The Lakota language ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. Lakota is mutually intelligible with the two dialects of the Dakota language, especially Western Dakota, and is one of the three major varieties of the Sioux language.
Speakers of the Lakota language make up one of the largest Native American language speech communities in the United States, with approximately 2,000 speakers, who live mostly in the northern plains states of North Dakota and South Dakota. Many communities have immersion programs for both children and adults.
Like many indigenous languages, the Lakota language did not have a written form traditionally. However, efforts to develop a written form of Lakota began, primarily through the work of Christian missionaries and linguists, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The orthography has since evolved to reflect contemporary needs and usage.
One significant figure in the development of a written form of Lakota was Ella Cara Deloria, also called Aŋpétu Wašté Wiŋ (Beautiful Day Woman), a Yankton Dakota ethnologist, linguist, and novelist who worked extensively with the Dakota and Lakota peoples, documenting their languages and cultures. She collaborated with linguists such as Franz Boas and Edward Sapir to create written materials for Lakota, including dictionaries and grammars.
Another key figure was Albert White Hat Sr., who taught at and later became the chair of the Lakota language program at his alma mater, Sinte Gleska University at Mission, South Dakota, one of the first tribal-based universities in the US. His work focused on the Sicangu dialect using an orthography developed by Lakota in 1982 and which today is slowly supplanting older systems provided by linguists and missionaries.
History and origin The Lakota people's creation stories say that language originated from the creation of the tribe. Other creation stories say language was invented by Iktomi.
A wholly Lakota newspaper named the Anpao Kin ("Daybreak") circulated from 1878 by the Protestant Episcopal Church in Niobrara Mission, Nebraska until its move to Mission, South Dakota in 1908 continuing until its closure in 1937. The print alongside its Dakota counterpart Iapi Oaye ("The Word Carrier") played an important role in documenting the enlistment and affairs including obituaries of Native Sioux soldiers into the army as America became involved in World War I.
Phonology
Vowels Lakota has five oral vowels, , and three nasal vowels, (phonetically ). Lakota and are said to be more open than the corresponding cardinal vowels, perhaps closer to and . Orthographically, the nasal vowels are written with a following , , or ; historically, these were written with ogoneks underneath, .Elementary Bilingual Dictionary English–Lakhóta Lakhóta–English (1976) CU Lakhóta Project University of Colorado No syllables end with consonantal .
Front Central Back Close/High oral nasal Mid Open/Low oral nasal
A neutral vowel (schwa) is automatically inserted between certain consonants, e.g. into the pairs , and . So the clan name written phonemically as has become the place name Ogallala.
Consonants Bilabial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Velar Uvular(2004). Lakota letters and sounds. Glottal Nasals Plosivesand affricates voiceless voiced aspirated / / / ejective Fricative voiceless voiced ejective Approximant
The voiced uvular fricative becomes a uvular trill () before Rood, David S., and Taylor, Allan R. (1996). Sketch of Lakhota, a Siouan Language, Part I. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 17 (Languages), pp. 440–482. and in fast speech it is often realized as a voiced velar fricative . The voiceless aspirated plosives have two allophonic variants each: those with a delay in voicing , and those with velar friction , which occur before , , , , and (thus, , is phonetically ). For some speakers, there is a phonemic distinction between the two, and both occur before . No such variation occurs for the affricate /tʃʰ/. Some orthographies mark this distinction; others do not. The uvular fricatives and are commonly spelled and .
All monomorphemic words have one vowel which carries primary stress and has a higher tone than all other vowels in the word. This is generally the vowel of the second syllable of the word, but often the first syllable can be stressed, and occasionally other syllables as well. Stress is generally indicated with an acute accent: , etc. Compound words will have stressed vowels in each component; proper spelling will write compounds with a hyphen. Thus , literally "metal-white", i.e. "silver; money" has two stressed vowels, the first a in each component. If it were written without the hyphen, as , it would imply a single main stress.
Phonological processes
A common phonological process which occurs in rapid speech is vowel contraction, which generally results from the loss of an intervocalic glide. Vowel contraction results in phonetic long vowels (phonemically a sequence of two identical vowels), with falling pitch if the first underlying vowel is stressed, and rising pitch if the second underlying vowel is stressed: kê: (falling tone), "he said that", from ; hǎ:pi (rising tone), "clothing", from . If one of the vowels is nasalized, the resulting long vowel is also nasalized: čhaŋ̌:pi, "sugar", from .
When two vowels of unequal height contract, or when feature contrasts exist between the vowels and the glide, two new phonetic vowels, and , result: iyæ̂:, "he left for there", from ; mitȟa:, "it's mine", from .
