6 DAKOTA GRAMMAR [MEMOI [ R voL i xxin 



binations hs and Rs, which might seem admissible, do not occur. This must be accounted for 

 by the intimate relations between the three consonants which is repeated in the voiced 

 group 2, i, g. 



§§ 6-8. PHONETIC PROCESSES— VOWELS 

 § 6. Nasalized Vowels 



Nasalized vowels have a purely phonetic effect upon the vowel a of the following syllable ya 

 or sometimes wa, the a being nasalized ; t%wq' to look ; k\yq' to fly ; 'oii'yq to have for a habitation, 

 but 'oit'waya I have for a habitation. 



The same happens when the syllable preceding ya or wa contains a nasal consonant: niyq' to 

 save; pem.ni'yq slantingly. There are, however, some exceptions to this rule. Thus we have 

 niya' to breathe, niyq' to save; k l uyq 6 promptly (adv.), k'y-ya' to have for a mother-in-law; 

 nafryfyq hearing (adv.), nah'y/ya to notify. It seems that this differentiation occurs only when 

 there are two words that would be identical otherwise. 



§ 7. Contraction 



A considerable number of contractions of adjoining vowels occur. These are not entirely 

 free. Verbs and nouns are often treated differently and other syntactic or morphological features 

 determine whether contraction occurs or not. In a number of cases two vowels separated by a 

 consonant may be contracted. 



The following contractions have been observed: 



1. a + a>a 8. a + o^o 



2. a + i>i 9. e + o>o 



3. a + i>e 10. o + o>o 



4. aki>e 11. q + o>% ( = 7) 



5. a + j>{ 12. o + i>% 



6. q + i>i 13. o + i>% 



7. q-\-o>% 14. i + iyi 



15. u-ayu^wo 18. ohq~>% 



16. awo^>o 19. aye^>e 



17. ihq>i 20. iye>e 



In the last forms the consonants are treated as glides and the vowels are contracted. In a 

 similar way 'asq'jri milk, results from 'as, stem of 'aze' breast, and hqpi' liquid of — . 



In other cases it would be more appropriate to consider the resulting single vowel as due to 

 elimination of one of them. Examples are: 



mat'i' g.la m.na<^mat'o' bear, 'ig.la'tn.na to turn suddenly (a name) 



Elision of vowels is obvious in other names 



tH'psa'pa<Ct'i'pi-sa'pa black tipi; — t'i'pt'o'wi<^t'i'pi-t'o'wi blue tipi woman; — te't'qni^'ite'-t'qn? old 

 face; — te' g.le ga<C'ite -g.le ga spotted face 



1. Nouns with initial wa 6 prefixed to a verb beginning with a contract to accented a. 



wa'kahpe sheet covering, 'aka'Rpa to cover; — wa'loxcq the singer in the hifka' ceremony who swishes the 

 horsetail over the candidates, 'alo'wq to sing over somebody; — wa'b.loska a black bird with white 

 wings, 'ab.lo' shoulder blade; — wa'paha war-standard, 'apa'ha to raise high over something; — 

 wa'wqyaka guard, policeman, 'awq'yaka to guard over; — wa'g.luhe 7 one who lives with his relatives, 

 particularly those who stayed near the fort, their daughters having married soldiers ('tyayuha to 

 be attracted, to be drawn after) 



> Bushotter writes k'ayq'; cf. Yankton k'oye'hq meanwhile. 



• wa- is an indefinite object. (See p. 52.) 



7 Name of a band that stayed near the military forts, because their daughters were married to soldiers. 



