Lakota Spelling and Pronunciation

by Constantine Hmelnitski

from Rev. E.Beuchel Grammar+Dictionary and Univ. of Colorado Lakhota Project materials

Spelling Systems

Designations

Vowels

Consonants

Overall Table of Lakhota Spelling Systems


Spelling Systems

There are at least 4 spelling systems for this language:
1. S.R. Riggs (1850-90) & E. Beuchel (1920-40), used by native speakers;
2. F. Boas & E. Deloria (1930-40);
3. D. Rood & A. Taylor (1970s), which is used in scientific linguistics.
4. "NetSiouan" by J. Koontz (1990s) designed to communicate in the Web.

 I will not elaborate on the historical details here, but the fact is that the existence of many orthographies does not help us study Lakhota.

 Anyway, I will try to introduce the most simple and most accurate spelling and you could correct me if you have any objections.

Designation of Lakota sounds and words

We'll designate sounds with symbols in slashes: /k/, /a/, etc. The Lakota words will be typically put in italics: Hechanun oyakihi "you can do that".

 Stressed syllables will be marked with:

  1. a single quote sign (') (coded ' in HTML documents) after the accented vowel:
  2. paha' (the accent is on the second syllable), wi'ta (-on the first);
  3. special characters representing vowels with an accent above them, e.g.:
  4. Characters for accented vowels
    Character Lakhota Example HTML Code
    Á, á Ánpa, pahá  Á á
    É, é Énajin, wé  Á é
    Í, í Ímap‘i, wínyan;  Í í
    Ó, ó Óta, sóta  Ó, ó
    Ú, ú Ú wo, shúnka  Ú ú

    The second style of putting accents is more natural but it has two drawbacks: you cannot easily insert accented vowels from the keyboard and not all the fonts support them. Perhaps now you do not see the proper picture with accented vowels. The accented nasal vowels are supported only in J.Koontz TrueType Siouan Fonts.
     

     The basis for the Lakota alphabet is English one. Additional diacritical marks are sub- and superscribed to English letters to denote some Lakota sounds. The most common are:

    1. hachek, a v-shaped superscript to some letters denoting consonants:  for /sh/,  for /h^/ and, in Colorado Lakhota Project orthography, (C.L.P.), ;
    2. nasal hook, subscripted in C.L.P. to some letters denoting nasal vowels: , and . Traditional spelling for nasal vowels is adding an "en with a tail" () after non-nasal (oral) letter: , and ;
    3. signs for aspiration. Aspiration of /p/, /t/, /c/, and /k/ is either not shown at all or marked with an aspirate sign in traditional spelling. It resembles a left single quote or small "c" superscripted to the letter. We can use either (`) sign (`) (a leftmost-uppermost white key) or a left single quote () (‘) for it. C.L.P. uses (h) for aspiration, thus "ball" is tapa / t`apa / t‘apa in traditional orthography and thapa in Colorado one;
    4. signs for glottal stop. The glottal stop between vowels, before the word-initial vowel or after the sentence-final vowel is not shown traditionally. The glottalized stops /p?/, /t?/, /c?/, and /k?/ are traditionally marked with an apostrope (', single qiote sign, '). (I would suggest right single quote () sign, &#146). Note that apostrophe could be unambiguously used in one word for both accent and glottal stop: unt'a' pi kte, "we'll die". (Stress always follows the vowel, glottal stop may stand after the consonant). Colorado spelling utilizes small superscripted question sign for glottal stop.

    Friends, you are welcome to copy this page onto your disks. Mind that there is a dozen of *.gif files linked to this page (the specific Lakhota letters). You can copy GIF.ZIP file onto the same directory as this page and unpack it instead of copying the images one after another.


    Vowels.

