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k, is an emphatic letter, bearing the same relation to k that '' does to 'é¿?

1,

Formerly represented by q.

has the common sound of this letter in English. It is peculiar to the Titonwan dialect.

m, has the same sound as in English.

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n,

ŋ, denotes a nasal sound similar to the French n in bon, or the English n in drink. Formerly represented by n.

p, has the sound of English p, with a little more volume and stress of voice.

p, is an emphatic, bearing the same relation to p that '&' does to ‘¿.'

is an aspirated s, having the sound of English sh, as in shine. Formerly represented by x.

S,

has the surd sound of English s, as in say.

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t,

is the same as in English with a little more volume of voice.

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is an emphatic, bearing the same relation to t that '' does to ¿.'

w, has the power of the English w, as in walk.

y, has the sound of English y, as in yet.

Z,

has the sound of the common English z, as in zebra.

ź, is an aspirated z, having the sound of the French j, or the English s in pleasure. Formerly represented by j.

The apostrophe (') is used to mark a hiatus, as in s'a. It seems to be analogous to the Arabic hamzeh (±)

NOTE. Some Dakotas, in some instances, introduce a slight b sound before the m, and also a d sound before n. For example, the preposition 'om,' with, is by some persons pronounced obm, and the preposition 'en,' in, is sometimes spoken as if it should be written edn. But as this mode of speaking is not very common, it has been deemed unnecessary to notice it further.

For the sake of attaining to a uniform method of notation in the writing of American languages, it would perhaps have been better to dispense with the nasal n, and to represent the nasal sound of vowels by a mark underneath the vowel; but as the Dictionary was already prepared for the press before this was suggested, and such a change would very much disarrange the words in the vocabulary, it has not been made.

CHAPTER II.

SYLLABICATION.

§ 3. Syllables in the Dakota language terminate in a pure or nasalized vowel, as ma-ka, the earth, tan-yan, well. To this rule there are some exceptions, viz.:

a. The preposition 'en,' in, and such words as take it for a suffix, as, petan, on the fire, tukten, where, etc.; together with some adverbs of time, as, dehan, now, hehan, then, tohan, when, etc.

b. When a syllable is contracted into a single consonant (see § 11), that consonant is attached to the preceding vowel; as, om, with, from o-pa, to follow; waŋyag, from wan-ya-ka, to see; ka-kiś, from ka-ki-za, to suffer; bo-śim-si-pa, to shoot off, instead of bo-śi-pa-si-pa.

c. There are some other syllables which end in s; as, iś, he, niś, thou, miś, I,

nakaeś, indeed, etc. These may possibly be forms of contraction, but we have not now the means of showing the fact.

CHAPTER III.

ACCENTS.

Place of Accent.

§ 4. 1. In the Dakota language all the syllables are enunciated plainly and fully; but every word that is not a monosyllable, has in it one or more accented syllables, which, as a general thing, are easily distinguished from such as are not accented. The importance of observing the accent is seen in the fact that the meaning of a word often depends upon it; as, mága, a field, magá, a goose; ókiya, to aid, okíya, to speak to.

2. More than two thirds, perhaps three fourths, of all Dakota words of two or more syllables, have their principal accent on the second syllable from the beginning, as will be seen by a reference to the Dictionary; the greater part of the remaining words have it on the first.

3. a. In polysyllabic words there is usually a secondary accent, which falls on the second syllable after the primary one; as, hewóskantúya, in a desert place; íćiyópeya, to barter.

b. But if the word be compounded of two nouns, or a noun and a verb, each will retain its own accent, whether they fall two degrees apart or not; as, aguyapiićápan, (wheat-beater) a flail; inmú-śúnka, (cat-dog) inmú-śúŋka, (cat-dog) a domestic cat; akíćitanáźin, to stand guard.

Removal of Accent.

§ 5. 1. Suffixes do not appear to have any effect upon the accent; but a syllable prefixed or inserted before the accented syllable draws the accent back, so that it still retains the same position with respect to the beginning of the word; as, napé, hand, minápe, my hand; baksá, to cut off with a knife, bawáksa, I cut off; mdaská, flat, éanmdáska, boards; máġa, a field, mitámaġa, my field.

When the accent is on the first syllable of the word the prefixing of a syllable does not always remove it; as, nóge, the ear, manóge, my ear.

