Collette Vincen Mcarthur Armand Nakoda Language Lessons PDF

NAKODA LANGUAGE
LESSONS
Vincent Collette & Armand McArthur
2017
Nakota Language Lessons
Collette, Vincent & McArthur, Armand (2017). Nakoda Language Lessons. Regina: First
Nations University of Canada.
©All rights reserved.
Do not reproduce without the authors’ permission.
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Table of Contents
UNIT 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Thanking, farewell and self-introduction .................................................................................... 9
Nakoda alphabet and sound system .......................................................................................... 10
Syllables and accent .................................................................................................................. 11
Parts of speech ........................................................................................................................... 12
Note on spelling ........................................................................................................................ 14
Exercises.................................................................................................................................... 15
UNIT 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 16
Word order of Nakoda............................................................................................................... 17
Demonstratives .......................................................................................................................... 18
Class 1: Regular stem verbs ...................................................................................................... 19
Dual ų-… ‘we two’ .................................................................................................................... 21
Sounds: uvulars /ǧ/ and /ȟ/ ........................................................................................................ 21
Exercises.................................................................................................................................... 23
UNIT 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 26
Interrogations ............................................................................................................................ 27
Orders and commands ............................................................................................................... 28
Class 2: Y-stem verbs................................................................................................................ 29
Potential/future marker -kta ...................................................................................................... 31
Sounds: Glottal stop /’/.............................................................................................................. 31
Exercises.................................................................................................................................... 32
UNIT 4 .......................................................................................................................................... 34
Cardinal numbers ...................................................................................................................... 36
Ordinal numbers ........................................................................................................................ 37
Age and time ............................................................................................................................. 38
Distance and height ................................................................................................................... 39
Exercises.................................................................................................................................... 41
UNIT 5 .......................................................................................................................................... 44
Kinship nouns............................................................................................................................ 46
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Reference to time: past, present and future/potential ................................................................ 46

Class 3: Nasal conjugation verbs (or N-conjugation) ............................................................... 47
Plural of verb subjects ............................................................................................................... 49
Exercises.................................................................................................................................... 51
UNIT 6 .......................................................................................................................................... 54
Negation .................................................................................................................................... 55
Two classes of verbs: active and stative.................................................................................... 56
Stative verbs: Colors ................................................................................................................. 59
How to say “to be” in Nakoda................................................................................................... 59
Exercises.................................................................................................................................... 61
UNIT 7 .......................................................................................................................................... 64
Declarative enclitics no and c.................................................................................................... 65
Imperative enclitics wo and bo (commands and orders) ........................................................... 66
“Let’s” constructions ................................................................................................................. 67
Conjunction markers: į́ š ‘and, also’ eštá ‘or’ ............................................................................ 67
Indicating the position of something ......................................................................................... 68
Exercises.................................................................................................................................... 70
UNIT 8 .......................................................................................................................................... 72
Asking questions with where, when and who ........................................................................... 73
Verbs of departing, going and arriving ..................................................................................... 75
Directions .................................................................................................................................. 78
Active verbs: intransitive and transitive .................................................................................... 78
Inflections of transitive verbs (3rd person object)...................................................................... 79
Sounds: Ejective consonants ..................................................................................................... 82
Exercises.................................................................................................................................... 83
UNIT 9 .......................................................................................................................................... 86
More verbs expressing states and bodily functions ................................................................... 87
Ownership and possession ........................................................................................................ 89
Part/whole relations ................................................................................................................... 92
Noun quantifiers edáhą ‘some’ and dóna ‘some, many’ .......................................................... 93
Exercises.................................................................................................................................... 94
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UNIT 10 ........................................................................................................................................ 96
Word formation ......................................................................................................................... 97
Independent pronouns for focus and contrast ......................................................................... 100
Intensifiers -ȟ and -ȟtįya ......................................................................................................... 100
Exercises.................................................................................................................................. 102
UNIT 11 ...................................................................................................................................... 104
Adverbs of time/space and manner ......................................................................................... 107
Formation of irregular verbs ................................................................................................... 109
Inflections of transitive verbs (3rd person subject) .................................................................. 110
Exercises.................................................................................................................................. 115
UNIT 12 ...................................................................................................................................... 118
Tribes and tribal affiliation ...................................................................................................... 119
Transitive verb inflections: -ci- ‘I on you’and -maya- ‘you on me’ ....................................... 120
Aspectual markers ................................................................................................................... 121
Exercises.................................................................................................................................. 125
UNIT 13 ...................................................................................................................................... 128
Sentences expressing wanting to do X .................................................................................... 131
Complex sentences with the conditional štén ‘if, when’......................................................... 131
Complex sentences with the conditional hą̨́dahą ‘whenever’ ................................................. 133
Inflections of transitive verbs: -wįca- ‘3rd person plural object’ ............................................. 133
Exercises.................................................................................................................................. 136
UNIT 14 ...................................................................................................................................... 140
Gicí ‘with’ ............................................................................................................................... 142
Reciprocal -gici- / -ci- ‘action done to one another’ .............................................................. 142
Modality particles .................................................................................................................... 143
Specific, unspecific objects ..................................................................................................... 145
Exercises.................................................................................................................................. 147
UNIT 15 ...................................................................................................................................... 150
Interjections ............................................................................................................................. 151
Instrumentals ........................................................................................................................... 151
Indefinite prefix wa- ................................................................................................................ 153
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Locatives a-, o-, į- ................................................................................................................... 155

Nominalizing ablaut and zero nominalization ........................................................................ 157
Exercises.................................................................................................................................. 159
UNIT 16 ...................................................................................................................................... 162
Reduplication .......................................................................................................................... 163
Compounding .......................................................................................................................... 165
Causatives -ya and -kiya .......................................................................................................... 166
Aspectual auxiliary verbs ........................................................................................................ 168
Modality verbs......................................................................................................................... 169
Exercises.................................................................................................................................. 172
UNIT 17 ...................................................................................................................................... 176
Reflexive -įc’i- / -įk- ‘to act upon oneself’ .............................................................................. 177
Possessive -gi- / -k- ‘one’s own’ ............................................................................................. 178
Dative -gi- ‘to, for, of somebody else’ .................................................................................... 180
Benefactive -giji- ‘for the benefit of somebody else’ ............................................................. 181
Exercises.................................................................................................................................. 184
UNIT 18 ...................................................................................................................................... 186
Text 1. Adé wóknaga .............................................................................................................. 186
Text 2. Wacégiyabi ................................................................................................................. 187
Text 3. Wašpą́yąbi ................................................................................................................... 188
Appendix 1: Kinship Table ......................................................................................................... 190
Appendix 2: Glossary of Grammatical Terms ............................................................................ 193
Appendix 3: Verb Classes ........................................................................................................... 196
Nakóda/English Lexicon ............................................................................................................. 198
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UNIT 1
Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Basic kinship nouns
 Weather verbs
 Basic greetings
ALPHABET AND SOUNDS

 Nakoda alphabet and sound system
 Syllables and accent
 Parts of speech
 Remarks on the orthography
DIALOGUES
Háu Alicia emágiyabi. Dóken eníjiyabi? Hello my name is Alicia. What is your name?
Carlos emágiyabi. My name is Carlos.
Hą́ miciḱ ši, tągán osní he? Hello my son, is it cold outside?
Hą́ adé, tągán wáhįhą. Yes father, it is snowing outside.
Hą́ iná, maǧážu? Hello mother, is it raining?

Hą́ micų́kši, maǧážu. Yes my daughter, it is raining.
Hą́ adé, maǧážu (he)? Hello father, is it raining?

Hiyá, waná tągán nína maštá. No, now it is a very hot outside.
Hą́ adé, ą́ba né maštá he? Hello father, is it a hot day today?
Hiyá miciḱ ši, waná tadéyąba. No my son, now it is a very windy day.
Adé, pinámayaya, aké wącímnagįkta. Father, thank you, I will see you again.
Hą́ micų́kši, aké wącímnagįkte no! Yes my daughter, I will see you again!
Iná, timáhen osní (he)? Mother, is it cold inside?

Hą́ miciḱ ši, nína osní. Yes my son, it is very cold.
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VOCABULARY
Kinship nouns Weather verbs

adé ‘Father!’ maǧážu ‘it rains’
iná ‘Mother!’ maštá ‘it is a hot day’
miciḱ ši ‘my son’ osní ‘it is cold’
micų́kši ‘my daughter’ tadéyąba ‘it is a windy day’
wáhįhą ‘it snows’
Basic greetings Miscellanous

ejíya, egíya ‘s/he calls ą́ba ‘day’
him/her’ ą́ba né ~ ą́ba nén ‘today’
hą́ ‘yes, hello’ dóken ‘how’
háu ‘hello’ nína ‘very’
hiyá ‘no, not’ tągán ‘outside’
pinámayaya ‘I thank timáhen ‘inside’
you’1 waná ‘already, now’
THANKING, FAREWELL AND SELF-INTRODUCTION
To introduce oneself the verb egíya ‘s/he calls him/her’ is used. Literally, the verb emágiyabi
means ‘they call me thus.’ The use of -ma- ‘me’ and -ni- ‘you’ and the plural marker -bi will be
explained later.
Háu, dóken ya’ų́ (he)? ‘Hello, how are you?’

Wašté! ‘Good!’
Peter emágiyabi ‘I am called Peter.’
Rick eníjiyabi he? ‘Are you called Rick?’
In Nakoda thanking and farewell expressions are conveyed with the verbs pinámayaya ‘I
thank you’ and wącímnaga ‘I see you.’ The internal structure of these verbs will be dealt with
later. Greetings and introductory sentences are geared for practical conversation and this is why
they are introduced here.
Pinámayaya. ‘I thank you.’

Aké wącímnagįkta. ‘I will see you again.’
Hą́! ‘Yes alright!’
1
Pinámayaya means, literally, ‘You pleased me’, and has been extended to mean ‘I thank you’.
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NAKODA ALPHABET AND SOUND SYSTEM
In these Nakoda language lessons the Fort Belknap spelling will be used. Some of the sounds
will require a lot of pronunciation practice since they do not occur in English.
CONSONANTS
Nakoda English equivalent Nakoda example IPA

Alphabet
Bb ‘bat’ ‘tab’ basnóhą ‘to push’ used for [b] and [p]
Cc ‘chill’ cába ‘beaver’ [ʧ h]
C’ c’ *not found in English cic’ú ‘I give it to you’ [ʧ ʔ]
Dd ‘damp’ dágu ‘what’ used for [t] and [d]
Gg ‘gum’ gų́wa ‘Come!’ used for [ɡ] and [k]
Ǧǧ *not found in English ǧí ‘to be yellow’ [ɣ]
Hh ‘happy’ hiyá ‘no’ [h]
Ȟȟ *not found in English ȟóda ‘to be gray’ [x]
Jj ‘jam’ júsina ‘small’ [ʤ]
Kk ‘keep’ kuwá ‘to chase’ [kh]
K’ k’ *not found in English k’ú ‘to give’ [kʔ]
Mm ‘mine’ mína ‘knife’ [m]
Nn ‘night’ nųwą́ ‘to swim’ [n]
Pp ‘Peter’ pahá ‘hair’ [ph]
P’ p *not found in English šųktáwap’i ‘horse [pʔ]
collard’
Ss ‘sit’ sihá ‘foot’ [s]
Šš ‘shadow’ šų́ga ‘dog’ [ʃ]
Tt ‘team’ tanó ‘meat’ [th]
T’ t’ *not found in English t’á ‘to die’ [tʔ]
Ww ‘water’ wá ‘snow’ [w]
Yy ‘yes’ yatką́ ‘to drink’ [j]
Zz ‘zipper’ zizíbena ‘cloth’ [z]
Žž ‘measure’ ožúna ‘to be full’ [ʒ]
’ ‘button’ [bɐʔn̩] wa’ówabi ‘paper’ [ʔ]
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VOWELS
Nakoda English equivalent Nakoda example IPA

Alphabet
Aa ‘at’ ‘hat’ aké ‘again’ [a]
Ąą ‘man’ (nearest cą́ ‘wood’ [ã]
equivalent)
Ee ‘bet’ nén ‘here’ [ɛ] or [e]
Ii ‘beat’ nína ‘very’ [i]
Įį ‘mean’ (nearest įȟá ‘to laugh at’ [ĩ]
equivalent)
Oo ‘open’ ómna ‘to smell’ [o] or [ɔ]
Uu ‘two’ súda ‘to be hard’ [u]
Ųų not found in English hú gu ‘his/her [ũ]
mother’
Nakoda has eight vowels: five orals, and three nasals. When producing oral vowels /a, e,
i, o, u/ the airstream coming from the lungs goes directly through the mouth, as in AAAAAH.
However, with nasal vowels /ą, į, ų/ half of the airstream goes through the mouth and the other
half goes through the nose. In order words, the nasals are pronounced by letting air escape by the
nose and mouth at the same time. The closest English equivalent of nasal vowels happens in the
word mean and bingo. Since the oral vowel /i/ is flanked with two nasal consonants /m/ and /n/,
it is slightly nasalized in mean, while in bingo it is fully nasalized. This means that there is some
air that passes through the nasal cavity. Nasal vowels are indicated by a small hook underneath
like: ą, į, ų. The vowels E and O are never nasalized in Nakoda.
SYLLABLES AND ACCENT
Words in English and Nakoda can be divided into syllables. Every syllable consists of
one vowel (obligatory) and a proceeding and/or following consonant (optional). Syllables are
separated by a hyphen in these English examples:
no as-pen ca-li-ber se-pa-ra-tion

