is (color)’.

This is great for if you are pointing to something and want to make it clear that this item is a certain color.

When talking more generally, you can just say éí + (color) which just means ‘it is (color)’.

This is the perfect response if someone asks you what color something is.

To hear the pronunciation of the colors in Navajo by a native speaker, check out the below video:

Thanks for reading this post which covers the Navajo words for colors.

Knowing how to say the different colors in Navajo is super important as it helps to accurately describe things and understand Navajo speakers better.

Learn more about the Navajo language here.

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