     There are 8 vowels in Lakhota:
     

    Lakhota Vowels
      Front Central Back
    High /i/ /iN/ - /u/ /uN/
    Mid /e/ - /o/
    Low - /a/ /aN/ -

     

    1. Oral Vowels
    Symbol English Equivalent Lakhota Example
    /a/ father ha, "skin/hide/bark"; Lakhota, "(Teton) Sioux"
    /e/ step he , "that; horn(s)"
    /i/ pin hi, "tooth; he came"
    /o/ hawk ho, "voice"; Lakhota
    /u/ book hu, "leg, bone"

    Note, that the pronunciation of these letters is always the same, resembling Latin pronunciation, never diphthongizing as in English words late, pine, bone, nor depending on the position in the syllable:
    pet - Pete, cock - coke, tun - tune, etc.
     

    2. Nasalized Vowels
    Symbol Lakhota Example
    /aN/=/an/ (nasal /a/) Wak‘an' T‘an'ka, "Great Mystery"; wan, "a", indefinite art.
    /iN/=/in/ (nasal /i/) hin, "fur, hair"; kin, "the", definite art.
    /uN/=/un/ (nasal /u/) hunku, "his/her mother"

    The nasalized vowels are absent in English. The only hint for their pronunciation is American "nasal twang" that you can hear in the words "twang", "man". Actually, you utter nasalized vowels "through the nose", like French "ENcore", "bON tON" etc.

    Nasal vowel is NOT two sounds, vowel + /ng/ as in meeting. It is ONE nasalized vowel. Anyway, we'll spell these vowels with TWO letters: vowel + "n".

    Beuchel uses a special letter "en with a tail" () instead of "n"; Boas&Deloria, Rood&Taylor use /a/, /i/, and /u/ with a "nasal hook" resembling small "c" below the letters: , and . ; NetSiouan uses uppercase "N" to show nasality of a vowel: kaN, waN, haN, kiN, huNku.

    We must keep in mind that the native speakers use lowercase "en", using a simple rule to dissern the "n" as a sign of nasality as in hunku from "n" denoting the consonant /n/ as in mani, walk.

     If you are still here, friend, here is the rule. If you're out, skip it and try to 'dig it' some time later.

     RULE 1. The letter "n" ALWAYS stands for a consonant /n/ before a vowel: nu'ni, "to wander"; nape', "hand".
    Else, 'n' is just a sign of the nasality of the preceding vowel:

    1. at the end of a word: han "yes";
    2. before a consonant: shun'ka "dog/horse", han'pa, mocassin; win'yan, woman.

    Now that's enough for the vowels.
     

    Consonants.

     Many Lakhota consonants are similar or almost similar to English ones. These are:
     
     

    Symbol

    English Equivalent

    Lakhota Example

    /b/

    back

    kabu'bu "he drums"

    /s/

    step

    sa'pa "black"

    /sh/ (  

    shoe

    sha'pa "dirty"

    /z/

    Zoo

    zi "yellow; pale"

    /m/

    moon

    miye' "I"

    /n/

    noon

    niye' "you"

    /l/

    love

    lowan' "(s)he sings"

    /w/

    wait

    wa' "snow"

    /y/

    you

    ya'mni "three"

    /h/

    hat

    hau "hi!; yes (m.s.)"

    Lakhota /s/, /z/, /sh/ are longer than English counterparts in word-initial position.

     The remaining consonants have some problems either in pronunciation or in spelling.
     To begin with, /sh/ is actually spelled with "es with a hachek/wedge", that is, "s" with a small v-shaped mark above it:  . Standard Windows fonts have this letter (/š/), but I don't know what will happen with it in the Internet and on the Mac computers and with Wintel PC's with national fonts. However, Windows user can input this letter pressing "ALT" key and, keeping the Alt pressed, pressing 0154 on the numeric pad. (Note: the "NumLock" indicator must be turned on - with a NumLock gray key!). NetSiouan spelling for /sh/ is "s^", that is, šun'ka will be "s^uN'ka".

     Next problem, the consonant /j/. It is a voiced /sh/. You can hear it in "aZure" and "pleaSure". NetSiouan has "z^" or "zh" for /j/. Colorado Lakhota Project has ; Native speakers use "j" as in ojan'jan, light (=NetSiouan "ozhaN'zhaN").

     Well, friends, if you are bored and tired, go to the end of the file, where I put the overall clue for the spelling. If no, I'll go on.
     