1 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 4
When a word has more than one syllable, one of them is produced with more force or
amplitude, as in ASpen. We call this syllable the “stressed” syllable. It is the one that carries the
accent. In Nakoda, the spelling stress (or accent) is indicated by a diacritic sign put on top, like
/ú/ as in šúda pronounced SHOO-da. For English speakers learning Nakoda, it is difficult to
guess which vowel will be stressed. However, a rule of thumb is that the vowel of the second
syllable will carry the stress, but there are counterexamples.
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Second syllable accent

tokána ‘gray fox’ škoškóbena ‘banana’
mató ‘bear’ hącógądu ‘midnight’
hągé ‘half’ pahá ‘hair’
First syllable accent

néža ‘to urinate’ hą́ba ‘moccasin’
škóbena ‘to be slightly crooked’ hą́dahą ‘when, whenever’
máza ‘iron’ škáda ‘to play’
With words that consist of only one syllable, the vowel will automatically carry the
stress. For the sake of consistency the accents were written everywhere even on monosyllabic
words.
tó ‘to be blue, green’ tá ‘moose, ruminant’

šką́ ‘to move, to feel thus’ ú ‘to go’
Finally, in English the position of the stress in a word can make a difference in meaning
between two words as in the case of permít ‘to give permission’ (verb) vs pérmit ‘official
document granting someone with an authorization to do something’ (noun). These two words
have different stress patterns and mean different things. Nakoda too has meaningful stress and
this is why it is always indicated in the spelling. Here are a few examples:
ganá ‘those over there’ ohą́ ‘to wear footwear’, ‘to cook by boiling
gána ‘to be old’ óhą ‘in the middle, in it
PARTS OF SPEECH
Nakoda has six types of words (or parts of speech): nouns, verbs, adverbs,
demonstratives, pronouns and postpositions. It also has a fairly large series of enclitics which are
not words but elements that “lean” at the end of the verb.
Nouns: Describe a person, place, thing or idea (dog, love, faith).
búza ‘cat’
cąpásusuna ‘pepper’
įhámnabi ‘dream, vision’
Verbs: Express an action, a state of being, a condition, an event, or a natural phenomenon.
kuwá ‘to chase, to go after’

cįgá ‘to want’
osní ‘to be cold weather’
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NB: Technically Nakoda does not have a separate class of adjectives like English does (e.g. nice,
big, small, etc.). To express the color or the size of something, a stative verb is used.
sijá ‘to be bad’

wasnóhya ‘to be wise’
sába ‘to be black’
Adverbs: Specify the action of the verb (e.g. as in arriving late or early) or indicate a location in
time or space (e.g. there, now).
waná gaš ‘long ago’

gakí ‘over there, yonder’
Demonstratives: Indicate the location and the distance of an entity in relation to the speaker’s
point of view (e.g. this man, that house over there).
né ‘this’
žé ‘that’
gá ‘that over there’
Pronouns: Replace a noun (e.g. Paul is sick > He is sick; The plant is green > It is green); some
pronouns are used to form interrogative sentences.
íš ‘he, it, they too; also’

duwé ‘who’
Postpositions: Specify a relationship between two words in a sentence (e.g. Paul is in the house,
Paul is at the theater). English has only prepositions which fill in the space in the following
sentence ‘The bird flew _____ the house.’ However Nakoda has only postpositions which come
after the head word, this is why they are called postpositions (post- ‘after’) instead of
prepositions (pre- ‘before’) like in English.
sám ‘over, beyond’

mahén ‘inside’
agą́n ‘on’
gicí ‘with’
Enclitics: This part of speech does not exist in English. In Nakoda, enclitics are forms that
loosely attach at the end of a verb. They indicate mood, negation, types of sentences, etc. Some
of them are used only by men, others only by women.
no ‘declarative’
he ‘interrogation’ (male speaker only)
NB: In the following lessons we follow the orthographic convention of not attaching the enclitics
to the verb and not putting an accent on it. This makes the reading of texts much easier.
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NOTE ON SPELLING
You can see by looking at the chart of consonants that there are no F, L, R, TH or V sounds in
Nakoda. Nevertheless, Nakoda does have several consonants that are lacking in English. These
sounds are represented by letters with extra signs (called “diacritics”) over or under the basic
letters like: ǧ, ȟ, ž and ’. Moreover, three letters B/b, D/d, G/g can be used for the sounds [b], [d]
and [g] but also for [p], [t] and [k]. The sounds between slashes /p/, /t/ and /k/ are the sounds
internalized by Nakoda speakers, while the ones in brackets like [b], [d] and [g] are contextual
pronunciations of /p/, /t/ and /k/. Those contextual variants occur between vowels but also at the
beginning of a word.
INTERNALIZED SOUNDS SPELLING INTERNALIZED SOUNDS SPELLING

/ą́pa/ ‘day’ ą́ba /įté/ ‘face’ įdé
/pahá/ ‘hill’ bahá /įthé/ ‘forehead’ įté
/phahá/ ‘hair’ pahá /táku/ ‘what’ dágu
/até/ ‘Father!’ adé /akú/ ‘to bring something’ agú
Lastly the letter J is used to indicate the internalized sound /c/ as in /cé/ ‘always’ which is
spelled jé (compare /ché/ ‘penis’ which is spelled cé).
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EXERCISES
1) Translate these Nakoda words in English and say them out loud.
1. waná __________ 2. hą́ __________
3. ą́ba __________ 4. maǧážu __________
5. adé __________ 6. maštá __________
7. pinámaya __________ 8. iná __________
9. miciḱ ši __________ 10. micų́kši __________
2) Translate these English words in Nakoda and say them out loud.
1. no __________ 2. thank you __________
3. Mother! __________ 4. my son __________
5. it rains __________ 6. it snows __________
7. this day __________ 8. my daughter __________
9. outside __________ 10. inside __________
3) Pair with someone and introduce out loud some of your family members and friends (e.g.
Micų̨́kši Mary egíyabi ‘My daughter is called Mary’).
4) Say the following words out loud. Be careful when pronouncing the nasal vowels in bold.
micíkši micų́kši hą́ tągán
wáhįhą tadéyąba ą́ba wącímnaga
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UNIT 2
Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Nouns of people and places
 Nouns for food, drinks and animals
 Demonstratives
GRAMMAR
 Word order in Nakoda
 Structure of regular stem verbs
DIALOGUES
The following dialogues make use of the basic words seen in Unit 1 plus some new ones. They
also exemplify the sentence pattern, the verb structure and word order in Nakoda.
Wahą́bi yacíga (he)? Do you want soup? (male speaker)

Hą́, wahą́bi wacíga. Yes, I want soup.
Wįcij́ ana né waȟpé cįgá (he)? Does that girl want tea?
Hą́, waȟpé cįgá. Yes, she wants tea.
Šų́gatąga gá aktága (he)? Is that horse over there running?

Hiyá, šų́gatąga gá nážį. No, that horse over there is standing.
Mary eníjiyabi (he)? Are you called Mary?

Hiyá, Charlotte emágiyabi. No, I’m called Charlotte.
Iná, wíyą žé aǧúyabi gáǧa (he)? Mother! Is that woman making bannock?
Hiyá, wíyą žé ȟuȟnáȟyabi gáǧa. No, that woman is making coffee.
Adé, wįcá žé wóda (he)? Father, is that man eating?

Hą́, wįcá žé wóda. Yes, this man is eating.
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VOCABULARY
Nouns for people

dagúškina ‘baby, infant’ nitákona ‘your friend’
takónagu ‘his/her friend’ wįcá ‘man’
hokšína ‘boy’ wįcij́ ana ‘girl’
mitákona ‘my friend’ wiý ą ‘woman’
Food and Drinks

tanó ‘meat’ štušténa ‘salt’
asą́bi ‘milk’ cąpásusuna ‘pepper’
aǧúyabi ‘bread, bannock’ waȟpé ‘tea’
pąǧí ‘potato’ ȟuȟnáȟyabi ‘coffee’
Animals
šų́ga ‘dog’ gugúša ‘pig’
búza ‘cat’ zitkána ‘bird’
šų́gatąga ‘horse’ paǧú da ‘duck’
tatą́ga ‘male buffalo’ hoǧą́ ‘fish’
Verbs
aktága ‘s/he runs’ maní ‘s/he walks’
bazó ‘s/he shows it’ nážį ‘s/he stands’
cįgá ‘s/he wants it’ wací ‘s/he dances’
gáǧa ‘s/he makes it’ wóda ‘s/he eats’
Note that the simple and shortest form of a Nakoda verb corresponds either (a) to the
English verb in -ing or in to like ‘eating, to eat’, ‘sitting, to sit’, and ‘walking, to walk’, or (b) to
an English verb inflected for the 3rd person singular like ‘s/he eats’, ‘s/he sits’, and ‘s/he walks.’
For the sake of simplicity the 3rd person form will serve as the “citation form” in the rest of the
units. However, not to overload the lexicon with extra details, in the Nakoda/English lexicon
only the English infinitive meaning appears in an entry, such as in: bazó (VT) to show it. In
reality, this verb means ‘s/he shows it.’
WORD ORDER OF NAKODA
The Nakoda word order differs greatly from that of English since demonstratives, prepositions
and adjectives are placed after the noun and not before as in English. The verb is almost always
at the end of the sentence and this is why it is often said that Nakoda is a Subject--Object--Verb
 17
(SOV) language. The following table will help visualize the Nakoda word order. Note that the
parentheses in the second word position indicate that the element is optional in a sentence.
first word second word third word

Noun (Demonstrative) Verb
(Postposition)
(Adverb)
Let us start with a simple sentence like my son is eating. In Nakoda this would be
expressed with two words micį́ kši (noun) and wóda (verb). For this combination of words
Nakoda has the same order as English.
Miciḱ ši wóda. ‘My son is eating; my son eats.’

my.son he.eats
NOUN VERB
Waná nína maštá. ‘It is very hot now.’

now very to.be.hot
ADVERB ADVERB VERB
Wįcij́ ana žé tągán maní. ‘That girl is walking outside.’

girl that outside he.walks
NOUN DEMONSTRATIVE ADVERB VERB
DEMONSTRATIVES
In the following table you will find the demonstratives. They can be used to locate or point at a
single thing or a plurality of things, according to the distance from the speaker. Also included are
three related spatial adverbs that are closely related to the demonstratives.
DEMONSTRATIVES SPATIAL ADVERBS

singular plural precise general location
né ‘this’ nená ‘these’ nén ‘here’ néci ‘around here’
žé ‘that’ žená ‘those’ žén ‘there’ žéci ‘around there’
gá ‘that over ganá ‘those over gán ‘over there’ gakí ‘yonder, way over
there’ there’ there’
As indicated in the following examples the demonstratives occur after the noun. For
instance if you want to say this fish or that fish put the demonstratives né (close by) or žé (a little
further) after the noun hoǧą̨́ ‘fish’:
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hoǧą́ né ‘this fish (close by)’ hoǧą́ žé ‘that fish (a little further)’
fish this fish that
Now if you add a verb (action word) it will appear last in the sentence. Thus, a sentence
like that dog runs would be expressed as dog that runs in Nakoda. Here are a few examples
reflecting Nakoda word order.
Wįcá žé wóda. ‘That man is eating.’

man that he.eats
Šų́ga gá aktága. ‘That dog over there is running.’

dog that.over.there he.runs
Wiý ą né nážį. ‘This woman is standing.’

woman this.here she.stands
“Adjectival” verbs (which are stative verbs, see Unit 6) come after the noun they qualify,
while the demonstrative is placed after the combination of a noun and an adjectival verb. Here
are some examples which include a demonstrative and one of the following adjectival verbs šįtų̨́
‘to be fat’, skána ‘to be white’ and šába ‘to be black.’
Gugúša šįtų́ žé wóda. ‘The fat pig is eating.’

pig he.is.fat that he.eats
Búza skána žená aktágabi ‘Those white cats are running.’

cat he.is.white these they.run
Šų́gatąga sába gá maní. ‘That black horse over there is walking.’
horse he.is.black the.one.over.there he.walks
CLASS 1: REGULAR STEM VERBS
The structure of the verb, or action word, is the most complex one in Nakoda. We already know
that the simplest verb form is already inflected for the 3rd person singular ‘he, she, it.’ To express
‘I’, ‘you’, ‘we’, ‘you all’, or ‘they’ place a form called a “prefix” (pre- ‘before’) in front of the
verb. For a regular verbs the full set for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd persons, singular and plural, markers
is as follows:
Person Markers (Regular stem, Class 1)

Singular Persons Plural Persons
-wa- ‘I’ -ų(g)-…-bi ‘we’
-ya- ‘you’ -ya-…-bi ‘you all’
-Ø- ‘s/he’ -Ø-…-bi ‘they’
Note that in the ‘we’ form the g is used to connect with a verb stem that starts in a vowel
(e.g. ųgáktagabi ‘we run’). It appears between brackets because not all verb stems start with a
 19
vowel. In the next tables you will find fully inflected verbs. The person and number markers are
in bold. Note that the absence of a person prefix (noted with the symbol Ø), as in the case of the
3rd person, means ‘s/he’ in Nakoda.
cįgá ‘s/he wants it’ (regular stem, Class 1)

waciǵ a ‘I want it’ ųcígabi ‘we want it’
yaciǵ a ‘you want it’ ́
yacį́gabi ‘you all want it’
cįgá ‘s/he wants it’ cįgábi ‘they want it’
gáǧa ‘s/he makes it’ (regular stem, Class 1)

wagáǧa ‘I make it’ ųgáǧabi ‘we make it’
yagáǧa ‘you make it’ yagáǧabi ‘you all make it’
gáǧa ‘s/he makes it’ gáǧabi ‘they make it’
For some verbs the person prefix is placed inside the stem and not before it. The prefix,
or in this case the “infix” (in- ‘inside’), is in bold in the following tables. Note that the ‘we’ form
often does not follow this rule (e.g. ‘we run’).
aktága ‘s/he runs’ (regular stem, Class 1)

Singular Plural
awáktaga ‘I run’ ųgáktagabi ‘we run’
ayáktaga ‘you run’ ayáktagabi ‘you all run’
aktága ‘s/he runs’ aktágabi ‘they run’
maní ‘s/he walks’ (regular stem, Class 1)

Singular Plural
mawáni ‘I walk’ ma’ų́nibi ‘we walk’
mayáni ‘you walk’ mayánibi ‘you all walk’
maní ‘s/he walks’ maníbi ‘they walk’
nážį ‘s/he stands’ (regular stem, Class 1)

Singular Plural
nawážį ‘I stand’ na’ų́žįbi ‘we stand’
nayážį ‘you stand’ nayážįbi ‘you all stand’
nážį ‘s/he stands’ nážįbi ‘they stand’
 20
wóda ‘s/he eats’ (regular stem, Class 1)

Singular Plural
wówada ‘I eat’ wó’ųdabi ‘we eat’
wóyada ‘you eat’ wóyadabi ‘you all eat’
wóda ‘s/he eats’ wódabi ‘they eat’
Ex: Šų́gatąga gá wacíga. ‘I want that horse over there.’

