Product Code Database
Sioux is a Siouan language spoken by over 30,000 Sioux in the United States and Canada, making it the fifth most spoken Indigenous language in the United States or Canada, behind Navajo language, Cree language, Inuit languages, and Ojibwe. Statistics Canada: 2006 Census
Since 2019, "the language of the Great Sioux Nation, three dialects, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota" is the official Indigenous language of South Dakota.South Dakota Legislature (2019): Amendment for printed bill 126ca
Yankton-Yanktonai (Western Dakota) stands between Santee-Sisseton (Eastern Dakota) and Lakota within the dialect continuum. It is phonetically closer to Santee-Sisseton but lexically and grammatically, it is much closer to Lakota. For this reason Lakota and Western Dakota are much more mutually intelligible than each is with Eastern Dakota. The assumed extent of mutual intelligibility is usually overestimated by speakers of the language. While Lakota and Yankton-Yanktonai speakers understand each other to a great extent, they each find it difficult to follow Santee-Sisseton speakers.
Closely related to the Sioux language are the Assiniboine and Stoney language languages, whose speakers use the self-designation term (autonym) Nakhóta or Nakhóda.
| Lakȟóta | Dakȟóta | Dakhóta | Nakhóta | Nakhóda | self-designation | ||
| lowáŋ | dowáŋ | dowáŋ | nowáŋ | to sing | |||
| ló | dó | dó | nó | assertion | |||
| čísčila | čísčina | čístina | čúsina | čúsin | small | ||
| hokšíla | hokšína | hokšína | hokšída | hokšína | hokšín | boy | |
| gnayáŋ | gnayáŋ | knayáŋ | hnayáŋ | knayáŋ | hna | to deceive | |
| glépa | gdépa | kdépa | hdépa | knépa | hnéba | to vomit | |
| kigná | kigná | kikná | kihná | kikná | gihná | to soothe | |
| slayá | sdayá | sdayá | snayá | snayá | to grease | ||
| wičháša | wičháša | wičhášta | wičhášta | wičhá | man | ||
| kibléza | kibdéza | kibdéza | kimnéza | gimnéza | to sober up | ||
| yatkáŋ | yatkáŋ | yatkáŋ | yatkáŋ | yatkáŋ | to drink | ||
| hé | hé | hé | žé | žé | that | ||
| child | šičéča | wakȟáŋyeža | wakȟáŋyeža | |
| knee | hupáhu | čhaŋkpé | čhaŋkpé | |
| knife | isáŋ / mína | mína | míla | |
| kidneys | phakšíŋ | ažúŋtka | ažúŋtka | |
| hat | wapháha | wapȟóštaŋ | wapȟóštaŋ | |
| still | hináȟ | naháŋȟčiŋ | naháŋȟčiŋ | |
| man | wičhášta | wičháša | wičháša | |
| hungry | wótehda | dočhíŋ | ločhíŋ | |
| morning | haŋȟ’áŋna | híŋhaŋna | híŋhaŋna | híŋhaŋni |
| to shave | kasáŋ | kasáŋ | kasáŋ | glak’óǧa |
Life for the Dakota changed significantly in the nineteenth century as the early years brought increased contact with European settlers, particularly Christianity missionary. The goal of the missionaries was to introduce the Dakota to Christian beliefs. To achieve this, the missions began to transcribe the Dakota language. In 1836, brothers Samuel and Gideon Pond, Rev. Stephen Return Riggs, and Dr. Thomas Williamson set out to begin translating hymns and Bible stories into Dakota. By 1852, Riggs and Williamson had completed a Dakota Grammar and Dictionary (Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Center). Eventually, the entire Bible was translated.
Today, it is possible to find a variety of texts in Dakota. Traditional stories have been translated, children's books, even games such as Pictionary and Scrabble. Despite such progress, written Dakota is not without its difficulties. The Pond brothers, Rev. Riggs, and Dr. Williamson were not the only missionaries documenting the Dakota language. Around the same time, missionaries in other Dakota bands were developing their own versions of the written language. Since the 1900s, professional have been creating their own versions of the orthography. The Dakota have also been making modifications. "Having so many different writing systems is causing confusion, conflict between our the people, causing inconstancy in what is being taught to students, and making the sharing of instructional and other materials very difficult" (SICC).
Prior to the introduction of the Latin alphabet, the Dakota did have a writing system of their own: one of representational . In pictographic writing, a drawing represents exactly what it means. For example, a drawing of a dog literally meant a dog. Palmer writes that,
For the missionaries, however, documenting the Bible through pictographs was impractical and presented significant challenges.
| + Comparative table of Dakota and Lakota orthographies |
| ' |
| a |
| 'aMarks a stressed initial syllable |
| an |
| b |
| c |
| ch |
| c' |
| d |
| e |
| 'e |
| g |
| gx |
| h |
| x |
| x' |
| i |
| 'i |
| in |
| k |
| kh |
| kx |
| k' |
| l |
| none |
| m |
| n |
| ng |
| o |
| 'o |
| un |
| p |
| ph |
| px |
| p' |
| s |
| s' |
| sh |
| sh' |
| t |
| th |
| tx |
| t' |
| u |
| 'u |
| un |
| w |
| y |
| z |
| zh |
Example of the use of –pi:
Example of the use of wicha-
Infixes are rare in Dakota, but do exist when a statement features predicates requiring two "patients".
Example of infixing:
According to Shaw, word order exemplifies grammatical relations.
In Dakota, the verb is the most important part of the sentence. There are many verb forms in Dakota, although they are "dichotomized into a stative-active classification, with the active verbs being further subcategorized as transitive or intransitive." Some examples of this are:
The phonology, morphology, and syntax of Dakota are very complex. There are a number of broad rules that become more and more specific as they are more closely examined. The components of the language become somewhat confusing and more difficult to study as more sources are examined, as each scholar has a somewhat different opinion on the basic characteristics of the language.
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