Revision as of 20:30, 20 April 2022

This is a general documentation of Lakota Grammar.

Sources include Lakota Basic Structures, the Wikipedia on the Lakota language Wikipedia and David V Kaufmann's Lakota Grammar Handbook.

category tags for what type of verb and tense lemmas on other side

3 types of verbs only do infinitives

and then do conjugation of verbs in separate section

plurals and other category

Parts of Speech

Nouns

Nouns <n> in Lakota appear in <subj><obj><v> order.

• pȟasù<n> ↔ pȟasù (nose)
• tȟahù<n> ↔ tȟahù (neck)
• pȟanȟté<n> ↔ pȟanȟté (forehead)
• igmú<n> ↔ igmú (cat)
• šún<n> ↔ šún (dog)
• maká<n> ↔ maká (skunk)
• čhuŋwíyapehe<n> ↔ čhuŋwíyapehe (grapes)
• tȟaspáŋ<n> ↔ tȟaspáŋ (apple)
• zíškopela<n> ↔ zíškopela (banana)
• wažúšteča<n> ↔ wažúšteča (strawberry)
• bló<n> ↔ bló (potato)
• pšíŋ<n> ↔ pšíŋ (onion)
• wanúŋ<n> ↔ wanúŋ (accident)
• wóyazaŋ<n> ↔ wóyazaŋ (pain)
• úta<n> ↔ úta (acorn)
• ziŋtkázi<n> ↔ ziŋtkázi (canary)
• mniwáŋca<n> ↔ mniwáŋca (ocean)
• waŋyéca<n> ↔ waŋyéca (firefly)
• magáju<n> ↔ magáju (rain)
• skelúta<n> ↔ skelúta (oriole)
• míla<n> ↔ míla (knife)
• waskúyeca<n> ↔ waskúyeca (jam)

Verbs

Verbs <v> are an essential part of the Lakota language in that they are the only part of speech necessary in forming a sentence. There are 3 types of verbs: Active <av>, Stative <sv>, and Transitive <tv>. Present tense verbs <pres>.

• šíčA<v><sv><pres><inf> ↔ šíčA (to be bad)
• máni<v><av><pres><inf> ↔ máni (to walk)
• waŋyáŋkA<v><tv><pres><inf> ↔ waŋyáŋkA (to look at)

Adverbs

• "adjectives" do not seem to exist and neither do "adverbs" ; the syntactical structure is better described as "topic and comment."

Postpositions

Lakota uses postpositions <post> rather than prepositions; they work in a similar way to English prepositions though they follow their noun complement. Adpositions occur after the head <n>.

• él<post> ↔ él (at)
• akáŋl<post> ↔ akáŋl (on)
• oȟláthe<post> ↔ oȟláthe (under)
• isákhib<post> ↔ isákhib (beside)
• itȟókab<post> ↔ itȟókab (in front of)

Conjunctions

• čhaŋké<cnjcoo> ↔ čhaŋké (and)
• yuŋkȟáŋ<cnjcoo> ↔ yuŋkȟáŋ (and)
• k’éyaš<cnjcoo> ↔ k’éyaš (but)
• na<cnjcoo> ↔ na (joins nouns/phrases)

Articles

The definite article "kiŋ"<def> is used to denote "the", while the indefinite article "waŋ"<ind> is used in cases where "a" would be used in English.

• kiŋ<det><def> ↔ kiŋ (the)
• waŋ<det><ind> ↔ waŋ (a)

Demonstratives

There are nine demonstratives <dem> in Lakota, and they can function as either determiners <det> or pronouns <prn>. They are dependent on plurality and distance from speakers and listeners.

• lé<prn><dem><sg> ↔ lé (this)
• lé<prn><dem><pl> ↔ lená (these)
• lé<prn><dem><du> ↔ lenáos (these)
• ká<prn><dem><sg> ↔ ká (that)
• ká<prn><dem><pl> ↔ kaná (those)
• ká<prn><dem><du> ↔ kanáos (those)
• hé<prn><dem><sg> ↔ hé (this)
• hé<prn><dem><pl> ↔ hená (these)
• hé<prn><dem><du> ↔ henáos (these)

Verb Conjugations

Below are example conjugations of active <av>, stative <sv>, and transitive <tv> verbs.

Infinitive Verbs

Here, verbs are unchanged from the lemma when they are in infinitive form <inf>.