Waȟpé ųgáǧabi. ‘We are making tea.’
Wįcij́ anabi nená aktágabi. ‘These girls are running.’
Tągán mawáni. ‘I’m walking outside’
Mitákona gakí nážį. ‘My friend is standing over there.’
Waná wówada. ‘I’m eating now.’
The placement of person markers is a tricky feature of the Nakoda verb which is a little
complicated to master. Beginners will have to memorize which verbs require infixes or prefixes
for 1st and 2nd persons. You can also ask a speaker of the language how to say “I do X”, since the
placement of the “I” form will tell you how to form the verbs for all other persons. To facilitate
this learning process the person formation patterns and the four classes of verbs can be found in
the appendix called Classes of Verbs. Verbs that require infixes are signaled with an underscore
indicating the point of insertion (e.g. wo_da ‘eat’ = wówada ‘I eat’)
DUAL Ų-… ‘WE TWO’
In the preceding section we saw that to obtain the ‘we’ form of a verb one needs to add ų(g)- and
-bi on a stem, as in wó’ųdabi ‘we eat’ However, Nakoda like other Dakotan dialects also has
what is called the “dual” which means that the speaker and one other person are doing
something. This ‘we two’ meaning is obtained by adding only ų(g)- on the stem, not -bi. We did
not put the dual in the verb tables since it is not very frequent and many middle age speakers do
not use it anymore. You have to be careful though that it shows up in some units since the
material gathered for this book was done with speakers of different age and gender. The dual is
especially frequent with the ‘let’s X’ constructions -s.
Ex: Ecų́gųbis! ‘Let’s do it!’

Ųyás! ‘Let’s go!’
Wa’ų́ci céyaga. ‘Let’s dance!’

Waná ųyíkta? ‘Shall we go?’
Wanúȟ įšną́ną įȟpé’ųya. ‘Maybe we should leave her alone.’
SOUNDS: UVULARS /ǧ/ AND /ȟ/
In Unit 1 we saw that some of the sounds found in Nakoda do not exist in English. Two of them
may present some difficulty for the beginners: /ǧ/ and /ȟ/. These sounds are uvular consonants
 21
produced by a friction of the back of the tongue with the uvula, a small piece of flesh located at
the back of the mouth and which is shaped like a water drop. The scratchy sound created by the
friction of the tongue and the uvula can be either voiced /ǧ/ (vibrations of the vocal cords) or
unvoiced /ȟ/ (no vibrations of the vocal cords). We have already encountered words which
contain these two sounds:
maǧážu ‘it rains’ paǧú da ‘duck’

ȟuȟnáȟyabi ‘coffee’ waȟpé ‘tea’
Be aware that the sound /ȟ/ is often spelled with an X by some speakers of Nakoda, not to
mention that many semi-fluent speakers pronounce them with the closest English equivalents [g]
and [h].
 22
EXERCISES
1) Translate the following sentences into Nakoda and read them out loud:
a) That man over there. __________________________________________________________
b) This man is eating. ____________________________________________________________
c) Those black cats are running.____________________________________________________
d) These male buffalos are standing.________________________________________________
e) These women over there want coffee. _____________________________________________
f) That girl is standing over there.___________________________________________________
g) I want tea.___________________________________________________________________
h) The dogs want meat.___________________________________________________________
i) These boys over there are running. ________________________________________________
j) The man is walking here.________________________________________________________
2) Translate the following sentences into English:
a) Hą́, Peter aké wącímnagįkta._____________________________________________________
b) Ą́ba né maǧážu.______________________________________________________________
c) Gugúša gá wóda.______________________________________________________________
d) Iná, ą́ba né maštá._____________________________________________________________
e) Hiyá, ȟuȟnáȟyabi ųcígabi.______________________________________________________
f) Hiyá, aǧúyabi cįgábi.___________________________________________________________
g) Tanó yaciǵ abi he?_____________________________________________________________
h) Šų́gatągabi ganá maníbi.________________________________________________________
i) Nén na’ų́žįbi._________________________________________________________________
 23
3) Which words (3) do not belong in this set?
maštá wáhįhą osní waȟpé aktága
maǧážu búza tadéyąba nážį šų́ga
Explain why using the correct terms seen in Unit 1 (parts of speech):
4) Conjugate the following verbs for all 6 persons:
wóda maní aktága
1sg ______________ _______________ _______________
2sg ______________ _______________ _______________
3sg ______________ _______________ _______________
1pl ______________ _______________ _______________
2pl ______________ _______________ _______________
3pl ______________ _______________ _______________
5) Translate into English
šų́ga žé _____________ búzá žé _____________ wíyą né ______________
hoǧą́ gá _____________ tatą́ga né ____________ gugúša gá _____________
 24
6) Translate this short story into Nakoda.
Hello my son!
Do you want coffee?
No, I want meat now.
Hello my daughter do you want meat?
No, I want coffee (for) now.
Mother! I thank you! I’ll see you again.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
 25
UNIT 3
Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Common objects
 Questions words and quantifiers
 More basic verbs
GRAMMAR
 Asking question with what, how and where
 Orders and commands
 Structure of Y-stem verbs
 Future and negation markers
DIALOGUES
Dóken ya’ų́ (he)? How are you?

Dąyą́ wa’ų́. I am fine.
Dóken eníjiyabi (he)? What is your name?

__________ emágiyabi My name is __________.
Nitákona dágu yuhá? What does your friend have?

Dágunišį! Nothing!’
Huȟnáȟyabi yaciǵ a? Do you want coffee?

Hą́, edáhą wacíga. Yes, I want some.
Iná waȟpé edáhą mak’ú. Mother, give me some tea.

Miciḱ ši tín’ú nakó nén iyódąga. My son, come inside and sit down here.
Dóki yábi (he)? Where are they going?

Gakí iyódągabi. They are sitting over there.
Dóken ų́bi (he)? How are they?
Dąyą́ šką́bi! They are feeling well!
 26
VOCABULARY
Common objects
įcápe ‘fork’ cąní ‘tobacco’
mína ‘knife’ cąníska ‘cigarette’
į’ij́ una ‘cup’ cąnúba ‘pipe’
iyógapte ‘plate’ wacą́ǧa ‘sweetgrass’
kiškána ‘spoon’ gamúbi ‘drum’
Interrogative pronouns and quantifiers

dágu ‘what’ edáhą ‘some’
dágunišį ‘none, nothing’ hiyá ‘no’
dóken ‘how’ nakó, kó ‘and, also’
dóki ‘where’ tín ‘inside’
Verbs
egíya, ejíya ‘s/he calls him/her’ (Class 1)
eyágu ‘s/he takes it’ (Class 2)
iyódąga ‘s/he sits down’ (Class 2)
šką́ ‘s/he moves, feels thus, tries’ (Class 1)
tí ‘s/he lives there’ (Class 1)
yá ‘s/he goes’ (Class 2)
yatką́ ‘s/he drinks it’ (Class 2)
yúda ‘s/he eats it’ (Class 2)
yuhá ‘s/he have it’ (Class 2)
ú ‘s/he comes (here)’ (Class 1)
ų́ i) ‘s/he is, stays (Class 1)’; ii) ‘s/he wears it
(Class 3)
INTERROGATIONS
In Nakoda interrogative sentences are formed by using a question word, or interrogative

pronoun, like dágu ‘what’, dóken ‘how’ or dóki ‘where.’ Female speakers will use only the
question word only while male speakers add the enclitic he after the verb, although some female
speakers alos use he. This is why it is placed between brackets. (More interrogatives words will
be studied in Unit 8.)
DÁGU ‘what’
Dágu yaciǵ a (he)? ‘What do you want?’
Nitákona dágu yuhá? ‘What does your friend have?’
Dágu nuhá? ‘What do you have?’
 27
DÓKEN ‘how’
Dóken ya’ų́ (he)? ‘How are you?’
Dóken ya’ų́bi (he)? ‘How are you all?’
Dóken yašką́ (he)? ‘How are you getting along/feeling?’
DÓKI ‘where’
Dóki ná (he)? ‘Where are you going?’
Micų́kši dóki inána (he)? ‘My daughter where are you going?’
With the verb cįgá ‘s/he wants it’ the noun expressing the thing wanted is placed before
the verb. If there is a quantifier like edáhą ‘some’ it is placed after the noun. The verb always
occurs last in simple sentences.
Ex: Ȟuȟnáȟyabi yaciǵ a (he)? ‘Do you want coffee?’

Tanó edáhą yacíga (he)? ‘Do you want some meat?’
Hą́, edáhą wacíga. ‘Yes, I want some.’
The male interrogative enclitic he can also be place after an adverb like waná ‘now,
already’ to make a complete sentence as in Waná he? ‘Are you ready?’ When no question word
is used it can be tricky to distinguish, in writing at least, between a female speaker’s declarative
and interrogative sentences. The distinction is made through intonation: declarative (neutral
intonation) vs interrogative (rising intonation) much like the English This is a type of monkey?
Male speaker Female speaker Meaning
Declarative Šų́ga né nitáwa. Šų́ga né nitáwa. ‘This is your dog.’
Interrogative Šų́ga né nitáwa he. Šų́ga né nitáwa. ‘Is this your dog?’
ORDERS AND COMMANDS
As you can see from the following sentences, orders and commands are expressed using the
simple 3rd person singular form of the verb. There are no 2nd person marker for orders and
commands. Even if, technically, the citation form is inflected for 3rd person the context and the
voice intonation of the speaker make it clear that s/he is ordering someone to do something.
Ex: Tín’ú! ‘(you) Come in!’

Iyódąga! ‘(you) Sit down!’
Yúda! ‘(you) Eat it!’
Yatką́! ‘(you) Drink it!’
If some sort of precision is needed (e.g. as to where to sit, where to go etc.), a spatial
 28
demonstrative (see Unit 1) is placed before the verb.
Ex: Nén iyódąga! ‘(you) Sit down here!’

Gakí iyódąga! ‘(you) Sit down way over there!’
For commands, male speakers use the enclitics wo ‘you’ and bo ‘you all’ while female
speakers use m or no marker at all. This topic will be discussed in Unit 7.
CLASS 2: Y-STEM VERBS
In Unit 2 we saw that Nakoda has a class of verbs called “regular stem” verbs (e.g. wóda ‘s/he
eats’), or Class 1 verbs. The person markers for the regular stems are -wa- ‘1sg.’, -ya- ‘2sg.’ and
-Ø- ‘3sg.’ There is another class of verbs called the “Y-stem” verbs, or Class 2. These verbs can
be identified by looking at the 3rd person or ‘1pl.’ forms of the verb because both show a y sound
in the stem. This is how one recognizes a Y-stem (Class 2) verb. When you want to form the I or
you forms you have to delete the /y/ of the Y-stem and add the appropriate set of person markers.
Person Markers (Y-stem, Class 2)

-mn- ‘I’ -ų(g)-…-bi ‘we’
-n- ‘you’ -n-…-bi ‘you all’
Let us examine some Y-stem verbs. In the following sets the y that serves to recognize
the Y-stem verbs is underlined. The marker for 1st person plural is ų(g)- plus the plural marker
-bi and that for the 2nd person plural is n-…-bi.
yúda ‘s/he eats it’ (Y-stem, Class 2)

Singular Plural
mnúda ‘I eat it’ ųyúdabi ‘we eat it’
núda ‘you eat it’ núdabi ‘you all eat it’
yúda ‘eat it, s/he eats it’ yúdabi ‘they eat it’
yuhá ‘s/he has it’ (Y-stem, Class 2)

Singular Plural
mnuhá ‘I have it’ ųyúhabi ‘we have it’
nuhá ‘you have it’ nuhábi ‘you all have it’
yuhá ‘s/he has it’ yuhábi ‘they have it’
 29
yá ‘s/he goes’ (Y-stem, Class 2)

Singular Plural
mná ‘I go’ ųyábi ‘we go’
ná ‘you go’ nábi ‘you all go’
yá ‘s/he goes’ yábi ‘they go’
yatką́ ‘s/he drinks it’ (Y-stem, Class 2)

Singular Plural
mnatką́ ‘I drink it’ ųyátkąbi ‘we drink it’
natką́ ‘you drink it’ natką́bi ‘you all drink it’
yatką́ ‘s/he drinks it’ yatką́bi ‘they drink it’
As with regular stem verbs some Y-stem verbs require person infixes (i.e. elements
inserted in the stem) instead of prefixes (i.e. elements placed before the stem). This is the case
with the verbs eyágu and iyódąga. However, infixes are only used with the I and you forms as
shown in the next tables.
eyágu ‘s/he takes it’ (Y-stem, Class 2)

Singular Plural
emnágu ‘I take it’ ųgéyagubi ‘we take it’
enágu ‘you take it’ enágubi ‘you all take it’
eyágu ‘s/he takes it’ eyágubi ‘they take it’
iyódąga ‘s/he sits down’ (Y-stem, Class 2)

Singular Plural
imnódąga ‘I sit down’ ųgíyodągabi ‘we sit down’
inódąga ‘you sit down’ inódągabi ‘you all sit down’
iyódąga ‘s/he sits down’ iyódągabi ‘they sit down’
Ex: Aǧúyabi nakó wahą́bi ‘We will eat bannock/bread and soup.’
ųyúdabįkta.
Gamúbi nakó cąnúba yuhábi. ‘They have a drum and a pipe.’
Búza né miní yatką́. ‘This cat is drinking water.’
Búza sába gá asą́bi yatką́. ‘That black cat over there is drinking milk.’
Eyágu wo! ‘Take it!’ (male speaker)
Mitúgaši! Nén iyódąga. ‘My grandfather! Sit here.’
Note that as a rule of thumb when a verb has a y in the stem, normally it belongs to Class
2 verbs, and that y gets deleted by the 1st and 2nd person person markers. However, some Class 3
verbs also have a y in the stem, so it is hard to know for sure to which class (2 or 3) a verb with a
y belongs to.
 30
POTENTIAL/FUTURE MARKER -KTA
While in English the future tense is formed with will (as in I will sleep, I will go to town), in
Nakoda the suffix -kta indicates either: (a) that an action will happen in the future; or (b) that a
potential action might happen but did not at this point in time. The following sentences illustrate
how -kta is used:
FUTURE
Ex: Ȟuȟnáȟyabi waciǵ įkta. ‘I will want coffee.’

