Dakota language

Dakota
Dakhótiyapi
Pronunciation	[Daˈkʰotijapi]
Native to	United States, with some speakers in Canada
Region	Primarily North Dakota and South Dakota, but also northern Nebraska, southern Minnesota
Native speakers	1,000
Language family	Siouan-Catawban Siouan Mississippi Valley Dakotan Sioux Dakota
Language codes
ISO 639-2	dak
ISO 639-3	dak

Dakota (also Dakhota) is a Siouan language spoken by the Dakota people of the Sioux tribes. Dakota is closely related to and mutually intelligible with the Lakota language.

Dialects

Dakota has two major dialects with two sub-dialects each:

1. Eastern Dakota (a.k.a. Santee-Sisseton or Dakhóta)
   • Santee (Isáŋyáthi: Bdewákhatuŋwaŋ, Waȟpékhute)
   • Sisseton (Sisítuŋwaŋ, Waȟpétuŋwaŋ)
2. Western Dakota (a.k.a. Yankton-Yanktonai or Dakȟóta)
   • Yankton (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ)
   • Yanktonai (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna)

The two dialects differ phonologically, grammatically, and to a large extent, also lexically. They are mutually intelligible to a high extent, although Western Dakota is lexically closer to the Lakota language with which it has higher mutual intelligibility.

Sound system

Vowels

Dakota has five oral vowels, /a e i o u/, and three nasal vowels, /aŋ iŋ uŋ/.

		Front	Central	Back
high	oral	i		u
	nasal	iŋ		uŋ
mid		e		o
low	oral		a
	nasal		aŋ

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Post-alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m [m]	n [n]
Plosive	unaspirated	p [p]	t [t]	č [tʃ]		k [k]		’ [ʔ]
	voiced	b [b]	d [d]			g [ɡ]
	aspirated	ph [pʰ]	th [tʰ]	čh [tʃʰ]		kh [kʰ]
	ejective	p’ [pʔ]	t’ [tʔ]	č’ [tʃʔ]		k’ [kʔ]
Fricative	voiceless		s [s]	š [ʃ]			ȟ [χ]
	voiced		z [z]	ž [ʒ]			ǧ [ʁ]
	ejective		s’ [sʔ]	š’ [ʃʔ]			ȟ’ [χʔ]
Approximant		w [w]			y [j]			h [h]

Comparison of the dialects

Phonological differences

In respect to phonology Eastern and Western Dakota differ particularly in consonant clusters. The table below gives the possible consonant clusters and shows the differences between the dialects:

Dakota consonant clusters
								Santee Sisseton	Yankton	Yanktonai
b	ȟ	k	m	p	s	š	t	h	k	g
bd	ȟč	kč	mn	pč	sč	šk	tk	hm	km	gm
	ȟd	kp		ps	sk	šd		hn	kn	gm
	ȟm	ks		pš	sd	šb		hd	kd	gd
	ȟn	kš		pt	sm	šn		hb	kb	gb
	ȟp	kt			sn	šp
	ȟt				sp	št
	ȟb				st	šb
					sb

The two dialects also differ in the diminutive suffix (-daŋ/-na) and in a number of other phonetic issues that are harder to categorize. The following table gives examples of words that differ in their phonology.

Eastern Dakota		Western Dakota		gloss
Santee	Sisseton	Yankton	Yanktonai
hokšída	hokšína	hokšína		boy
nína		nína	nína / dína	very
hdá		kdá	gdá	to go home
hbéza		kbéza	gbéza	ridged
hnayáŋ		knayáŋ	gnayáŋ	to deceive
hmúŋka		kmúŋka	gmúŋka	to trap
ahdéškada	ahdéškana	akdéškana	agdéškana	lizzard

Lexical differences

There are also numerous lexical differences between the two Dakota dialects as well as between the sub-dialects. Yankton-Yanktonai is in fact lexically closer to the Lakota language than it is to Santee-Sisseton. The following table gives some examples:

English gloss	Santee-Sisseton	Yankton-Yanktonai	Lakota
			Northern Lakota	Southern Lakota
child	šičéča	wakȟáŋyeža	wakȟáŋyeža
knee	hupáhu	čhaŋkpé	čhaŋkpé
knife	isáŋ / mína	mína	míla
kidneys	phakšíŋ	ažúŋtka	ažúŋtka
hat	wapháha	wapȟóštaŋ	wapȟóštaŋ
still	hináȟ	naháŋȟčiŋ	naháŋȟčiŋ
man	wičhášta	wičháša	wičháša
hungry	wótehda	dočhíŋ	ločhíŋ
morning	haŋȟ’áŋna	híŋhaŋna	híŋhaŋna	híŋhaŋni
to shave	kasáŋ	kasáŋ	kasáŋ	glak’óǧa

Grammatical differences

Yankton-Yanktonai has the same three ablaut grades as Lakota (a, e, iŋ), while in Santee-Sisseton there are only two (a, e). This significantly impacts word forms, especially in fast speech and it is another reason why Yankton-Yanktonai has better mutual intelligibility with Lakota than with Santee-Sisseton.

Some examples:

English gloss	I will go.	He will go back.
Santee-Sisseton	Bdé kte.	Hdé kte.
Yankton-Yanktonai	Mníŋ kte.	Gníŋ kte.
Lakota	Mníŋ kte	Gníŋ kte.

There are other grammatical differences between the dialects.

Bibliography

• DeMallie, Raymond J. (2001). Sioux until 1850. In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Plains (Vol. 13, Part 2, pp. 718–760). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7.

• Parks, Douglas R.; & Rankin, Robert L. (2001). The Siouan languages. In Handbook of North American Indians: Plains (Vol. 13, Part 1, pp. 94–114). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.

• de Reuse, Willem J. (1987). One hundred years of Lakota linguistics (1887-1987). Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics, 12, 13-42. (Online version: https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/handle/1808/509).

• de Reuse, Willem J. (1990). A supplementary bibliography of Lakota languages and linguistics (1887-1990). Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics, 15 (2), 146-165. (Studies in Native American languages 6). (Online version: https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/handle/1808/441).

• Rood, David S.; & Taylor, Allan R. (1996). Sketch of Lakhota, a Siouan language. In Handbook of North American Indians: Languages (Vol. 17, pp. 440–482). Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution.

• Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: [1]

• Parks, D.R. & DeMallie, R.J. (1992). Sioux, Assiniboine, and Stoney Dialects: A Classification . Anthropological Linguistics vol. 34, nos. 1-4

• Riggs, S.R., & Dorsey, J.O. (Ed.). (1973). Dakota grammar, texts, and ethnography. Minneapolis: Ross & Haines, Inc.

• Shaw, P.A. (1980). Theoretical issues in Dakota phonology and morphology. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc.

• Ullrich, Jan. (2008). New Lakota Dictionary. & Incorporating the Dakota Dialects of Santee-Sisseton and Yankton-Yanktonai (Lakota Language Consortium). ISBN 0-9761082-9-1.