     Unvoiced stops /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/.

    They are like English /p/ in "sPit", /t/ in "sTack", /ch/ in imaginary "pCHeck", /k/ in "sKi". Anyway, they are NEVER aspirated (accompanied with a puff of air) as in "Pity", "Tack", "CHew", and "Keep"! I'm Russian and we Russians never aspirate /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/, so for us it is very easy not to aspirate them and for a Yankee it's hard to kick the habit of aspirating -

     Paha' Sa'Pa (Black Hills);
    he Ta'ku he? (what's this?)
    he wiCa'wala shni! (I don't believe him/that!), shi'Ca (bad)
    Kila'khota kte h^cin (a wannabe).
    "C" is spelled ( )  in Colorado Lakhota Project.

     The /h^/ sound in the last example is another unheard-of Lakhota consonant. Native speakers used 100-60 years ago letter "r", now they use "h with a hachek" (  ), that is v-shaped mark above it. We do not have this character in a standard font (J.Koontz's fonts have this! ). The closest sound is Spanish "x" in Mexico and Texas, "g" in gente, "j" in junta; German "ch" in Achtung! and Haende hoch!, and Russian "x" in xorosho! (good!). Examples in Lakhota:

     Heh^a'ka Sa'pa (Black Elk);
    ih^a'h^a (to laugh (at));
    h^uya' (common eagle).

     We can now talk about -

    Aspirated stops,

    that is, /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/ plus aspiration. Rood&Taylor (authors of "Colorado University Lakhota Project") transcribe these consonants as /ph/, /th/, /ch/, and /kh/. Native speakers use either an apostrophe resembling the little "c" : /p‘/, /t‘/, /c‘/, /k‘ , or, rather, do not show aspiration at all. They write "Wakan Tanka" instead of "WakhaN' ThaN'ka" or "Wak‘an T‘anka".
    But we (still :-) are not experts in Lakhota (Lak`ota, Lak‘ota, Lakota), so we have to show aspiration, at least now. You know, there are lots of words in Lakhota with the meaning depending on the aspiration:
    tho'ka (enemy); to'kha shni (that's alright, nothing's the matter); thoka' (first)
    makha' (the earth); maka' (the skunk);
    paha' (the hill(s)); pha'ha (the sculp).

     Talking about the aspiration, it is "HEAVY", h^-like, before /a/, /an/, /o/, and /un/:
    pha (head), than'ka (big), Lakho'ta, thunka'shila;
    and "SOFT", h-like, before /i/, /in/, and /u/:
    phila'mayaye (thank you), nuphin' (both), khute' (he shoot at him).
    Aspiration is always soft in /ch/:
    chatka' (left-hand(ed)), chetan' (hawk), machu'wita (I feel cold).
    By the way, we can try to show aspiration with the "left single quote" (Alt-145 or Ctrl-`,` in Word for Win).

     The consonants /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/, /s/, /sh/=/š/, /h^/ can be uttered in yet another manner in Lakhota: with a -

    Glottal stop.

    Glottal stop is a pause in breathing after with there is an explosion of air. It is depicted with a small (superscripted) question sign. We cannot superscribe in the HTML files so we'll use a usual "?" character. Native speakers just use an apostrophe (') but we use it for an accent, so, memorizing this we shall use (?) instead. Actually, you, Americans, use glottal stop in an exclamation uh-oh (= ?uh-?oh), and also when dropping "t" in casual speech: Instead of saying "But not that mountain" you would say "Bu? no? tha? moun?ain", wouldn't you?!
    Examples in Lakhota:
    op?o' (fog), t?e (he is dead), chic?u' (I gave you that), mak?u' wo (give me that (man speaking)), thate' s?a (It's often windy), wash?a'ka (strong), h^?okha' (drum singer), nachi'h^?un (I hear you).

     The last controversial consonant in Lakhotan alphabet:

    /g^/=/gh/=/g/=//.

    This is a voiced /h^/ ("voiced velar fricative"), it occurs also in Spanish (amigo), Greek ("Gamma") and some Slavic languages. Perhaps if you'll try to utter long non-stopping English /g/ you would approximate Lakhotan /g^/.