Cąní edáhą cįgíkta. ‘S/he wants/needs some tobacco.’
Aké wącímnagįkta. ‘I will see you again.’
POTENTIAL
Ex: Dágu ecámųkta. ‘I have to do something.’

Ȟtániȟa wąyágįkta. ‘S/he would have seen him/her yesterday.’
The potential/future -kta also provokes ablauting (i.e. sound change) of a preceding
vowel. More specifically, it changes /a/ into /į/, as in the following examples. Remember that
ablauting changes a vowel if that vowel can be changed. If not, as in the case of maǧážu, no
vowel change happens.
ABLAUTING VERBS
Ex: wóda+kta > wódįkta ‘s/he will eat’

gáǧa+kta > gáǧįkta ‘s/he will make it’
iyódąga+kta > iyódągįkta ‘s/he will sit down’
NON-ABLAUTING VERBS
Ex: maǧážu+kta > maǧážukta ‘it will rain’

maní+kta > maníkta ‘s/he/it will walk’
waką́+kta > waką́kta ‘s/he/it will be mysterious, holy’
SOUNDS: GLOTTAL STOP /’/
The glottal stop [ʔ] (which is spelled ’) is produced by closing the glottis and suddenly releasing
the airstream. In Nakoda it is often used to link two vowels or two words together: one that ends
in a vowel and another one that starts with a vowel. The glottal stop is a kind of natural linker
just like /y/ and this is why some words have two spellings: tadéyąba or tadé’ąba ‘it is a windy
day’, miyáde or mi’áde ‘my father.’ Since the inflection for the 1st person plural is a vowel ų (+ -
bi) it is often followed or preceded by a glottal stop to make the liaison with what precedes.
Pronounce the following words out loud:
ya’ų́ na’ųžibi wó’ųdabi į’ij́ una tín’u
 31
EXERCISES
1) Translate the following sentences from Nakoda to English.
a) Wįcíjana žé asą́bi yuhá.________________________________________________________
b) Šų́ga sába wąží mnuhá.________________________________________________________
c) Wįcábi žená waȟpé yuhábi._____________________________________________________
d) Búza skána wąží ųyúhabi.______________________________________________________
e) Kiškána né eyágubįkta.________________________________________________________
f) Dokí ná he?_________________________________________________________________
2) Pair with someone and transform these verbs into their potential/future version. One student
does the first column and the other does the second one. You can also ask your partner to change
the person (e.g. Q. We will sit down? A. ųgíyodągabįkta).
maǧážu __________________ awáktaga ___________________
wą́hįhą ___________________ maštá ___________________
įštíma ___________________ inódąga ___________________
wówada ___________________ ųgéyagubi ___________________
nábi ___________________ ųyátkąbi ___________________
mná ___________________ yacígabi ___________________
3) Translate into Nakoda the following sentences.
a) How are you?________________________________________________________________
b) How are they getting along?_____________________________________________________
c) Do you want coffee?___________________________________________________________
d) Do you all want some meat? ____________________________________________________
e) Does s/he want some tea? ______________________________________________________
 32
f) What is your name?____________________________________________________________
g) Where were they walking?____________________________________________________
h) Where were you standing?____________________________________________________
i) Do they want some?__________________________________________________________
4) Match the correct English translations with the Nakoda commands.
a) Iyódąga! ___ ‘Drink tea!’

b) Nén nážį! ___ ‘Walk over there!’
c) Gakí maní! ___ ‘Stand here!’
d) Tín’ú! ___ ‘Move over there!’
e) Tín’ú hiḱ na iyódąga! ___ ‘Come in and sit down!’
f) Gakí šką́! ___ ‘Drink coffee!’
h) Waȟpé yatką́! ___ ‘Sit down!’
i) Ȟuȟnáȟyabi yatką́! ___ ‘Come in!’
 33
UNIT 4
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Days of the months and the week
 Cardinal and ordinal numbers
GRAMMAR
 Telling time, dates, a person’s age, distance and height
 Situating events in time
DIALOGUES
Ą́ba né ą́ba įjíšakpe wįcógądu sųgágu hąwí Is today the 6th of November?
(he)?
Hiyá micų́kši, ą́ba né įjíšagowį wįcógądu No my daughter, today is the 7th of November!
sųgágu hąwí no!
Regína mąkíyutabi wikcémna šákpe (he)? Is Regina 60 miles distance?

Hiyá, Regína mąkíyutabi wikcémna šaknóǧą No, Regina is 80 miles away!
no!
Dóken wíyą gá hąská (he)? How tall is that woman over there?
Wíyą gá tacą́kiyutabi šagówį hą́ska no! That woman over there is 7 feet tall!
Micų́kši dóna ehą́’i (he)? My daughter what time is it?

Dóba ehą́’i iná! It is 4 o’clock mother!
Iná! Waná ą́ba įjínųba ehą́’i (he)? Mother! Is it Thursday today?

Hiyá, ą́ba né ą́ba įjízaptą. No, today is Friday.
Waníyedu dóna ehą́yakibi (he)? How old are you all?

Waníyedu wikcémna ehą́’ųkibi. We are 10 years-old.
 34
VOCABULARY
Nouns and adverbs Verbs (regular stem)

aké ‘again’ ehą́ki ‘s/he reaches an age, is of
dóna ‘how many’ a certain age’ (Class 1)
hągé ‘half’ ehą́’i ‘s/he reaches or arrive at a
hąwí ‘moon’ point (place or time)’ (Class 1)
mąkíyutabi ‘mile’ hą́ska ‘s/he is tall, of a certain
sám ‘beyond, over’ height’2 (Class 4)
tacą́kiyutabi ‘foot’
(measurement)
waná ‘now’
waníyedu ‘winter, year’
wí ‘sun, month’
DAYS OF THE WEEK AND MONTHS
The days of the week are phrases made with the word ą̨́ba ‘day’ followed by a qualifying word,
often an ordinal number like įnúba ‘second’ or an adjectival (stative) verb.
Days of the week Translation

Monday ą́bawaką gicúni when the holy day is finished
Tuesday ą́ba įnúba second day
Wednesday ą́ba įyámni third day
Thursday ą́ba įdóba fourth day
Friday ą́ba įzáptą fifth day
tanó yúdabišį they don’t eat meat day
tacúba á ba animal marrow day3
Saturday ą́ba yužáža laundry day
wowić ak’u ą́ba ration day
Sunday ą́bawaką holy day
The structure for the names of the months usually requires the noun wí ‘sun, month’ with
a qualifier in front.
2
For the person markers of the NV-conjugation see Unit 5.
3
There are two series of terms for ‘Friday’ and ‘Saturday.’ Two of them refer to the fact that long ago the Indian
agent would do some butchering on Friday (tacúba ą́ ba), and distribute the meat (ration) on Saturday (wowį́ cak’u
ą̨́ba). The other terms for ‘Friday’ (tanó yúdabišį) and ‘Saturday’ (ą̨́ba yužážabi) were probably used by
Christianized Nakota people, or made-up by priests who knew Nakota.
 35
Months Translation
January witéȟi wí hard time month
February ąmhą́ska wí long day month
March wįcíšta yazą́ wí sore eyes month
April tabéȟ’a tawí wí frog’s wife month
May įdú wiǧá hąwí moon sits on its back
June waȟpé wóšma wí thick leaves month
July wašáša wí berries ripening month
August cąpásaba wí chokecherry month
September waȟpé ǧí wí yellow leaves month
October tašnáheja agída wí stripped gopher looks back month
November wįcógądu sųgágu wí midwinter little brother’s month
December wįcógądu wí midwinter month
CARDINAL NUMBERS
Nakoda’s lower numbers from 1 to 10 are displayed in the following table. Nakoda teens (11-19)
are obtained by prefixing the adverb agé ‘on top’ before the number. Here, it is important to
remember that wikcémna ‘ten’ (as in ten on top of two = 12) is understood but not pronounced,
thus ‘twelve’ means literally ‘on top two’ in Nakoda.
Lower Numbers Teens (11-19)

wąží ‘one’ agé wąží ‘eleven’
nųbá, nų́m ‘two’ agé nųbá, agé nų́m ‘twelve’
yámni ‘three’ agé yámni ‘thirteen’
dóba, dóm ‘four’ agé dóba ‘fourteen’
záptą ‘five’ agé záptą ‘fifteen’
šákpe ‘six’ agé šákpe ‘sixteen’
šagówį ‘seven’ agé šagówį ‘seventeen’
šaknóǧą ‘eight’ agé šaknóǧą ‘eighteen’
napjúwąga ‘nine’ agé napjúwąga ‘nineteen’
wikcémna ‘ten’
The series for 20, 30, 40, etc. are obtained by multiplying the tenths by 2 (20), by 3 (30),
by 4 (40), etc., then, by adding the cardinal number preceded by the postposition sám ‘over
(more)’ as in:
10 X 2 OVER 4 = 24 10 X 8 OVER 8 = 88
10 X 7 OVER 9 = 79 10 X 3 OVER 5 = 35
 36
Twenties
wikcémna nų́m ‘twenty’ wikcémna nų́m sám záptą ‘twenty-five’
wikcémna nų́m sám wązí ‘twenty-one’ wikcémna nų́m sám šákpe ‘twenty-six’
wikcémna nų́m sám nų́ba ‘twenty-two’ wikcémna nų́m sám šagówį ‘twenty-seven’
wikcémna nų́m sám yámni ‘twenty-three’ wikcémna nų́m sám šaknóǧą ‘twenty-eight’
wikcémna nų́m sám dóba ‘twenty-four’ wikcémna nų́m sám napjúwąga ‘twenty-nine’
The rest of the numbers from 30 to 100 (i.e. the decades), are formed exactly as shown
above, except that sám is not used.
Decades
wikcémna yámni ‘thirty’ wikcémna šagówį ‘seventy’
wikcémna dóba ‘fourty’ wikcémna šaknóǧą ‘eighty’
wikcémna záptą ‘fifty’ wikcémna napjúwąga ‘ninety’
wikcémna šákpe ‘sixty’ obáwįǧe ‘hundred’
To count things put the numeral after the noun. If a demonstrative like né is used, it is
placed between the noun and the number word. Most of the time the plural number (e.g. four
months) is not indicated on the Nakoda nouns for things/concepts, as in:
Ex: waníyedu dóba ‘four winters’

šų́ga wąží ‘one dog’
búza yamní ‘three cats’
ORDINAL NUMBERS
The ordinal numbers are used to express the order within which objects occur. To form the
Nakoda ordinal numbers add the prefix įji- ‘ordinal’ to the cardinal number. This prefix is often
reduced to į- by some speakers.
įjídoba ‘fourth’ įjí’age-záptą ‘fifteenth’

įjíšaknoğą ‘eighth’ įjíwikcemna šákpe ‘sixtieth’
įjíšakpe ‘sixth’ įjínapjúwąga ‘ninth’
When a cardinal number starts with a vowel, a glottal stop /’/ is inserted after -į- as in
įjí’age-zaptą‘fiftteenth.’ Note that ‘first’ is not expressed by prefixing įji- on the word for ‘one’,
but by using a separate word togáhe as in:
Ex: Togáhe, tanó ųyúdabi. ‘First of all, we ate meat.’
 37
AGE AND TIME
In English we count a person’s age with the number of years s/he has lived so far, while in
Nakoda it is done with the number of winters (waníyedu). The method of counting is the same,
except that English and Nakoda use different words to indicate the unit of time measurement.
Note that there is no plural marking on the word waníyedu ‘winter.’ To ask a person’s age use
the verb ehą̨́ki ‘s/he reaches an age, is of a certain age’ as in:
Ex: Waníyedu dóna ehą́yaki he? ‘How old are you?’ (Literally: How many winters
have you reached?)
Waníyedu dóna ehą́ki he? ‘How old is s/he?’ (Lit. How many winters has s/he
reached?)
This verb is the possessive version of ehą’i (see Unit 17 under -gi- ‘dative’). It is a
regular stem verb (Class 1) and rquires infixes.
ehą́ki ‘s/he reaches an age, is of a certain age’

