Editing Lakota language (section)

==Phonology==
{{WikiIPA|Lakota}}

===Vowels===
Lakota has five oral vowels, {{IPA|/i e a o u/}}, and three nasal vowels, {{IPA|/ĩ ã ũ/}} (phonetically {{IPA|[ɪ̃ ə̃ ʊ̃]}}). Lakota {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} are said to be [[open-mid vowel|more open]] than the corresponding cardinal vowels, perhaps closer to {{IPA|[ɛ]}} and {{IPA|[ɔ]}}. Orthographically, the nasal vowels are written with a following {{angle bracket|ƞ}}, {{angle bracket|ŋ}}, or {{angle bracket|n}}; historically, these were written with [[ogonek]]s underneath, {{angle bracket|į ą ų}}.<ref>''Elementary Bilingual Dictionary English–Lakhóta Lakhóta–English'' (1976) CU Lakhóta Project University of Colorado</ref> No syllables end with consonantal {{IPA|/n/}}.

{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
! colspan=2|
! scope="col" | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! scope="col" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! scope="col" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | [[Close vowel|Close/High]]
! scope="row" | <small>oral</small>
| {{IPA link|i}} {{angbr|i}}
| 
| {{IPA link|u}} {{angbr|u}}
|-
! scope="row" | <small>[[Nasal vowel|nasal]]</small>
| {{IPA link|ĩ}} {{angbr|iŋ}}
| 
| {{IPA link|ũ}} {{angbr|uŋ}}
|-
! scope="row" | [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
! 
| {{IPA link|e}} {{angbr|e}}
| 
| {{IPA link|o}} {{angbr|o}}
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | [[Open vowel|Open/Low]]
! scope="row" | <small>oral</small>
| 
| {{IPA link|a}} {{angbr|a}}
| 
|-
! scope="row" | <small>[[Nasal vowel|nasal]]</small>
| 
| {{IPA link|ã}} {{angbr|aŋ}}
| 
|}

A neutral vowel ([[schwa]]) is [[epenthesis|automatically inserted]] between certain consonants, e.g. into the pairs {{angle bracket|gl}}, {{angle bracket|bl}} and {{angle bracket|gm}}. So the clan name written phonemically as {{angle bracket|Oglala}} has become the place name ''[[Ogallala, Nebraska|Ogallala]]''.

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan=2|
! [[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Postalveolar consonant|Postalveolar]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]<ref name="rood96" /><ref name="lako04">(2004). [http://www.lakhota.org/ALPHABET/alphabet.htm Lakota letters and sounds].</ref>
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal stop|Nasals]]
| {{IPA link|m}} {{angbr|m}}
|
| {{IPA link|n}} {{angbr|n}}
|
| {{IPA link|ŋ}} {{angbr|ň}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="4" | [[Plosives]]<br/>and [[affricate consonant|affricates]]
! <small>[[voiceless consonant|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPA link|p}} {{angbr|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}} {{angbr|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|tʃ}} {{angbr|č}}
| {{IPA link|k}} {{angbr|k}}
|
| {{IPA link|ʔ}} {{angbr|ʼ}}
|-
! <small> [[voiced consonant|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPA link|b}} {{angbr|b}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɡ}} {{angbr|g}}
|
|
|-
! <small>[[aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]]</small>
| {{IPA link|pʰ}} {{angbr|ph}} /<br>{{IPA|pˣ}} {{angbr|pȟ}}
| {{IPA link|tʰ}} {{angbr|th}} /<br>{{IPA|tˣ}} {{angbr|tȟ}}
|
| {{IPA link|tʃʰ}} {{angbr|čh}} 
| {{IPA link|kʰ}} {{angbr|kh}} /<br>{{IPA|kˣ}} {{angbr|kȟ}}
|
|
|-
! <small>[[ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
| {{IPA link|pʼ}} {{angbr|pʼ}}
| {{IPA link|tʼ}} {{angbr|tʼ}}
|
| {{IPA link|tʃʼ}} {{angbr|čʼ}}
| {{IPA link|kʼ}} {{angbr|kʼ}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Fricative]]
! <small>[[voiceless consonant|voiceless]]</small>
|
|
| {{IPA link|s}} {{angbr|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{angbr|š}}
|
| {{IPA link|χ}} {{angbr|ȟ}}
|{{IPA link|h}} {{angbr|h}}
|-
! <small>[[Voiced consonant|voiced]]</small>
|
|
| {{IPA link|z}} {{angbr|z}}
| {{IPA link|ʒ}} {{angbr|ž}}
|
| {{IPA link|ʁ}} {{angbr|ǧ}}
|
|-
! <small>[[ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
|
|
| {{IPA link|sʼ}} {{angbr|sʼ}}
| {{IPA link|ʃʼ}} {{angbr|šʼ}}
|
| {{IPA link|χʼ}} {{angbr|ȟʼ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|w}} {{angbr|w}}
|
| {{IPA link|l}} {{angbr|l}}
| {{IPA link|j}} {{angbr|y}}
|
|
|
|}

