4 ORTHOGRAPHY. 



k, is an emphatic letter, bearing the same relation to k that ' (J ' does to ' 6.' 

 Formerly represented by q. 



1, has the common sound of this letter in English. It is peculiar to the 

 Titoqwaq dialect. 



m, has the same sound as in English. 



n, has the common sound of n in English. 



q, denotes a nasal sound similar to the French n in bon, or the English n in 

 drink. Formerly represented by n. 



p,^ has the sound of English p, with a little more volume and stress of voice. 



p, is an emphatic, bearing the same relation to p that ' (J ' does to ' 6.' 



s,' has the surd sound of English s, as in say. 



s, is an aspirated s, having the sound of English sA, as in shine. For- 

 merly represented by x. 



t, is the same as in English with a little more volume of voice. 



t, is an emphatic, bearing the same relation to t that ' (J ' does to ' 6.' 



w, has the power of the English w, as in walk. 



y, has the sound of English y, as in yet. 



z, has the sound of the common English z, as in zehra. 



i, is an aspirated z, having the sound of the French j, or the English * in 

 pleasure. Formerly represented by j. 



The apostrophe (') is used to mark a hiatus, as in s'a. It seems to be analo- 

 gous to the Arabic hamzeh (£) 



Note. — Some Dakotas, in some instances, introduce a slight h sound before the m, and also a d sound 

 before n. For example, the preposition ' om,' with, is by some persons pronounced obm, and the 

 preposition ' en,' in, is sometimes spoken as if it should be written edn. But as this mode of speaking is 

 not very common, it has been deemed unnecessary to notice it further. 



For the sake of attaining to a uniform method of notation in the writing of American languages, it 

 would perhaps have been better to dispense with the nasal n, and to represent the nasal sound of vowels 

 by a mark underneath the vowel ; but as the Dictionary was already prepared for the press before this 

 was suggested, and such a change would very much disarrange the words in the vocabulary, it has not 

 been made. 



CHAPTER II. 



SYLLABICATION. 



§ 3. Syllables in the Dakota language terminate in a pure or nasalized vowel, 

 as ma-ka, the earth, taq-yaq, well. To this rule there are some exceptions, viz.: 



a. The preposition ' en,' in, and such words as take it for a suffix, as, petan, oji the 

 fire, tukten, where, etc. ; together with some adverbs of time, as, dehan, now, hehan, 

 then, tohan, when, etc. 



h. When a syllable is contracted into a single consonant (see § 11), that conso- 

 nant is attached to the preceding vowel ; as, om, with, from o-pa, to follow ; wai)- 

 yag, from waq-ya-ka, to see ; ka-ki6, from ka-ki-^a, to suffer ; bo-sim-^i-pa, to 

 shoot off, instead of bo-si-pa-si-pa. 



c. There are some other syllables which end in k ; as, is, he, nis, thou, mis, /, 



