Dakota Dialects

[Koontz John E]

I've been meaning to get back to the issue of Dakota dialects, because I
thought that I'd done a rather poor job of the subject, mainly by wading
in without rereading any of the relevant materials.  I wanted to
particularly thank Doug Parks for clarifying and correcting various
points.

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005, Parks, Douglas R. wrote:
> Allow me to clarify several points that have been under discussion.
>
> (1)  The Yanktonai, like the Yanktons, identify themselves in English as
> "Dakotas."  There is no historical evidence that the Yanktonai ever
> identified themselves as nakhota, and I have never heard a contemporary
> speaker (and here I mean on all the five reservations where the
> subdialects are spoken) self-identify using an n.  Cook in 1880-82
> similarly recorded the term with an initial d.  The history of the
> fallacy that Yanktonais referred to themselves with an n is given in
> DeMallie's and my paper, pp. 242-48.

Having relocating my copy of the paper - it took me a while to realize
that I had an actual copy of the journal volume - I see that I had indeed
forgotten the major section of this paper that recaps and summarizes the
history of the understanding of Dakota dialects, which would have answered
my questions on this subject.  (See a subsequent posting for details.)

> (2)  There actually has been a fair amount of work accomplished on
> Yanktonai, although unpublished.  Based on work with speakers from
> Standing Rock and Devil's Lake, but including the other communities,
> I've compiled a reasonably extensive dictionary database, and Ray has
> recorded and transcribed a modest collection of texts.  (See HNAI
> 13(1):98.)

I feel that I owe Doug an apology for overlooking this.  In fact, now that
I am reminded of it, work on Yanktonai is mentioned at the AISRI Web site,
e.g., http://www.indiana.edu/~aisri/projects/research.html.

What I seem remember now is that at one point there were some sound files
that included words in Yanktonai.

> (3)  For the Ochethi Shakowin, see DeMallie (HNAI 13(2):735-48).

Next order of business!  I've put off ordering this for various reasons,
but that clearly can't go on.