iichʼąh

== Navajo == === Etymology === ʼa- (unspecified person object prefix) + -yi- (semelfactive, punctual) + ∅- (3rd person subject prefix) + -∅- (classifier) + -chʼąh (semelfactive stem of root -CHʼĄH, “to have seizure”). From the metaphorical meaning of fall-into-fire. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ʔìːt͡ʃʼɑ̀h/ === Verb === iichʼąh he/she is falling into fire he/she is having a seizure ==== Conjugation ==== Paradigm: Semelfactive (yii/si). === Noun === iichʼąh a fit, seizure, epileptic seizure iich'aa, an epileptiform, psychosomatic illness found among the Navajo people, characterised by nervousness, loss of self-control, convulsions, self-destructive behavior, and fits of violence and rage, and often accompanied by the belief that parts of the body are shrinking (associated with violating the taboo against incest and supposedly caused by the growth of a moth in the cranial cavity. The affected person is cured in a ceremony called the "Mothway" (iichʼąhjí, no longer performed), in which he vomits to get rid of the creature.) === Adverb === iichʼąh amok