    Examples: mag^a'ju (rain), Sichan'g^u (Rosebud Lakhota tribe), ag^u'yapi (bread), g^i (brown/rusty/gray), ma'g^a (a cultivated field), mag^a' (goose), ishta'g^ung^a (blind).
    Native speakers usually don't use any additional marks in addition to the letter "g" for the sound /g^/. The English-like /g/ is rather rare in Lakota and is used in combinations /gl/, /gm/, /gn/, /gw/: Thatha'nka kin agli! (The buffaloes have come!), or at the end of contracted words: Shung-ma'nitu than'ka ob wachi' (Dancing with the wolf). The general rule for discerning /g^/ from /g/ is like the Rule 1 for /n/ and nasal vowels:

    RULE 2. The letter "g" ALWAYS stands for /g^/ before vowels: magaju, gu, ishtagunga.
    Else it is pronounced as English /g/: gle'pa ((s)he vomits), owan'yang shi'ca (looking bad = ugly).

    ...That's almost all for the first pronunciation lesson. Now, for a sumup:
     

    Overall Table of Lakhota Spelling Systems

    Basic (me)

    Traditional (Beuchel)

    Colorado (Rood&Taylor)

    NetSiouan (Koontz)

    English example

    Lakhota example

    a

    father

    kana' "those yonder"

    an

    aN

    (Fr. San serif)

    wanji' "one"

    b

    bad

    ble' "lake"

    c

     

    c^, c

    (pchew)

    washi'cu(n) "White"

    c`, c‘

    c‘

    h

    c^h

    check

    chatka' "left-handed"

    c?, c', c’

    c’

    ?

    c^?

    ---

    chic?u' "I gave you (it)"

    e

    set

    se'ce "it seems so"

    g

    glove

    gle "he came home there"

    g=g^

    g

    g^, gh

    (Sp. amigo)

    wana'gi "ghost"

    h

    hit

    Ho'he "Assiniboine"

    h^

    h^, x

    ---

    mah^wa' "I'm sleepy"

    h^?, h^', h^’

    ?

    h^?, x?

    ---

    wicho'h^an "ceremony"

    i

    sit

    wi "sun; moon; month"

    in

    iN

    ---

    win'yan "woman"

    j

    z^, zh

    pleasure,  Fr. bonjour

    jiji' "blond"

    k

    skip

    kiwa'shicu "urban Indian"

    k`, k‘

     k‘

    kh

    keen

    k‘i "to rob"

    k?, k', k’

    k’

    k?

    ---

    mak?u' wo "Give me (that)"

    l

    let

    le "this"

    m

    mills

    mi'la "knife"

    n

    nest

    nu'npa "two"

    o

    hawk

    Lak‘o'ta "Lakota; Sioux"

    p

    spit

    chanwa'paha "coup stick"

    p`, p‘

    p‘

    ph

    pack

    p‘ila'mayaye "thanks"

    p?, p', p’

    p’

    p?

    ---

    p?o "foggy"

    s

    see

    siha' "foot"

    s?, s', s’

    s'

    s?

    ---

    s?e "as if"

    sh

    s^

    shop

    sha "red"

    sh?, sh'

    ?

    s^?

    ---

    wash?a'ka "strong"

    t

    stick

    ta'ku "what"

    t`, t‘

    t‘

    th

    team

    t‘i'pi "house"

    t?, t', t’

    t’

    t?

    ---

    t?e "(s)he died"

    u

    took

    wakshu'pi "beadwork"

    un

    uN

    ---

    t‘un'pi "birth"

    w

    weak

    wa'ta "canoe"

    y

    yen

    iya'pi "language"

    z

    zero

    zintka'la "bird"

    ?, ', ’

    '

    ?

    ?uh-?oh!

    o?ihe "toilet"

    You can load TrueType fonts for Traditional and Colorado Lakota Project orthographies from  J.Koontz Omaha-Ponca page.

    See also my Lakhota Kinship page.
    Hehanyan owihanke. Le miye Constantine.