ičáȟtakA

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oȟ’áŋ

Lakota, like most (if not all) languages, places great emphasis on the verb. Ironically, the dictionary that I am using has no translation for "verb". Therefore, I used the word for "action" in my title.

When delving into the grammar of Lakota, I know I will be facing something depths. Languages are dark dungeons--and language familiarity is the lantern that guides the way. These first few steps for me represent blind exploration. So, let's enter into the darkness and see what diamonds we might discover.

I looked into a website that tried to explain Lakota grammar. Unfortunately, the author was not very adept at providing clear explanations or meanings. (The individual stated clearly about having a lack of knowledge about linguistics; therefore, I do admire the individual's endevour.) Therefore, I decided to go back to my morphosyntactic lessons. Look at examples and extrapolate what you can.

Here are 5 sentences that I found based on verbs.

Sing: Olówaŋ waŋží ahíyaya yo. (Sing a song.)
Sit: Anáǧoptaŋ yaŋká po. (Sit and listen to it.)
Open: Thiyópa kiŋ makíyuǧaŋ yo. (Open the door for me.)
Listen: Taŋyáŋ anáǧoptaŋ po. (Listen to him carefully.)
Pass: Mniskúya kiŋ hiyúmakhiya yo. (Pass me the salt.)

So what do we learn from these five sentences? [NOTE: I will be making assumptions because I am looking at the evidence presented. For everything we learn in life, we naturally make assumptions until presented with new, conflicting evidence. Maybe a reader can comment on this information. Maybe I will discover my errors at a later date. You cannot be afraid of assumptions--because this is how we learn.]

1) yo = Command (This was mentioned in the previous post.)
2) po = to it/he (?) Both examples that used pronouns in the dative form (to _pronoun_) change the "yo" to "po". Therefore there is likely a connection. When I look up "him" in the dictionary, I am provided with this message:




(This provides interesting evidence; however, it neither confirms or denies my hypothesis.)

3) Objects + Verb = All evidence points to objects coming before the verb.
            Olówaŋ = song (n)
            Thiyópa = door (n)
            Mniskúya = salt (n)
   Since these words occur first, and I know that they are the objects in the sentence structures, I feel confident in this assumption. (Is this an OSV language? No, other evidence from the image below proves that the language is SOV language, which is similar to Japanese.)

These examples show that the subject (boy) appears first.

4) kiŋ = for/to me (?) -- NOPE, kiŋ = "the"...When I look again, I notice that this could have easily been my assumption. However, I do learn that the determiner (like the articles a/an/the) FOLLOW the noun--something that English speakers might find very confusing. This is confirmed with the fact that waŋží = "any"...The first sentence literally translates to "Song--any--sing--(command)."

Well, I will need to pause here. However, I hope this investigate was both entertaining and educational. I hope all of you learned something about the linguistic thought process. And I especially hope that you have learned to not fear mistakes. I made a couple, but I used my simple resources to gain some knowledge...but how will I crack open those verbs? We will see in the future.

uŋspéičʼičhiyA

Warning: I started with a plan. Then, the stream of consciousness took over. The following is disorganized. But it reflects aspects of learning that may or may not be useful to you. This post will be some insight into how my mind works. Hopefully, in the future, I will be able to create a more organized post. However, for today, I wanted to be more honest to myself, my audience, and any researcher who has interest in how language learners slog through a totally new language. Enjoy!

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One of the first things that I like to do as both a teacher and a learner of a language is to create an inventory, or a micro-dictionary, of words that I can use to practice grammatical structures. The first word that I decided to look at was the word "study".

Here is a screenshot of the dictionary that I am using (I downloaded the program from here.)

Dictionary Entry for "study"

I was a bit (but not really) surprised to see so many entries for this concept. However, I thought that this was a great starting point for looking more deeply at the language.

The example sentences at the bottom provide a lot of useful information. After looking at them, I see that these sentences are linked to other entries. This experience is now more about understanding how this electronic dictionary functions and whatever else I am able to discover.

Let's look at the first example sentence. Lakȟóta is clearly Lakota. When I click on the word, I discover that eháŋni means ancient. Interestingly, wičhówoyake means "narration, tale, legend". Thus, eháŋni wičhówoyake must be referring to history (lit. ancient legends). The final word is the verb for studying.

Now, I am thinking about the structure of this sentence (one day, I will get back to making my list of verbs--this grammatical analysis is much more interesting). Here we have:

Subject--> [n/adj? adj n] Verb

So, I can presume that Verbs will always go at the end. In the examples provided, this is true. But there is something following the verbs in examples 4 and 5. What are "ló" and "yo"? These words instantly remind me of Chinese and Japanese particles. Particles are words that provide pragmatic function to sentences. For example in Chinese 吗 (ma) tells the reader/listener that the sentence is a question and 吧 is used to make a suggestion stronger--basically just a sound that is added for emphasis rather than having specific meaning. In Japanese, よ is used at the ends of sentences to emphasis telling the listener that the information is important (and likely new information). So what do these words do in Lakota? Let's click on the word to find out.

Well, the definition entry uses the term "enclitic"--these are sound/words added to (usually) verbs for some grammatical effect. In English "-n't" is a clitic. "yo" from the example tells us that the sentence is a command given by a male speaker. This is useful information for me, being a male, so I will need to remember to use it when giving commands.