(regular stem, Class 1)
Singular Plural
ehą́waki ‘I reach a certain age’ ehą́’ųkibi ‘we reach a certain age’
ehą́yaki ‘you reach a certain age’ ehą́yakibi ‘you all reach a certain age’
ehą́ki ‘s/he reaches a certain age’ ehą́kibi ‘they reach a certain age’
Ex: Waníyedu wikcémna nų́ba sám ‘S/he will be twenty-one years old.’ (Lit.
wązí ehą́kįkta. S/he will reach twenty-one winters.)
Waníyedu wikcémna dóba ehą́waki. ‘I am forty years old.’ (Lit. I reach(ed) forty
winters.)
The verb ehą̨́’i ‘s/he/it reaches or arrive at a point (place or time)’ is also a regular stem
verb (Unit 2) and takes infixed person markers, as indicated in the following table.
ehą́’i ‘s/he reaches or arrive at a point (place or time)’

Singular Plural
ehą́wa’i ‘I reach it’ ehą́’ųgibi ‘we reach it’
ehą́ya’i ‘you reach it’ ehą́ya’ibi ‘you all reach it’
ehą́’i ‘s/he reaches it’ ehą́’ibi ‘they reach it’
This verb is also used to tell time and the days of the week. The unit of counting is not
winters but the position of the hour and minute hands on a clock.
Ex: Dóna ehą́’i he? ‘What time is it?’
 38
Wąží ehą́’i. ‘It is one o’clock.’
When it is 30 minutes past the hour the noun hągé ‘half’ is used as in the following
formula:
[NUMBER OF HOURS] + sám + hągé + ehą́’i

over half it.reaches
Ex: Dóba sám hągé ehą́’i. ‘It’s four thirty (lit. four and a half) (4:30).’
Agé wąží sám hągé ehą́’i. ‘It is eleven thirty (lit. eleven and a half) (11:30).’
Wąží ehą́’i. ‘It is one o’clock (1:00).’
The verb ehą̨́’i is also used to tell the day of the week. However, to tell a full date (day +
month) Nakoda does not employ the verb ehą̨́’i but simply puts side by side the day and the
month. To indicate a date that has already passed you add the enclitic -’ehą ‘then in the past’
after the last word of the sentence.
Ex: Waná ą́ba įdóba ehą́’i. ‘It is now Thursday.’

Ą́bawaką ehą́’i. ‘It is Sunday.’
Ą́ba įjíšakpe wįcógądu sųgágu hąwí. ‘It is the 6th of November.’
Ą́ba įjíšakpe wįcógądu sųgágu hąwí’ehą. ‘It was on the 6th of November.’
DISTANCE AND HEIGHT
To tell a distance, the noun mąkíyutabi ‘mile’ is used and integrated in the following sentence
pattern:
DESTINATION + MILE(S) + NUMBER OF MILES
Again as with the expression of dates there is no verb to be employed in telling distances
in Nakoda. Instead one puts side by side the words for destination, mile and number of miles, a
shown above.
Ex: Regína mąkíyutabi wikcémna šaknóǧą. ‘Regina is 80 miles distance.’

Lumsdén mąkíyutabi wikcémna. ‘Lumsden is 21 miles distance.’
núm sám wąží.
To talk about the height or the weight of person one uses the noun tacą̨́kiyutabi ‘foot’
which is placed before the numeral. The verb hąská ‘s/he is tall’ (NV-conjugation, Class 4;
mahą̨́ska ‘I am tall’, nihą̨́ska ‘you are tall’) ends the sentence. We will study person marking of
Class 4 in Unit 6.
 39
Ex: Hokšína né tacą́kiyutabi záptą hąská. ‘This boy is 5 feet tall.’
Tacą́kiyutabi šákpe mahą́ska. ‘I am 6 feet tall.’
Tacą́kiyutabi šákpe nihą́ska. ‘You are 6 feet tall.’
An alternative way of asking the height of somebody is by using the verb ehą̨́’i ‘s/he
reaches or arrives at a point (place or time)’:
Ex: Dóna hą́ska ehą́ya’i? ‘How tall are you?’

Tacą́kiyutabi šákpe ehąwá’i. ‘I am 6 feet tall.’
Both the nouns mąkíyutabi ‘mile’ and tacą̨́kiyutabi ‘foot’ contain an element -kiyutabi
‘unit of measurement’ which is added on mą(ka)- ‘earth’ (earth + measurement = mile) and tacą̨́-
‘body’ (body + measurement = foot).
 40
EXERCISES
1) Translate the following numbers in Nakoda:
65______________________________________________________
12______________________________________________________
34______________________________________________________
99______________________________________________________
56______________________________________________________
28______________________________________________________
81______________________________________________________
40______________________________________________________
9_______________________________________________________
100_____________________________________________________
69______________________________________________________
2) Match the Nakoda number words with the numbers:
____ agé napjų́wąga 54
____ wikcémna napjúwąga 88
____ wikcémna záptą sám dóba 100
____ wikcémna šagówį sám yámni 42
____ wikcémna šaknóǧą sám šaknóǧą 90
____ obáwįǧe 19
____ wikcémna šaknóǧą sám dóba 84
____ wikcémna dóba sám nų́ba 73
 41
3) Translate the following sentences in Nakoda:
a) It is the 3rd of October._________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
b) It is Tuesday. ________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
c) It is the 30th of November.______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
d) It is the 3rd of August.__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
e) It was on the 1st of March.______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
f) It was on April 22nd.___________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
g) It will be on the 24th of May.____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
h) It is Saturday the 23rd of July.___________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
i) Saskatoon is 66 miles away.____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
j) Regina is 13 miles away._______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
k) This man is 6 feet tall._________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
 42
4) Say out loud your age, and the age of your mother, father (brother(s) and sister(s) if you have
any).
 43
UNIT 5
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 More kinship nouns
 Adverbs expressing the time of the day
 More regular stem verbs
GRAMMAR
 Reference to time: past, present, future/potential
 Nasal conjugation verbs
 Plurality of demonstratives, nouns and verbs
DIALOGUES
Nikúši waná įštíma (he)? Is your grandmother sleeping now?

Hą́, óda įštíma. Yes, she is sleeping a lot.
Mitímno, šų́gatągabi dóna nuhá (he)? My (female) older brother, how many horses
do you have?
Mitą́kši, šų́gatągabi agé dóba mnuhá. My (male) younger sister, I have fourteen
horses.
Mitą́gena, tatą́gabi ganá nážįbi (he)? My (male) elder sister, are these male buffaloes
over there standing?
Hiyá, tatą́gabi ganá maníbi. No, these male buffalos way over there are
walking.
Iyódąga hiḱ na wóda! Sit down and eat!

Hą́, nén imnódągįkta. Yes, I will sit here.
Ȟtayédu né dágu dókanųbi (he)? What are you all doing this evening?
Wo’ų́dabi žehą́ štén, tągán ųmánibįkta. After we have eaten, we will walk outside.
Hąyákeji dágu yúdabįkta (he)? What will they eat tomorrow?

Pasú agástaga né yúdabįkta. They will eat the turkey.
Ą́bawaką žehą́ duwé wąnága (he)? Who did you see on Sunday?
Niciń a wąmnága. I saw your older brother.
 44
VOCABULARY
Nouns Time of the day (adverbs)

cįjá ‘child’ ȟtániȟą ‘yesterday’
dagúye ‘relative’ ą́ba né ‘today’
koná ‘friend’ ȟtayédu ‘evening’
aǧúyabi-skuya ‘cake’ hąhébi ‘night’
pasú agástaga ‘turkey’ hąyákeji ‘tomorrow’
Miscellaneous Verbs (N-conjugation, Class 3)

cén ‘then, so, thus’ agą́n-yągá ‘s/he rides a horse’4
dąyá ‘well’ dóka’ų ‘s/he does what?
iš́ ‘her, him, they, it too, also’ įštíma ‘s/he sleeps’
óda ‘a lot’ įwų́ǧa ‘s/he asks someone’
štén ‘if, when’ yągá ‘s/he sits on it’
žéca ‘s/he is of that kind, tribe’
Here are four more regular stem verbs that will be used in the reading exercise at the end
of this unit. The future/potential -kta as well as the negative -šį markers are also included here
but will be explained in Unit 6. Note that three of them have the 1st and 2nd person markers
infixed.
timáni ‘s/he visits people’ awášpąya ‘s/he cooks a feast’ (regular

(regular stem, Class 1) stem, Class 1)
timáwani ‘I visit’ awášpąwaya ‘I cook a feast’
timáyani ‘you visit’ awášpąyaya ‘you cook a feast’
timá’ųnibi ‘we visit’ awášpą’ųyabi ‘we cook a feast’
timánikta ‘s/he will visit’ awášpąyįkta ‘s/he will cook a feast’
timánibįktešį ‘they will not visit’ awášpąyabįktešį ‘they will not cook a feast’
gáǧa ‘s/he makes it’ (regular stem, opétų ‘s/he buys it’ (regular stem, Class 1)
Class 1)
wagáǧa ‘I make it’ opéwatų ‘I buy it’
yagáǧa ‘you make it’ opéyatų ‘you buy it’
ųgáǧabi ‘we make it’ opé’ųtųbi ‘we buy it’
gaǧíkta ‘s/he will make it’ opétųkta ‘s/he will buy it’
gáǧabįktešį ‘they will not make it’ opétųbįktešį ‘they will not buy it’
4
The full form of this verb is šų̨́gatąga agą̨́n-yągá ‘s/he sits on a horse’ but the the noun šų̨́gatąga is omitted in front
since a horse is one of the only animals one can sit on.
 45
KINSHIP NOUNS
Here is a list of all the main kinship terms for a family (mother, father, and children) including
also the grandparents. For mother and father there are distinct terms used in addressing someone
(calling out that person) and referencing someone (talking about that person in her/his absence).
Finally, some kinship terms for siblings have different terms according to the gender
(male/female) of the possessor. Thus, these terms have to be read as: my (I am a man) older
sister; your (you are a woman) older brother.
KINSHIP NOUNS
relation MY YOUR HIS/HER
grandfather mitúgaši nitúgaši tugą́šicu tugą́šitku
grandmother mikúši nikúši kušítku
father adé (address) niyáde atkúgu
miyáde ~ mi’áde ~ ni’áde
(reference)
mother iná (address) nihų́ hųgú
mihų́ (reference)
older brother micína niciń a cįcų́na
POSSESSOR
older sister mitą́gena nitą́gena tąkúna

MALE
younger brother misų́ga nisų́ga sųgágu

younger sister mitą́kši nitą́kši tąkšícu
older brother mitímno nitímno timnógo
POSSESSOR
FEMALE
older sister micų́na nicų́na cųgų́na

younger sister mitą́ga nitą́ga tągágu
son micíkši niciḱ ši cįhit́ ku
daughter micú kši nicú kši cųwit́ ku
The nouns in the preceding table show that to form the ‘my’, ‘your’ and ‘his or her’
meanings you have to put a prefix mi- ‘my’, ni- ‘your’ or a suffix for the 3rd person, either -go,
-gu or -tku ‘his, her.’ We will survey the formation of other kinship terms as well as other ways
to indicate possession in Unit 9.
REFERENCE TO TIME: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE/POTENTIAL
In English tenses are indicated in the verbal complex. Present tense has no special marker (walk,
eat) except for the 3rd person singular (he walks). Past tense is indicated by an inflection (I walk
> I walked), or a change in the shape of the stem (I bring > I brought). Future tense is marked by
the modal verb will (I will eat). In Nakoda tenses are distinguished only in context, and are not
obligatory. Thus, if I say ą̨́ba wašté ‘it is a nice day’ my addressee will induce that I am referring
to today’s weather and not yesterday or tomorrow’s weather. A Nakoda verb with no elements
 46
added situates an event either in the past or present tense. Nevertheless, if you want to make it
clear that something happened in the past, you can add the temporal adverb žehą̨́, -c’ehą, -’ehą̨́
‘just then, at a certain point in the past’, but again it is not obligatory.
PRESENT
Ex: awášpąya ‘s/he eats cooks a feast‘

gáǧa ‘s/he makes it’
PAST
Ex: awášpąya žehą́ ‘then s/he cooked a feast’

gáǧa žehą́ ‘then s/he made it’
Žéci wa’í žehą́. ‘I arrived there.’
Ą́bawaką žehą́ owácegiya ‘I went to church on Sunday.’
žéci wa’í.
Žehą̨́ has two suffixed variants: 1) -c’ehą attaches on some adverbs like dóhąc’ehą ‘when
in the past’; 2) -‘ehą attaches on verbs, adverbs and numbers. These two suffixes seem to be in
free variation.
Ex: Dóhąc’ehą inódąga? ‘When did you sit down?

Tanó dóhąc’ehą núda? ‘When did you eat meat?’
Waȟpé dóhąc’ehą yagáǧa? ‘When did you make tea?’
hąhebic’ehą ‘last night’
Asą́bi eháši’ehą. ‘There was too much milk.’