• ištíŋmA<v><av><pres><inf> ↔ ištíŋmA (to sleep)
• íyotakA<v><av><pres><inf> ↔ íyotakA (to sit down)
• čhéyA<v><av><pres><inf> ↔ čhéyA (to cry)
• ípuzA<v><sv><pres><inf> ↔ ípuzA (to be thirsty)
• heyÁ<v><tv><pres><inf> ↔ heyÁ (to say that)
• lol'iȟ'aŋ<v><av><pres><inf> ↔ lol'iȟ'aŋ (to cook)
• íŋyaŋkA<v><av><pres><inf> ↔ íŋyaŋkA (to run)
• škátA<v><av><pres><inf> ↔ škátA (to play)
• ičháǧA<v><av><pres><inf> ↔ ičháǧA (to grow)
• watúkȟa<v><sv><pres><inf> ↔ watúkȟa (to be tired)
• k'ú<v><tv><pres><inf> ↔ k'ú (to give to)
• ičú<v><av><pres><inf> ↔ ičú (to take)
• oyúspe<v><tv><pres><inf> ↔ oyúspe (to catch)

Active and Stative Verbs

Active verbs are conjugated based on subject. They can be first, second, or third person, and singular, dual, or plural.

• máni<v><av><pres><s_sg1> ↔ mawáni (I walk)
• máni<v><av><pres><s_sg2> ↔ mayáni (you walk)
• máni<v><av><pres><s_sg3> ↔ máni (they walk)
• máni<v><av><pres><s_du1> ↔ uŋmáni (we two walk)
• máni<v><av><pres><s_pl1> ↔ uŋmánipi (we all walk)
• máni<v><av><pres><s_pl2> ↔ mayánipi (you all walk)
• máni<v><av><pres><s_pl3> ↔ mánipi (they all walk)

Stative verbs are conjugated based on subject. They can be first, second, or third person, and singular, dual, or plural.

• watúkȟa<v><sv><pres><s_sg1> ↔ mawatúkȟa (I am tired)
• watúkȟa<v><sv><pres><s_sg2> ↔ niwatúkȟa (you are tired)
• watúkȟa<v><sv><pres><s_sg3> ↔ watúkȟa (they are tired)
• watúkȟa<v><sv><pres><s_du1> ↔ uŋwatúkȟa (we two are tired)
• watúkȟa<v><sv><pres><s_pl1> ↔ uŋwatúkȟapi (we are tired)
• watúkȟa<v><sv><pres><s_pl2> ↔ niwatúkȟapi (you all are tired)
• watúkȟa<v><sv><pres><s_pl3> ↔ watúkȟapi (they all are tired)

Transitive

Transitive verbs are conjugated based on object. They can be first, second, or third person, and singular, dual, or plural.

• • add o_sg1 etc as object tags -- DONE
  • combine active and stative
  • do we remove av and sv tags? or just use one for both?

• waŋyáŋkA<v><tv><pres><s_sg1><o_sg1> ↔ mawaŋyáŋkA (I look at it)
• waŋyáŋkA<v><tv><pres><s_sg2><o_sg2> ↔ niwaŋyáŋkA (you look at it)
• waŋyáŋkA<v><tv><pres><s_sg3><o_sg3> ↔ waŋyáŋkA (they look at it)
• waŋyáŋkA<v><tv><pres><s_pl1><o_pl1> ↔ uŋwaŋyáŋkepi (I look at them)
• waŋyáŋkA<v><tv><pres><s_pl2><o_pl2> ↔ niwaŋyáŋkepi (you look at them)
• waŋyáŋkA<v><tv><pres><s_pl3><o_pl3> ↔ waŋwíčhayaŋkA (they look at them)

Use of Postpositions

// keep examples in top

• mas'óphiye<n> (store) ↔ mas'óphiye él<n><post> (at the store)
  • Here the translation should not be in the morphTest, and the postposition should not have a <n> tag. Try making separate morphTests for the noun and the postposition. -JNW
• Wówapi kiŋ wáglutapi kiŋ akáŋl<post> yaŋké. The book is sitting on the table.
• Wóžuha kiŋ oyúŋke kiŋ oȟláthe<post> yaŋké. The bag is sitting under the bed.
• Šiyútakaŋ kiŋ akáŋwowapi kiŋ isákhib<post> yaŋké. The laptop is sitting beside the desk.
• Wíčazo kiŋ oákaŋke kiŋ itȟókab<post> yaŋké. The pencil is sitting in front of the chair.