Information / nouns vs. verbs

[Pamela Munro]

I need to reiterate that I think that the same word can sometimes be a
verb and sometimes be a noun. Of course in many sentences thípi is a
verb (it too can be conjugated, of course). I am simply suggesting that
in some cases it is not a verb.

I have not thought about these specific questions for Lakhota
extensively, but I think another strictly nominal occurrence is as a
possessor or as the first element in a Noun-Noun compound. I don't
believe that verbs can occur in these types of constructions. Thus, when
we say Lakhóta wíyan 'Lakhota woman' or Lakhóta thathipi 'the Lakhota's
house', I think Lakhota is a noun.

In terms of the status of Lakhota when it is inflected as a predicate,
my feeling is a bit less clear. I guess I would say that this word can
be both a stative verb and a noun, but I'd have to think about it a bit
more.

Pam