Wanágaš’ehą omáka agé ‘Long ago, in the year 1968.’
napjúwąga wikcémna šakpé sám
šaknóǧa’ehą.
CLASS 3: NASAL CONJUGATION VERBS (OR N-CONJUGATION)
We already know about the regular stem verbs (Class 1) as well as the Y-stem verbs (Class 2).
Class 3 verbs are “Nasal conjugation” (or N-conjugation). This class of verbs has few members
although some very common verbs are of Class 3. This set of verbs is called the nasal
conjugation because the person markers are stand-alone nasal consonants: -m- ‘1sg.’ and -n-
‘2sg.’ and Ø- ‘3sg.’ (A nasal consonant like m and n is produced when the airstream goes
through the nasal cavity, as in the word NNNNOSE.) These person markers delete any following
/w/ or /y/ of the stem. Here are the prefixed person markings for Nasal conjugation verbs:
 47
Person Markers (N-conjugation, Class 3)

Singular Plural
-m- ‘I’ -ųg(i)-…-bi ‘we’
-n- ‘you’ -n-…-bi ‘you all’
In the following tables you will find some very common N-conjugation verbs inflected
for the six persons (singular and plural). We start with the verbs that require the prefixed person
markers.
yągá ~ yįgá ‘s/he sits on it’ (N-Conjugation, Class 3)

Singular Plural
mągá ‘I am sitting on it’ ųyą́gabi ‘we are sitting on it’
nągá ‘you are sitting on it’ nągábi ‘you all are sitting on it’
yągá ‘s/he is sitting on it’ yągábi ‘they are sitting on it’
įštíma ‘s/he sleeps’ (N-Conjugation, Class 3)

Singular Plural
mįštíma ‘I am sleeping’ ųgįštímabi ‘we are sleeping’
nįštíma ‘you are sleeping’ nįštímabi ‘you all are sleeping’
įštíma ‘s/he is sleeping’ įštímabi ‘they are sleeping’
ų́ ‘s/he wears it; s/he uses it’ (N-Conjugation, Class 3)

Singular Plural
mų́ ‘I wear it’ ųgų́bi ‘we wear it’
nų́ ‘you wear it’ nų́bi ‘you all wear it’
ų́ ‘s/he wear it’ ų́bi ‘they wear it’
As with other verb classes the person markings can be infixed in the stem. Note that in
the case of įwų̨́ǧa ‘s/he asks someone’ the semi-vowel w is deleted like in the Y-stem (Class 2)
verbs:
įwų́ǧa ‘s/he asks someone’ (N-Conjugation, Class 3)

Singular Plural
įmų́ǧa ‘I ask him’ įgíwųǧabi ‘we ask him/her’
įnų́ǧa ‘you asked him’ įnų́ǧabi ‘you all ask him/her’
įwų́ǧa ‘s/he asks him/her’ įwų́ǧabi ‘they ask him/her’
 48
dóka’ų ‘s/he does what’ (N-Conjugation, Class 3)

Singular Plural
dókamų ‘I do what?’ dóka’ųgųbi ‘we do what?’
dókanų ‘you do what?’ dókanųbi you all do what?’
dóka’ų ~ dókų ‘s/he does dóka’ųbi ~ dókųbi ‘they do
what?’ what?’
Ex: Šų́gatąga agą́n-yągá no! ‘Ride the horse!’

Búza gá įštíma. ‘That cat over there is sleeping.’
Aké nįštíma. ‘You are sleeping again.’
Miciń a įmų́ǧįkta. ‘I will ask my (male) older brother.’
Nitą́ga įnų́ǧįkta. ‘You will ask your (female) younger sister.’
Šų́ga gá dágų dókų he? ‘What is that dog over ther doing?’
Dágu dókanų? Dágunišį! ‘What are you doing? Nothing!’
Note that for the verb dóka’ų ‘s/he does what?’ there is a shortened version dókų used in
fast speech and the last vowel is often inaudible.
PLURAL OF VERB SUBJECTS
As can be seen from the preceding verb tables, whenever the subject of a verb (i.e. the person
doing the action) is plural, the verb takes a suffix -bi. In Nakoda, the subject of a verb is
pluralized on the verb and the noun with -bi and also on the demonstrative with -na.
ANIMATE SUBJECT
Ex: Cįjábi žená įštímabi. ‘Those children are sleeping.’

Wiý ąbi žená nážįbįkta. ‘Those women will be standing.’
The suffix -bi appears on some nouns but not on others. This distribution is conditioned
by whether the noun refers to an animate entity (those that possess life and free will, like humans
and animals) or to an inanimate entity (those that do not possess life, like objects and concepts).
ANIMATE NOUNS
Ex: cįjá ‘child’ > cįjábi ‘children’

búza ‘cat’ > búzabi ‘cats’
šų́ga ‘dog’ > šųgabi ‘dogs’
Cįjábi dóna nuhá (he)? ‘How many children do you have?’

Cįjabi yámni wįcámnuhá. ‘I have three children.’
Búzabi asą́bi yatką́bi. ‘The cats are drinking milk.’
 49
Note however that speakers often drop the -bi on nouns, but rarely on verbs, thus it more
common to hear búza asą̨́bi yatką̨́bi ‘the cats are drinking milk’ than the version shown above.
Note also that nouns built with the diminutive -na ‘small’ or nominalizer -na (both of
these suffixes sound the same), the pluralizer -bi is inserted before -na:
Ex: tatą́ga ‘male buffalo’ > tatą́gabina ‘buffalo herd’

hokšína ‘boy’ > hokšíbina ‘boys’
mitúgašina ‘my grandfather’ > mitúgašibina ‘my grandfathers’
For inanimate nouns indicating the subject of a verb, plural demonstratives such as žená
and nená can be used, or a number, but -bi is never employed. Instead, the process of
reduplication — which means to copy a syllable of the word as in the fictive words tralaSG >
tralalaPL, gitosaSG > gitotosaPL — can indicate plurality, among other things, in Nakoda.
However, in some instances no indication of plurality is used, although the speaker is referring to
a plurality of inanimate objects.
INANIMATE NOUNS
Ex: pąǧí šá ‘red potato’

Pąǧí šašá žená eyágu. ‘Take those red potatoes.’
Pąǧí yuhá. ‘S/he has potatoes.’
Tašpą́ né tą́ga. ‘This apple is big.’

Tašpą́ nená tą́ga. ‘These apples are big.’
Tašpą́ né wacíga. ‘I want this apple.’
Cąníska nų́ba wacíga. ‘I want two cigarettes.’
Lastly, the plural suffix -bi should not be confused with the identical element -bi which is
a homophone (i.e. two words or elements that have the same pronounciation but different
meanings like English sent and cent). The latter -bi appears on nouns that are made from a verb
(see Unit 10). More specifically, -bi changes a verb into a noun that expressed the end product or
result of an activity much like the English -er: to run > runner; to flip > flipper.
VERB NOUN
Ex: aǧúya ‘it is browned’ > aǧúyabi ‘bread’ (lit. that which is browned)
ȟuȟnáȟya ‘to roast it’ > ȟuȟnáȟyabi ‘coffee’ (lit. that which is roasted)
tí ‘to dwell’ > tíbi ‘dwelling’ (lit. that in which one dwells)
wací ‘to dance’ > wacíbi ‘dance’ (lit. that which is danced)
wóda ‘to eat’ > wódabi ‘meal’ (lit. the eating)
That the resulting words are nouns and not verbs, even they look like it, is indicated by
the fact that one can add a singular demonstrative after a derived noun, as in: aǧúyabi né ‘this
coffee’ or tíbi né ‘this dwelling’.
 50
EXERCISES
1) Translate these sentences in Nakoda using the correct time markers.
a) When did you eat? ____________________________________________________________
b) Who wanted coffee?___________________________________________________________
c) When did you walk over there?__________________________________________________
d) My grandfathers sat there.______________________________________________________
e) Yesterday it rained.____________________________________________________________
f) How were th boys doing?_______________________________________________________
g) I slept a lot yesterday._________________________________________________________
h) Tomorrow the women will cook for a feast.________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
i) Yesterday we walked outside.__________________________________________________
2) Conjugate these verbs:
gáǧa įštíma ų́
1sg.
2sg.
3sg. FUT/NEG
1pl.
2pl. FUT/NEG
3pl. NEG
 51
3) Match the correct phrases with their English translations:
cįjábi žená pąǧí nená šų́gabi ganá cąníska žená
those dogs over there those cigarettes these potatoes those children
4) Translate into Nakoda the following kinship terms:
my son _______________ his grandmother _______________
his older brother _______________ your granfather _______________
her older sister _______________ my (M) younger sister _______________
your (M) older sister _______________ my daughter _______________
Mother! _______________ his (M) younger brother _____________
her son _______________ my mother _______________
her (F) older brother _______________ her (F) younger sister _______________
5) Read out loud and translate in English.
Hąhébi štén mikúši nakó mitúgaši timánibįkta.
Žéca cén mihú óda awášpąya.
Nená gáǧįkta: tanó, pąǧí, nakó waȟpé íš.
Mihú aǧúyabi-skuya íš opétų.
Dąyą́ wó’ųdabįkta.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
 52
 53
UNIT 6
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Clothing
 More objects, animals and persons
 Verbs for states and colors
GRAMMAR
 Negative marker -šį
 Two classes of verbs: active and stative
 How to say “to be” in Nakoda
DIALOGUES
Dóken yašką́ (he)? How is it going?

Nína mayázą no! Ȟtániȟa osní žehą́. I am very sick! It was cold yesterday.
Wašiju tíbi tó né duwé opétų (he)? Who bought the blue house?
Wįcá gá wašíju tí žé opétų. This man over there bought that house.
Duwé cąní yuhá (he)? Who has tobacco?

Miyáde cąní yuhá. Cąní waką́ no! My father has tobacco. It is sacred tobacco!
Šiná né sága (he)? Is this blanket dry?

Hiyá, šiná né sagášį. No, this blanket is not dry.
Šų́gatąga né waníyedu dóna ehą́ki (he)? How old is this horse?
Šų́gatąga né nína gána. This horse is very old.
Wįcíjana gá nitą́kši (he)? Is that girl over there your (male) younger
sister?
Hą́, wįcíjana gá mitą́kši. Yes, that girl over there is my younger sister.
Hukwáá! Nitą́kši nína tą́gašį. Wow! She is not very big.
 54
VOCABULARY
Clothing Nouns
cą́hąba ‘shoe’ asą́bi súda ‘cheese’
cuwiḱ naga ‘coat, shirt’ cąníska ‘cigarette’
hą́ba ‘moccasin’ maštij́ a ‘rabbit’
hųská ‘pants’ midáguyabi ‘my relatives’
įpíyaga ‘belt’ šųkcúk’ana ‘coyote’
sąksája ‘dress’ šųkšána ‘fox’
šiná ‘blanket’ wįcášta ‘man, people (collective)’
wapáha ‘hat’ zitkána ‘bird’
Verbs (NV-conjugation, Class 4) Miscellanous

dąyą́ ‘s/he/it is well, good’ híí! ‘Wow!’ (female speakers, exp. of
é ‘s/he/it is’ surprise)
gána ‘s/he/it is old’ hukwáá! ‘Wow!’ (male speakers, exp. of
hą́ska ‘s/he/it is tall, long, of a certain surprize)
height’ jé ‘always, habitually’
įpí ‘s/he/it is full’ iyúhana ‘everything’
júsina ‘s/he/it is small’ okná ‘through, in’
téjana ‘s/he/it is young, new’ waną́gaš ‘long ago’
šįtų́ ‘s/he/it is fat’ no ‘declaration’ (male speaker)
tą́ga ‘s/he/it is big’
waką́ ‘s/he/it is sacred, holy, mysterious’
yazą́ ‘s/he/it is sick’
NEGATION
Negation is expressed by putting the suffix -šį after the verb. As with -kta ‘future/potential’ the
negation marker -šį is an ablauting element which provokes a change in the final vowel of the
stem. In other words, /a/ changes to /e/, /a/ to /į/, and /i/ to /į/ when -šį is added. Ablaut (or vowel
change) can be illustrated as such:
núda + šį > núdešį ‘you did not eat it’

wącímnaga + kta > wącímnagįkta ‘I will see you’
POSITIVE FORM NEGATIVE FORM

wóda ‘s/he is eating’ wódešį ‘s/he is not eating’
yaciǵ a ‘you want it’ yaciǵ ešį ‘you do not want it’
yaškáda ‘you play with it’ yaškádešį ‘you do not play with it’
iyódąga ‘s/he sits down’ iyódągešį ‘s/he does not sit down’
yá ‘s/he goes’ yéšį ‘s/he does not go’
 55
However, for some verbs that end in a nasal vowel there is no change as with šką́ ‘s/he
moves’ > šką́šį ‘s/he does not move.’
There is a strict order for the placement of the plural -bi, future/potential -kta and
negation -šį markers. Note the change from /i/ to /į/ of the -bi suffix.
VERB STEM + -bį- + -kte- + -šį
POSITIVE FORMS FUTURE + NEGATIVE FORMS

yá ‘s/he goes’ yá-kte-šį ‘s/he will not go’
ná-bi ‘you all go’ ná-bį-kte-šį ‘you all will not go’
wóda-bi ‘they are eating’ wóda-bį-kte-šį ‘they will not eat’
TWO CLASSES OF VERBS: ACTIVE AND STATIVE
Verbs are words used to talk about an activity (she walks, she kicked it), a state (she is tall) or a
natural phenomenon (it is raining, it is muddy). If you did not have any knowledge of English
there would be no way to know if the verbs she walks or she kicked it or she is tall are active or
stative, since, after all, their subject is all she. Nakoda works differently than English since the
person markers tells you, to some extend, if the verb describes an action (e.g. to think, live, take
it) or a state (e.g. to be nice, black, sad). Nakoda marks this distinction between active and
stative verbs with different person markers.
In Units 2, 3 and 5 we studied the formation of three types of active verbs: 1) regular
stem (Class 1); 2) Y-stem (Class 2); 3) Nasal conjugation (N-conjugation) (Class 3). In this unit
we study the last set of person markers, that of stative verbs, or Class 4 verbs. Like the N-
conjugation verbs, the subject of a stative verbs is exclusively expressed with a Nasal consonants
(either /m/ or /n/), and a Vowel (either /a/ or /i/), hence the label NV-conjugation. Again, the 3rd
person (he, she, it) is expressed with a zero marker Ø independently of the verbal class.
ACTIVE ACTIVE ACTIVE STATIVE