Similarly, "ló" is an assertion given by a male speaker. Wow, I am learning a lot of useful information! (Now my brain is wondering back to a research paper that I wrote about the use of particles in Singapore English...) Be aware that I am in no way making any assertions about historical connections or protolanguages! I am more interested in similar linguistic features and how they compare and contrast cross-culturally. I had similar fun when I compared the Japanese and Cherokee syllabaries. I think it reveals more about human nature and the physiology of language than historical connections.

Another thing that I noticed from the entry for "yo" is the word "šni". It very clearly appears in negative sentences, one that is easily comparable to the affirmative counterpart. I have learned a new word, and that pleases me greatly.

So I will pause here for now, and try to get back on track in the near future. This was pure linguistic pleasure. I hope you were able to follow along.

oówaptaya

oówaptaya (Alphabet)

Source: Omniglot.com

The Lakota vowel inventory can be broken down into three types:

1. The basic vowels (a, e, i, o, u) 
1. [a] as in cat
2. [ɛ] as in bed
3. [i] as in kit
4. [o] as in boat, but a little shorter (I imagine a German accent for some reason)
5. [u] as in food
2. The long vowels (á, é, í, ó, ú)
1. These vowels are not like the long English vowels, but simply a held vowel sound. If you imagine the basic vowel lasting 1/2 a second, then the long vowel would last a full second. The sound of the vowel is sustained twice as long as normal. 
2. Here the [ó] would sound the same as boat in English. [o] is half that length in time.
3. The nasal vowels (ã, ĩ, ũ)
1. These sounds are made by blocking the back part of the mouth so that the air goes up to the nose instead of straight out of the mouth.
2. Those familiar with Spanish know the nasal ã in words like manãna (tomorrow).

The Lakota consonant inventory also has multiple types, as follows:

1. The basic consonants are:
1. [b] as in boy
2. [tʃ] as in watch
3. [g] as in girl
4. [h] as in horse
5. [k] as in keep
6. [l] as in laugh
7. [m] as in man
8. [n] as in nose
9. [p] as in pat
10. [s] as in song
11. [ʃ] as in shirt
12. [t] as in tin
13. [w] as in wish
14. [j] as in yellow
15. [z] as in whiz
16. [ʒ] as in judge
17. [ʔ] as in bu_tter
2. Aspirated Consonants
1. These consonants have a breathe of air that follows the consonant.
2. [tʃʰ] as in "achoo"
3. [pʰ] as in pool
4. [tʰ] as in toy
5.  [k^x] has a slight transformation. The [k] sound is lengthed to an almost hiss-like quality.
3. Uvular Consonants
1. These consonants are aspirated or pronounced from very far back in the mouth where the throat begins.
2. [ʀ] is not aspirated, but it is similar to a [g] except further back. This reminds me of the French "r" sound that falls back in the throat; however, it is harder like the [g] sound.
3. [x] this sound is very similar to a [k], but instead of stopping the air and releasing it with the vowel, you push the air through while making the [k] sound. There my be some difficulting differenciating between the [x] and the [k^x].
4. [q^X] might also be challenging, but the [k] itself is farther back.
5. [p^X]
6. [t^X]
4. Ejective Consonants
1. These consonants are followed by a glottal stop [ʔ], which means that you cut off the air coming out to separate the sound from the rest of the word. 
2. [tʃ'] 
3. [k']
4. [p']
5. [t']

There are many sounds that will cause challenges for English speakers, like me. This is especially true among the Uvular Consonants because these sounds do not exist in English. However, listening to words that share these differences will aid in pronunciation. I remember having to learn the difference between "sh" and "x" in Chinese Mandarin--the difference being that there was a slight breath before the "x". Nowadays, these are very clear to my ear, but I have had a lot of practice.

mníčiyA

Háu, kȟolá!

My name is J. Thomas McAlister. I am on a journey to learn the Lakota language! This blog will help document my learning, my thoughts, and my observations. Follow along and learn with me.

First, let me introduce myself. I am a linguist and an educator, and I am currently working on my PhD dissertation, which is related to heritage language learners and how their families maintain the heritage language. My family is an English/Chinese Mandarin bilingual family. Previously, I created a blog while I was learning Japanese for my doctoral requirements. You can find my previous blog at: http://whisperjapanese.blogspot.com

Why Lakota? Lakota, like many Native American languages, are struggling to maintain a thriving community. Languages thrive by being learned, spoken, and shared. Languages provide information, culture, and a new perspective. These are things I greatly appreciate. I do this to learn and to share knowledge--which I find to be my role in this world. I have taught English to thousands of students over the past 15 years. I have also have some opportunities to teach Chinese Mandarin with some Americans, and I have taught bits and pieces of Japanese to my children. Learning any language can be an amazing and eye-opening process that can make your life just a little bit more enjoyable.

I was recently in contact with the Language Conservancy. While I am NOT working for them, my conversation inspired me to give this a try. I am not expecting to become fluent immediately, but I am learning something new. I will post once or twice a week as I learn new words and sentence structures. I will also post updates on what I discover as a linguist as well. What patterns do I notice? What struggles do I have? What resources are out there?

Let me start with that last question:

http://lakhota.org/software-downloads/ -- This site has a lot of resources, specifically, I have started by downloading the dictionary. My first steps over the next two weeks will be to familiarize myself with the writing system and try to learn the phonetic inventory (i.e., I need to figure out how the language is written and spoken, in a very general basic sense.)

Feel free to comment or ask questions. You can provide tips, advice, or corrections.