2. The same is true of any number of syllables prefixed; as, kaśká, to bind, wakáśka, I bind, wićáwakaśka, I bind them.

3. a. If the verb be accented on the second syllable, and pronouns be inserted after it, they do not affect the primary accent; as, waśtédaka, to love, waśtéwadaka, I love something.

b. But if the verb be accented on the first syllable, the introduction of a pronoun removes the accent to the second syllable, as, máni, to walk, mawáni, I walk.

In some cases, however, the accent is not removed; as, óhi, to reach to, ówahi, I reach.

4. When 'wa' is prefixed to a word commencing with a vowel, and an elision

takes place, the accent is thrown on the first syllable; as, iyúśkin, to rejoice in, wíyuśkiŋ, to rejoice; amdéza, clear, wámdeza; amdóśa, the red-winged black-bird, wámdośa.

5. When 'wo' is prefixed to adjectives and verbs forming of them abstract nouns, the accent is placed on the first syllable; as, pidá, glad, wópida, gladness; waóŋśida, merciful, wówaonśida, mercy; ihángya, to destroy, wóihangye, a destroying.

6. So also when the first syllable of a word is dropped or merged into a pronominal prefix, the accent is removed to the first syllable; as, kiksúya, to remember, míksuya, remember me.

CHAPTER IV.

CHANGES OF LETTERS.

Commutation.

§ 6. 1. 'A' or 'an' final in verbs, adjectives, and some adverbs, is changed to e,' when followed by auxiliary verbs, or by certain conjunctions or adverbs. Thus, a. When an uncontracted verb in the singular number ending with 'a' or 'an' precedes another verb, as the infinitive mood or participle, the 'a' or 'an' becomes ‘e;' as, ya, to go, ye kiya, to cause to go; niwaŋ, to swim, niwe kiya, to cause to swim; niwe uŋ, he is swimming.

b. 'A' or 'an' final in verbs, when they take the sign of the future tense or the negative adverb immediately after, and when followed by some conjunctions, is changed into 'e;' as, yuke kta, there will be some; mde kte śni, I will not go.

To this there are a number of exceptions. Ba, to blame, and da, to ask or beg, are not changed. Some of the Mdewakantonwans say ta kta for te kta, he will die. The Sisitonwans say tin kta. Ohnaka, to place any thing in, is not changed; as, "minape kiŋ takudaŋ ohnaka śni waun," I have nothing in my hand. Ipuza, to be thirsty, remains the same; as, ipuza kta; "tuwe ipuza kiŋhan,” etc., "let him that is athirst come." Yuha, to lift, carry, in distinction from yuha, to have, possess, is not changed; as, mduha śni, I cannot lift it.

c. Verbs and adjectives singular ending in 'a' or 'an,' when the connexion of the members of the sentence is close, always change it into 'e;' as, ksape ça waśte, wise and good; waŋmdake ga wakute, I saw and I shot it.

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d. 'A' and 'an' final become 'e' before the adverb hinća' and the particle 'do;' as, śiće hinća, very bad; waśte kte do, it will be good. Some adverbs follow this rule; as, tanye hin, very well; which is sometimes contracted into tanych.

But 'a' or 'an' final is always retained before tuka, unkaŋ, uŋkanś, eśta, śta, keś, and perhaps some

others.

2. a. Substantives ending in 'a' sometimes change it to 'e' when a possessive pronoun is prefixed; as, śunka, dog; mitaśunke, my dog; nitaśunke, thy dog; taśunke, his dog.

b. So, on the other hand, 'e' final is changed to 'a,' in forming some proper names; as, Ptansinta, the name given to the south end of Lake Traverse, from ptan and sinte.

§ 7. 1. a. When 'k' and 'k,' as in kin and kinhan, ka and kehan, etc., are preceded by a verb or adjective whose final 'a' or 'an' is changed for the sake of euphony into 'c,' the 'k' or 'k' following becomes ¿' or ';' as yuhe ćiŋhaŋ, if he has, instead of yuha kiŋhan; yuke çehan, when there was, instead of yukaŋ kehan.

b. But if the proper ending of the preceding word is 'e,' no such change takes place; as, waste kinkan, if he is good; Wakaŋtanka ape ka waśtedaka wo, hope in God and love him.

2. When 'ya,' the pronoun of the second person singular and nominative case, precedes the inseparable prepositions 'ki,' to, and 'kići,' for, the 'ki' and 'ya' are changed, or rather combined, into 'ye;' as, yećaga, thou makest to, instead of yakićaga; yećićağa, thou makest for one, instead of yakićićaġa. In like manner the pronoun 'wa,' I, when coming in conjunction with 'ki,' forms 'we;' as, wećaġa, not wakićaġa, from kićaġa. Wowapi wećaġe kta, I will make him a book, i. e. I will write him a letter.