(regular stem) (Y-stem) (N-conjugation) (NV-conjugation)
CLASS 1 CLASS 2 CLASS 3 CLASS 4
(Unit 2) (Unit 3) (Unit 5) (Unit 6)
-wa- ‘1sg.’ -mn- ‘1sg.’ -m- ‘1sg.’ -ma- ‘1sg.’
-ya- ‘2sg.’ -n- ‘2sg.’ -n- ‘2sg.’ -ni- ‘2sg.’
Ø- ‘3sg.’ Ø- ‘3sg.’ Ø- ‘3sg.’ Ø- ‘3sg.’
wacį́ ga ‘I want it’ mná ‘I go’ mų̨́ ‘I wear it’ mašį́ tų ‘I am fat’
Like any other active verbs, the I and you person markers in stative verbs can be prefixed
or infixed. The placement of these person markers is hard to predict just by looking at the verb
form of the 3rd person singular. However, it is possible to know if a verb belongs to the NV-
conjugation if you ask yourself the following question: Does the verb express an action like eat,
sleep, run (regular, Y-stem and N-conjugation) or a state like to be blue, big, holy (NV-
conjugation)? If the verb expresses a state, then add the following person markers:
 56
Person Markers (NV-conjugation,

Class 4)
-ma- ‘I’ -ų(g)-…-bi ‘we’
-ni- ‘you’ -ni-…-bi ‘you all’
In the following tables you will find some common stative verbs of the NV-conjugation,
inflected for person, negation and future/potential. This will give you a precise idea of how to
form and use them.
PREFIXED PERSON MARKERS OF NV-CONJUGATION (CLASS 4)
šįtų́ ‘s/he/it is fat’ dąyą́ ‘s/he is well’

mašit́ ų ‘I am fat’ madą́yą ‘I am well’
nišítų ‘you are fat’ nidą́yą ‘you are well’
ųšit́ ųbi ‘we are fat’ ųdą́yąbi ‘we are well’
šįtų́kta ‘s/he will be fat’ dąyą́kta ‘s/he will be well’
šįtų́bįktešį ‘they will not be fat’ dąyą́bįktešį ‘they will not be well’
tą́ga ‘s/he/it is big, large’ júsina ‘s/he/it is small’

matą́ga ‘I am big, large’ majúsina ‘I am small’
nitą́ga ‘you are big, large’ nijúsina ‘you are small’
ųtą́gabi ‘we are big, large’ ųjúsinabi ‘we are small’
tą́gįkta ‘s/he will be big, large’ júsinakta ‘s/he will be small’
tą́gabįktešį ‘they will not be big, júsinaktešį ‘s/he will not be small’
large’
yazą́ ‘s/he is sick’ hą́ska ‘s/he/it is tall, long’

mayázą ‘I am sick’ mahą́ska ‘I am tall’
niyázą ‘you are sick’ nihą́ska ‘you are tall’
ųyáząbi ‘we are sick’ ųhą́skabi ‘we are tall’
yazą́kta ‘s/he will be sick’ hą́skįkta ‘s/he will be tall’
yazą́ktešį ‘s/he will not be sick’ hą́skįktešį ‘they will not be tall’
 57
gána ‘s/he is old’ téjana ‘s/he/it is young, new’

magána ‘I am old’ matéjana ‘I am young’
nigána ‘you are old’ nitéjana ‘you are young’
ųgánabi ‘we are old’ ųtéjanabi ‘we are young’
gánakta ‘s/he will be old’ téjanakta ‘s/he will be young’
gánaktešį ‘s/he will not be old’ téjanaktešį ‘they will not be young’
Ex: Nína nišítų. ‘You are very fat.’

Nína mayázą jé. ‘I am always very sick.’
Ąba šagówį yazą́bi žehą́. ‘They were sick for seven days.’
Nína payážą. ‘S/he has a big headache.’
Waną́gaš, miyáde wįcášta hą́ska, ‘Long ago, my father (who was called Tall
yazą́-c’ehą Man), was very sick. ’
Cįhit́ ko žé hą́ska. ‘His/her son is tall.’
The verb dąyą̨́ can also be used as an adverb meaning ‘nice, fine, well’ and in this role it
specifies the main verb of the sentence. It is very frequent in this adverbial function and like any
other adverb it precedes the verb. The same applies to wašté ‘nice, good’ and waką̨́ ‘holy,
mysterious’, and in this case these verbs mean ‘nicely’ and ‘sacredly, in a holy manner’.
Ex: Dąyą́ wacímnagįkte no! ‘It’s good to see you!’

Dąyą́ wa’ų́. ‘I am fine.
Dąyą́ wací no! ‘S/he dances well!’
Waką́ iyódągabi. ‘They are fasting’ (lit. they sit sacredly)
Wašté įštímabįkte no! ‘They will sleep well!’
INFIXED PERSON MARKERS OF NV-CONJUGATION (CLASS 4)
waką́ ‘s/he is holy, mysterious’ ípi ‘s/he is full’

wamáką ‘I am holy’ ímapi ‘I am full’
waníką ‘you are holy’ in ́ ipi ‘you are full’
wa’ų́kąbi ‘we are holy’ ų́gipibi ‘we are full’
waką́kta ‘s/he will be holy’ iṕ ibikta ‘s/he will be full’
waką́bįktešį ‘they will not be holy’ iṕ ibiktešį ‘they will not be full’
Ex: Dágu iyuhána waką́ no! ‘Everything is holy!’

Midáguyabi ípibi. ‘My relatives are full.’
Waná nína ímapi no! ‘Now I’m really full!’
 58
STATIVE VERBS: COLORS
Unlike English there are no adjectives in Nakoda. To indicate the color, shape, size of something
you use a stative verb like tó ‘it is blue’ or waką̨́ ‘it is sacred’ that you place after the word you
want to qualify, as in: búza sába ‘it is a black.’ There are also a lot of compounds made-up of the
name for a thing plus the color term such as hųskáto ‘jeans, denims’ (leggings + blue). All color
verbs are stative and thus belong to Class 4: masába ‘I am black’, nitó ‘you are blue’.
Colors
(NV-conjugation, Class 4)
pežíto ‘it is grass green’ šá ‘it is red’5
ǧí ‘it is light yellow’ ša’iḿ na ‘it is pink’
ȟóda ‘it is gray’ tó ‘it is blue, green’
sába ‘it is black’ tósaba ‘it is dark blue’
ská(na) ‘it is white’ zí ‘it is brown, dark yellow’
Ex: Pąǧí šašá žená eyágu. ‘Take those red potatoes.’

Búza sába gá asą́bi yatką́. ‘That black cat is drinking milk.’
Cuwíknaga sába né duwé táwa? ‘Whose black coat is this?’
Maštij́ a skána né nitáwa he? ‘Is this white rabbit yours?’
Mihų́ wašíju tíbi tó wąží okná tí. ‘My mother lives in a blue house.’
Mató hiḱ na niskána. ‘I am blue and you are black.’
Some noun compounds are formed of two parts: ENTITY (animal, thing) + COLOR. They
are pronounced as a single word, like English ˈgreenhouse (where one grows plant) compared to
ˈgreen ˈhouse (a house colored in green). In order to have a better grasp at this technique of word
formation we have put the literal meaning in brackets. Note that šųk- roughly means ‘canine,
dog-like.’
Ex: cąníska ‘cigarette’ (tobacco + white)

šųksába ‘black horse’ (horse + black)
šųkšána ‘red fox’ (canine + red + small)
wapáska ‘white hat’ (hat + white)
zitkánato ‘bluebird’ (bird + blue)
HOW TO SAY “TO BE” IN NAKODA
There are a few ways to translate the English verb “to be” in Nakoda. We will review here three
ways to do so.
1) Impersonal weather verbs are always translated with to be in English:

5
In Saskatchewan there is a town called Sintaluta. It is a Lakota word which is made of sįde- + -lúda ‘tail + red,
scarlet’ (literally, red (fox) tail). The Nakota version of this word would is sįde-núda.
 59
Ex: Maǧážu he? ‘Is it raining?’ (lit. raining + INTERROGATION)

Nína osní no! ‘It is very cold!’ (lit. very + cold + DECLARATIVE)
2) Stative verbs (see Unit 6) which function like adjectives are always translated with to be in
English:
Ex: Makóce né nína waką́ no! ‘The land is very sacred!’
Gugúša né šįtų́. ‘This pig is fat.’
Zitkána žé tó. ‘That bird is blue.’ (compare zitkána tó žé ‘that blue bird’)
3) As seen in the previous section the verbs nážį ‘s/he stands’ (Class 1) and yągá ‘s/he sits on it’
(Class 3) can also be translated with to be in English:
Ex: Mitákona gakí nážį. ‘My friend is (standing) over there.’

Bahágąn mągíkta. ‘I will be (sitting) on a hill.’
4) To ask for the identity of an object, one can also use a demonstrative (né, ganá) with a
question particle he (for male speakers):
Ex: Dágu né (he)? ‘What is this (close)?’

Duwé né (he)? ‘Who is this (close)?’
Dágu nená (he)? ‘What are these?’
Dágu ganá (he)? ‘What are those over there?’
5) Finally, there are two “to be” verbs in Nakoda é ‘s/he is’ (Class 4) and ų̨́ ‘s/he is, stays’ (Class
1). The first one is not frequent and mostly used to specify the identity of a participant.
Ex: Né’é! ‘That is it!’

Waná wíyą gicí wa’ų́. ‘I’m with a woman now.’
Dóken ya’ų́ (he)? ‘How are you?’
 60
EXERCISES
1) Translate the following sentences in Nakoda and read them out loud.
a) The blue house is big.__________________________________________________________
b) My (male) younger brother is very fat.__________________________________________
c) The black coat is very big. _____________________________________________________
d) The white dog is old. ________________________________________________________
e) That black rabbit over there is running.__________________________________________
f) Tobacco is sacred.____________________________________________________________
g) They don’t dance well. _______________________________________________________
h) I was sick for three days. _______________________________________________________
i) Those rabbits over there are really small.___________________________________________
j) My (female sp.) older brother is not tall.____________________________________________
2) Fill in the following table with the correct verb forms.
yazą́ žéca ípi

1sg. FUT
2sg. FUT
3sg. FUT/NEG
1pl. FUT/NEG
2pl. FUT/NEG
3pl. FUT/NEG
 61
3) Translate the following verbs into English.
yá _________________ wódabįktešį _________________
hą́skįkta _________________ yáktešį _________________
wódabi _________________ nábi _________________
ųdą́yąbi _________________ dąyą́kta _________________
šįtų́kta _________________ šįtų́bįktešį _________________
4) Which words (3) do not belong in this set? Explain why using the correct terms seen in Unit 1
(parts of speech).
cą́hąba asą́bi súda wįcášta šiná súda
hąská hųská tadéyąba zitkána šų́ga
5) Read out loud and translate the following sentences.
Šų́gatągabi dóna nuhá he?

Waná šų́gatągabi dóba mnuhá.
Sába žé nína gána no!
Waníyedu agé šagówį ehą́ki waná.
Ská žé dąyą́šį, nína yazą́.
Ąbá šagówį yazą́ žehą́.
Šką́šį no!
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
 62
 63
UNIT 7
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 More objects and buildings
 Words for position and location
GRAMMAR
 Declarative and imperative enclitics
 “Let’s” construction
 Indicating the location of something
DIALOGUES
Taspą́ ǧí dóki (he)? Where are the oranges?

Taspą́ ǧí awódabi agą́n. The oranges are sitting on the table.
Nisų́ga dóki (he)? Where is your (female) younger brother?

Timáhen šųktí gakná škáda no! He is playing beside the barn!
Waȟpé eštá miní yacíga (he)? Do you want tea or water?

Waȟpé edáhą wacíga híkna mihų́ íš I want some tea and my mother too wants tea.
waȟpé cįgá.
Cąníska eyágu bo! All of you take some cigarettes!

Duktén iyódąga (he)? Where are they sitting?
Iyécįgayena timáhen iyódąga no. They are sitting in the car!
Háu koná! Dágu dókanų? Hello friend! What are you doing?
Dágunišį! Nothing!
Waná ųgíyįkte owóde tíbi no! Let’s go to the restaurant now.
Dágu né (he)? What is this?

Né wahą́bi. This is soup.
 64
VOCABULARY
Nouns
awódabi ‘table’ owópetų tíbi ‘store’
bahá ‘hill’ peží ‘hay, grass’
cą’ágąn ‘chair’ šųktí ‘barn’
iyécįgayena ‘car’ tá ‘moose’
íyą ‘stone’ taspą́ ǧí ‘orange’
makóce ‘land, ground’ taspą́ ǧí tóta ‘lemon’
miní ‘water’ tíbi ‘dwelling’
océti ‘fire place, stove’ waȟpé ‘tea’
ocą́gu ‘road’ wahą́bi ‘soup’
owóde tíbi ‘restaurant’ wašíju tíbi ‘framed house’
Adverbs and postpositions Verbs

agą́n ‘on top’ dóka’ų ‘s/he does what?’ (Class 3)
ektá ‘to, at’ įštíma ‘s/he sleeps’ (Class 3)
gakná ‘beside’ kní ‘s/he goes back home’ (Class 1)
héktam ‘behind something’ ú ‘s/he comes (here)’ (Class 1)
íhokun ‘under, below yá ‘s/he goes (there)’ (Class 2)
something but above the
ground’
ókšą ‘around’
Miscellanous
eštá ‘or’
Háu koná! ‘Hello friend!’
hók ‘yes’ (male speakers)
iyuhána ‘all of them,
everybody’
iš́ ‘and, also, him/her/it too’
nągáhą ‘now’
DECLARATIVE ENCLITICS NO AND C
In Nakoda some enclitics indicate that a sentence is a declaration. Most of them are used only by
male speakers while others are used by both male and female speakers. As mentioned in Unit 3
the enclitic he indicates a question and is used only by male speakers. Female speakers do not
use it. The declarative enclitics are no (male speaker) and c (gender neutral). These elements do
not carry stress and are separated from the host word to ease the reading. It appears that no
indicates a strong emphasis on a given point in conversations, but male speakers do not use it all
 65
the time.
Pinámayaya. ‘I thank you.’