The plural enclitic =pi is frequently changed in rapid speech when preceding the enclitics =kte, =kiŋ, =kštó, or =na. If the vowel preceding =pi is high/open, =pi becomes [u]; if the vowel is non-high (mid or closed), =pi becomes [o] (if the preceding vowel is nasalized, then the resulting vowel is also nasalized): hi=pi=kte, "they will arrive here", [hiukte]; yatkáŋ=pi=na, "they drank it and...", .
Lakota also exhibits some traces of sound symbolism among fricatives, where the point of articulation changes to reflect intensity: , "it's yellow", , "it's tawny", , "it's brown". (Compare with the similar examples in Mandan.)
Orthographies, standardization, and teaching materials
Several orthographies as well as ad hoc spelling are used to write the Lakota language, with varying perspectives on whether standardization should be implemented.Palmer, 2 In 2002, Rosebud Cultural Studies teacher Randy Emery argued that standardization of the language could cause problems "because the language is utilized diversely. If standardization is determined to be the approach... then the question is whose version will be adopted? This will cause dissent and politics to become a factor in the process."
Also in 2002, Sinte Gleska University rejected a partnership with the European-owned Lakota Language Consortium. Sinte Gleska uses an orthography based on the one developed by Albert White Hat, which on December 13, 2012, was formally adopted by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe per Tribal Resolution No. 2012–343. This resolution also banned the Lakota Language Consortium and its "Czech orthography" from the reservation and its educational system. This ban was a response to a series of protests by community members and grassroots language preservation workers, at Rosebud and other Lakota communities, against the Lakota Language Consortium (LLC). Despite its name, the LLC is an organization formed by two Europeans. Concerns arose due to the LLC's promotion of their New Lakota Dictionary, websites and other Internet projects aimed at revising and standardizing their new spelling of the Lakota language. "Lakota first language speakers and Lakota language teachers criticize the "Czech orthography" for being overloaded with markings and – foremost – for the way it is being brought into Lakota schools"; it has been criticized as "neocolonial domination." Sonja John writes that "The new orthography the Czech linguist advocates resembles the Czech orthography – making it easier for Czech people to read. The Europeans predominantly use the internet to give the impression that this "Czech orthography" is a Lakota product and the standard for writing Lakota." "The Rosebud Sioux Tribe was the first of the Lakota tribes to take legal action against the self-authorizing practices the LLC committed by utilizing names of Lakota language experts without their consent to obtain funding for their projects." Rosebud Resolution No. 2008–295 goes further and compares these actions to what was done to children taken from their families by the residential schools.
In 2006 some of the Lakota language teachers at Standing Rock chose to collaborate with Sitting Bull College, and the Lakota Language Consortium (LLC), with the aim of expanding their language curriculum. Teachers at Standing Rock use several different orthographies. Language activists at Standing Rock also refer to it as simply the "SLO" or even "Suggested Lakota Orthography." Tasha Hauff writes,
In 2013 Lakota teachers at Red Cloud Indian School on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation discussed their use of orthography for their K–12 students as well as adult learners. The orthography used at Red Cloud "is meant to be more phonetic than other orthographies... That means there are usually more 'H's than other versions. While many orthographies use tipi... Red Cloud spells it thípi." He continues, "the orthography also makes heavy use of diacritical marks... that is not popular among some educators and academics". Delphine Red Shirt, an Oglala Lakota tribal member and a lecturer on languages at Stanford University, disagrees and prefers a Lakota orthography without diacritical marks. "I'm very against any orthography that requires a special keyboard to communicate," she said. First language speaker and veteran language teacher at Red Cloud, the late Philomine Lakota, had similar concerns with the orthography, and argues against changing the spelling forms she learned from her father. However, she did consider that, a shared curriculum could "create consistency across the region and encourage the long-term viability of the language. However, Philomine is also cognizant that it will take more than a school curriculum to preserve the language." She added, "In order for a language to survive, it can't simply be taught from the top. A language is a living thing and students need to breathe life into it daily; talking with friends, family and elders in Lakota".
In 2018, at the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, Lakota speaker Manny Iron Hawk and his wife Renee Iron Hawk discussed opening an immersion school and the difficulties around choosing an orthography to write Lakota; Mr. Iron Hawk voiced support for the LLC (SLO) Orthography, saying it was accessible to second language learners, but know not all agreed with him. Others in the community voiced a preference for the tribe creating their own orthography. While Mr. Iron Hawk supports this approach, Renee Iron Hawk also expressed a sense of urgency, saying "We should just use what we have, and then fix and replace it, but we need to start speaking it now". The Iron Hawks both agreed that too much time has been spent arguing over which orthography to use or not use, and not enough time is spent teaching and speaking the language.