3. a. When a pronoun or preposition ending in 'e' or 'i' is prefixed to a verb whose initial letter is 'k,' this letter is changed to ';' as, kaga, to make, kićaga, to make to or for one; kaksa, to cut off, kićićaksa, to cut off for one.

b. But if a consonant immediately follows the 'k,' it is not changed; as, kte, to kill, nikte, he kills thee. In accordance with the above rule, they say éićute, I shoot thee; they do not however say kićute, but kikute, he shoots for one.

c. This change does not take place in adjectives. They say kata, hot, nikata, thou art hot; kuża, lazy, nikuża, thou art lazy.

§ 8. 1. 'T' and 'k' when followed by 'p' are interchangeable; as inkpa, intpa, the end of any thing; wakpa, watpa, a river; sinkpe, sintpe, a muskrat.

2. In the Ihanktonwan dialect, 'k' is often used for 'h' of the Wahpetonwan; as, kdi, to arrive at home, for hdi ; daŋpakmikma, a cart or waggon, for danpahmihma. In the same circumstances the Titonwans use 'g,' and the Mdewakantonwans 'n ;' as, éanpagmigma, ćaŋpanminma.

3. In the Titonwan dialect, '1' is used for 'd,' as, gli, to come home, for hdi; and also for 'n,' as, lila, very, for nina.

§ 9. 1. When two words come together so as to form one, the latter of which commences and the former ends with a vowel, that of the first word is sometimes dropped; as, cantokpani, to desire or long for, of cante, the heart, and okpani, to fail of; wakpićahda, by the side of a river, from wakpa and ićahda; wićota, many persons, from wića and ota. Tak eya, what did he say? is sometimes used for taku eya.

2. In some cases also this elision takes place when the second word commences with a consonant; as, napkawin and namkawin, to beckon with the hand, of nape and kawin.

3. Sometimes when two vowels come together, 'w' or 'y' is introduced between them for the sake of cuphony; as, owihanke, the end, from o and ihanke; niyate, thy father, from the pronoun ni, thy, and ate, father.

§ 10. The 'yu' of verbs commencing with that syllable is not unfrequently dropped when the pronoun of the first person plural is used; as, yuhá, to have, úŋhapi, we have; yúza, to hold, úŋzapi, we hold. Yúza also becomes oze, which

may be oyúze contracted; as, Makatooze, the Blue Earth river, lit. where the blue earth is taken; oze śića, bad to catch.

Contraction.

§ 11. 1. Contractions take place in some nouns when combined with a following noun, and in some verbs when they occupy the position of the infinitive or participle. The contraction consists in dropping the vowel of the final syllable and changing the preceding consonant usually into its corresponding sonant or vice versâ, which then belongs to the syllable that precedes it; as, yus from yuza, to hold; tom from topa, four. The following changes occur:

z into s; as, yuza, to hold any thing; yus naźiŋ, to stand holding.

ź into

; as, kakiźa, to suffer; kakiś waun, I am suffering.

ġ into h; as, máġa, a field, and magá, a goose, are contracted into mah.

k into g; as, wanyaka, to see any thing, is contracted into wanyag.

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into m; as, topa, four, is contracted into tom; watopa, to paddle or row a boat, is contracted into watom.

t into d; as, odota the reduplicated form of ota, many, much.

t into g; as, boźagzata the reduplicated form of bozata, to make forked by

punching.

¿, t, and y, into n; as, wanića, none, becomes wanin; yuta, to eat any thing, becomes yun; kuya, below, becomes kun.

2. The article ‘kin' is sometimes contracted into 'g;' as, oyate kin, the people, contracted into oyateg.

3. Cante, the heart, is contracted into ćan; as, ćanwaste, glad (ćaŋte and waste, heart-good).

4. When a syllable ending in a nasal (ŋ) has added to it 'm' or 'n,' the contracted form of the syllable that succeeded, the nasal sound is lost in the 'm' or 'n‚' and is consequently dropped; as, ćaŋnunpa, to smoke a pipe, ćannum mani, he smokes as he walks; kakinća, to scrape, kakin iyeya.

Contracted words may generally be known by their termination. When contraction has not taken place, the rule is that every syllable ends with either a pure or nasalized vowel. See § 3.

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