The [[voiced uvular fricative]] {{IPA|/ʁ/}} becomes a [[uvular trill]] ({{IPA|[ʀ]}}) before {{IPA|/i/}}<ref name="rood96">Rood, David S., and Taylor, Allan R. (1996). [https://web.archive.org/web/20050405024744/http://lakxotaiyapi.freecyberzone.com/sk1uni.htm Sketch of Lakhota, a Siouan Language, Part I]. Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 17 (Languages), pp. 440–482.</ref><ref name="lako04"/> and in fast speech it is often realized as a [[voiced velar fricative]] {{IPA|[ɣ]}}. The voiceless aspirated plosives have two allophonic variants each: those with a delay in voicing {{IPA|([pʰ tʰ kʰ])}}, and those with velar friction {{IPA|([pˣ tˣ kˣ])}}, which occur before {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/ã/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/ĩ/}}, and {{IPA|/ũ/}} (thus, {{lang|lkt|lakhóta}}, {{IPA|/laˈkʰota/}} is phonetically {{IPA|[laˈkˣota]}}). For some speakers, there is a phonemic distinction between the two, and both occur before {{IPA|/e/}}. No such variation occurs for the affricate /tʃʰ/. Some orthographies mark this distinction; others do not. The uvular fricatives {{IPA|/χ/}} and {{IPA|/ʁ/}} are commonly spelled {{angle bracket|ȟ}} and {{angle bracket|ǧ}}.

All [[morpheme|monomorphemic]] words have one vowel which carries primary [[stress (linguistics)|stress]] and has a higher tone than all other vowels in the word. This is generally the vowel of the second syllable of the word, but often the first syllable can be stressed, and occasionally other syllables as well. Stress is generally indicated with an acute accent: {{angle bracket|á}}, etc. Compound words will have stressed vowels in each component; proper spelling will write compounds with a hyphen. Thus {{lang|lkt|máza-ská}}, literally "metal-white", i.e. "silver; money" has two stressed vowels, the first ''a'' in each component. If it were written without the hyphen, as {{lang|lkt|mazaska}}, it would imply a single main stress.

===Phonological processes===

A common phonological process which occurs in rapid speech is ''vowel contraction'', which generally results from the loss of an intervocalic glide. Vowel contraction results in phonetic long vowels ([[phoneme|phonemically]] a sequence of two identical vowels), with falling pitch if the first underlying vowel is stressed, and rising pitch if the second underlying vowel is stressed: ''kê:'' (falling tone), "he said that", from {{lang|lkt|kéye}}; ''hǎ:pi'' (rising tone), "clothing", from {{lang|lkt|hayápi}}. If one of the vowels is nasalized, the resulting long vowel is also nasalized: ''čhaŋ̌:pi'', "sugar", from {{lang|lkt|čhaŋháŋpi}}.<ref name="rood96" />

When two vowels of unequal height contract, or when feature contrasts exist between the vowels and the glide, two new phonetic vowels, {{IPA|[æː]}} and {{IPA|[ɔː]}}, result:<ref name="rood96" /> ''iyæ̂:'', "he left for there", from {{lang|lkt|iyáye}}; ''mitȟa:'', "it's mine", from {{lang|lkt|mitȟáwa}}.

The plural [[clitic|enclitic]] ''=pi'' is frequently changed in rapid speech when preceding the enclitics ''=kte'', ''=kiŋ'', ''=kštó'', or ''=na''. If the vowel preceding ''=pi'' is high/open, ''=pi'' becomes [u]; if the vowel is non-high (mid or closed), ''=pi'' becomes [o] (if the preceding vowel is nasalized, then the resulting vowel is also nasalized): ''hi=pi=kte'', "they will arrive here", [hiukte]; ''yatkáŋ=pi=na'', "they drank it and...", {{IPA|[jatkə̃õna]}}.<ref name="rood96" />

Lakota also exhibits some traces of sound symbolism among fricatives, where the [[point of articulation]] changes to reflect intensity: {{lang|lkt|zí}}, "it's yellow", {{lang|lkt|ží}}, "it's tawny", {{lang|lkt|ǧí}}, "it's brown".<ref>{{cite book|last=Mithun |first=Marianne |year=2007 |title=The Languages of Native North America|location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=33}}</ref> (Compare with the similar examples in [[Mandan language#Vocabulary|Mandan]].)