Pinámayaye no! ‘I thank you, really!’ (stronger declaration)
Wa’ųkte no! ‘I’m going to come!’
Iná imnámnįktešį no! ‘Mother, I won’t go!’
As you can see from the following examples the declarative male particle no is an
ablauting element which changes the final vowel of a preceding verb (underlined).
wa’ú + kta + no > wa’ų́kte no! ‘I’m going to come!’

maǧážu + kta + no > maǧážukte no! ‘It’s going to rain!’
wącímnaga + kta + no > wącímnagįkte no ‘It will see you!’
The declarative neutral particle c is used to indicate strong assertion by both male and
female speakers:
Ex: Wakní c! ‘I am going back home!’
IMPERATIVE ENCLITICS WO AND BO (COMMANDS AND ORDERS)
As seen in Unit 3 to give orders and commands one can simply use the bare stem of the verb as
in iyodą̨́ga ‘Sit!’ with a rising intonation. This technique is used almost exclusively by female
speakers. Like interrogative and declarative enclitics, Nakoda has imperative enclitics restricted
used only by male speakers: wo serves to give a command to one person and bo to more than one
persons. These enclitics occupy the same place as the other enclitics (like he, no and c) and all
are mutually exclusive since one cannot ask and command at the same time.
FEMALE SPEAKER MALE SPEAKER

Singular addressee Tín’ú! Tín’ú wo! ‘Come in!’
Agą́n-yągá! Agą́n-yągá wo! ‘Ride it!’
Įštíma! Įštíma wo! ‘Sleep!’
Įwų́ǧa! Įwúǧa wo! ‘Ask someone!’
One should not that female speakers make use of the imperative enclitic m for singular
addressee, but with less systematicity than with male speakers.
Ex: Néci’ú hiḱ na iyódągam! ‘Come in and sit down!’

Nážįm! ‘Stand up!’
With plural addressees female speakers use the plural -bi while male speakers use bo
which is a contraction of -bi and wo.
 66
FEMALE SPEAKER MALE SPEAKER

Plural addressee Yábi! Yá bo! ‘You all go!’
Nážįbi! Nážį bo! ‘All of you stand up!’
Eyágubi! Eyágu bo! ‘All of you take it!’
Iyódągabi Iyódąga bo! ‘All of you sit down!’
“LET’S” CONSTRUCTIONS
The “let’s” construction is somehow related to the imperative since it is used by the speaker to
give an order, or to suggest to a group of people to do something. As opposed to pure
imperatives seen above “let’s” constructions include the speaker and are translated in English by
the verb phrase let’s, as in Let’s do it! Let’s go to town!
In Nakoda this type of construction is obtained by suffixing -s on a verb already inflected
st
for 1 person plural or dual. The template is the following: 1ST PL. VERB + -s
STEM 1ST PL. “LET’S X”

EAT wóda wó’ųda wó’ųdas
SLEEP įštíma ųgiš́ timabi ųgiš́ timabis
GO yá ųyá ųyás
GO WALK ománi, yá ománi ųyábi ománi ųyás
Ex: Waná wo’ų́das! ‘Let’s eat now!’

Waná ųgiš́ timabis! ‘Let’s sleep now!’
Ųyás! ‘Let’s go!’
Ųgíyįkte no owóde tíbi! ‘Let’s go to the restaurant.’
As can be seen in the preceding examples, the dual form ‘we two’ (without the plural -bi)
is used, as with wó’ųda ‘we two eat.’ However, the dual is restricted to these forms only and
some speakers don’t use it at all. Moreover, some speakers don’t use the -s suffix but only a verb
with -kta ‘potential/future’ as in ųgį́ štimabįkta ‘we will sleep, let’s go to bed’.
CONJUNCTION MARKERS: Į́Š ‘AND, ALSO’ EŠTÁ ‘OR’
In English there are small function words like and and or that are used to connect nouns, verbs
and other parts of speech as in:
Ex: I want meat and soup. noun and noun

Do you want tea or coffee? noun or noun
She likes riding horses and swimming. verb and verb
Do want to eat or continue driving? verb or verb
Is it here or there? demonstrative or demonstrative
In Nakoda the words that fulfill these two functions are į́ š ‘and, also’, hį́ kna ‘and’ and
eštá ‘or.’ The conjunction hį́ kna ‘and’ usually connects verbs together, but there are some
variations between speakers of different communities. Some use į́ š ‘and’ to connect two nouns
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together while others use į́ š to connect verbs too, but speakers who use hį́ kna ‘and’ do it to
connect verbs only.
1) Í Š ‘and’, ‘also, too’
Ex: Tanó íš wahą́bi yacíga (he)? ‘Do you want meat and soup?’
Paul íš Mary wódabi. ‘Paul and Mary are eating.’
Iyódąga íš nągáhą wóda wo! ‘Sit down now and eat!’
Iyódąga íš wóda wo! ‘Sit down and eat!’
Wįcá gá íš aǧúyabi yúda. ‘That man over there too is eating bread.’
2) HÍ KNA ~ HÍ K ‘and’
Ex: Iyódąga híkna wóda wo! ‘Sit down and eat!’

Tín’ú híkna wóda. ‘Come in and eat!’
Ȟuȟnáȟyabi yatką́ wo, híkna ‘Drink your coffee and eat your orange!’
taspą́ ǧí yúda.
3) EŠTÁ ‘or’ (this conjunction has a rather free position)
Tanó eštá wahą́bi yaciǵ a (he)? ‘Do you want meat or soup?’
Ȟuȟnáȟyabi yaciǵ a eštá waȟpé. ‘Do you want coffee or tea?’
INDICATING THE POSITION OF SOMETHING
Adverbs and postpositions indicate a general location or the location of something. They are
translated by the English prepositions inside, beside, on top of and in front of etc. In English we
call them “prepositions” because the locative expressions (e.g. inside, beside etc.) come before
the point of reference (the house) as indicated by the following examples:
ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS
Ex: beside the barn

around the corner
inside the house
on the couch
under the stone
In Nakoda however it is the opposite situation since the locative expressions (e.g. inside,
beside etc.) come after the point of reference (the house). Thus, this is why we refer to the
Nakoda locative terms as “postpositions”.
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agą́n ‘on’ (POST)

gakná ‘beside’ (ADV)
héktam ‘behind, in the past’ (ADV)
ih́ okun ‘below, down, bottom part of something’ (ADV)
mahén ‘inside, in something’ (POST)
ókšą ‘around’ (ADV)
tągán ‘outside’ (ADV)
Ex: peží žé wašíju tí gakná ‘the hay is beside the house’
iyógapte gakná ‘beside the plate’
ocą́gu gakná ‘beside the road’
Océti gakná nawážį. ‘I’m standing beside the stove.’
Šų́gatąga gakná nawážį. ‘I’m standing beside the horse.’
Šųktí héktam nážį. ‘He is standing behind the barn.’

Héktam nážį nén. ‘He stands behind it.’
íyą íhokun ‘under the stone’

iyécįgayena íhokun ‘under the car’
Duwé iyuhána nén ókšą iyódąga bo! ‘Everybody sit around here!’
tí ókšą ‘around the house’
Šų́gatąga agą́n-yągá. ‘S/he rides a horse.’

íyą agą́n ‘on the stone’
cą’ágąn agą́n ‘on the chair’
Tá bahágąn nážį.6 ‘The moose is standing on top of a hill.’
océti mahén ‘in the stove’

iyécįgayena máhen ‘in the car’
6
Note that the postposition agą̨́n can fuse with a noun that ends in /a/: bahá + agą́n = bahágąn ‘on a hill top.’
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EXERCISES
1) Translate the following sentences into Nakoda.
a) Let’s walk beside the road.______________________________________________________
b) Let’s sleep in the car.__________________________________________________________
c) The cat is sleeping under the table.________________________________________________
d) The horse is standing beside the house.____________________________________________
e) That cat over there is sleeping under the chair.______________________________________
f) That man over there is standing on the hill._________________________________________
g) Take it! It’s sitting beside the house.______________________________________________
h) Do you want tea or coffee?______________________________________________________
i) I want coffee._________________________________________________________________
j) I want meat and bread.__________________________________________________________
k) What is your mother doing?_____________________________________________________
2) Translate the following words into English.
1. peží _________________ 2. wo’ų́das _________________
3. gakná _________________ 4. iyécįgayena _________________
5. owóde tíbi _________________ 6. makóce _________________
7. cąníska _________________ 8. ųgiš́ timabis _________________
9. taspą́ ǧí _________________ 10. tá _________________
11. wa’úkte no _________________ 12. íyą _________________
13. yá bo _________________ 14. iš́ _________________
15. šųktí _________________ 16. cą’ágąn _________________
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3) Translate the following phrases in Nakoda:
BESIDE INSIDE
barn ____________________ ____________________
house ____________________ ____________________
car ____________________ ____________________
school ____________________ ____________________
ON TOP UNDER
table ____________________ ____________________
chair ____________________ ____________________
stone ____________________ ____________________
car ____________________ ____________________
4) Translate this short story into English.
Háu koná, dóken ya’ų́ he?

Dąyą́ nína wa’ų́.
Waȟpé eštá ȟuȟnáȟyabi yacíga he?
Ȟuȟnáȟyabi wacíga no!
Nén océti gakná ųgíyodągabis!
Dágu né he?
Né íyą waką́ no!
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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UNIT 8
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Names of towns
 Directions
 Adverbs expressing times of the day
 Verbs of departing, going and arriving
GRAMMAR
 Two types of active verbs: transitive and intransitive
 Inflections of transitive verbs (with a 3rd person singular object)
 Asking question with where, when and who
DIALOGUES
Nitímno duktén tí? Where does your (female) older brother live?
Hókuwa O’ínažį’ektá tí. He lives in Fort Qu’Appelle.
Dóhąc’ehą yahí? When did you arrive (here)?

Ą́ba né yámni ehą́’i wahí. I arrived (here) today at three o’clock.
Duwé gicí yahí? Who did you arrive with?
Micų́na íš misų́ga gicí wahí. I arrived (here) with my (female) older sister
and my younger brother.
Hąhébic’ehą šųktógeja wąmnága no! Last night I saw a wolf!

Duktén wąnága he? Where did you see it?
Gakí Wazíȟeȟ no! Over there in the Cypress Hills!
Hą́ adé, dóken ya’ų́? Hello father, how are you?

Dąyą́ wa’ų́ no! Dágu nihų́ yak’ú he? I am fine! What did you give your mother?
Tanó wak’ú. I gave her meat.
Wašté, pinámayaye no! That is good, thank you very much!
Dóhąn wacíbi žé hokšínabi híbi? When did the boys arrive (here) from the
dance?
Kníbįktešį no! They did not come home!
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VOCABULARY
Towns Directionals
Huhúžubina ‘Regina’ ektá ‘at, to’
Céǧa K’iń a ‘Carry-The-Kettle’ néci ‘around here, over here’
Taȟé ‘Moose Mountain’ néciya ‘over this way, over here’
Šiyónide ‘Pheasant Rump’ žéci ‘around there, over there’
Hókuwa O’iń ažį ‘Fort žéciya ‘over that way’
Qu’Appelle’ gakí ‘around there, in a distant area’
Wazíȟeȟ ‘Cypress Hills’
Nouns Verbs of coming and going

mázaska tíbi ‘bank’ hí ‘s/he arrives (here)’ (Class 1)
wayáwa tíbi ‘school’ hiyú ‘s/he is coming over (here)’ (Class 1)
hokšína ‘boy’ í ‘s/he arrives (there)’ (Class 1)
wacíbi ‘dance’ iyáya ‘s/he sets to go (there)’ (Class 2)
šųktógeja ‘wolf’ timáni ‘s/he visits’ (Class 1)
niyá-wašte ‘good health’ (lit. good ú ‘s/he is coming (here)’ (Class 1)
breath) yá ‘s/he is going (there)’ (Class 2)
onówą ‘singing’
Adverbs
aškán ‘recently’
ą́ba yámni ‘in three days’
dahą́ ‘from’
gicí ‘with another person’
hącógądu ‘midnight’
hąhébic’ehą ‘last night’
hąyákena ‘early this morning’
štén ‘if, when’
wanúȟ ‘maybe’
wiyódahą ‘noon, midday’
ASKING QUESTIONS WITH WHERE, WHEN AND WHO
In Units 3 we studied three interrogative pronouns or “D-words”: dágu ‘what’, dóken ‘how’ and
dóki ‘where.’ In this Unit we will introduce other interrogative D-words. Note that in the
following examples the question word is always placed before the verb as in English.
DÓKI ‘where, anywhere’ (i.e. when asking about a destination — dynamic)
Ex: Dóki ná he? ‘Where are you going?’ (in progress)
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Micų́kši dóki inána he? ‘My son where are you going?’ (slightly after
departure)
Nitákona dóki iyáya? ‘Where is your friend setting to go?’ (slightly after
departure)
The suffix -ya can be added on dóki meaning ‘where to’ (i.e. when putting focus on the
exact location): Dókiya ná he? ‘Where to are you going?’
DÓKIYADAHĄ ‘where from’ (movement toward the speaker + source location)
Ex: Dókiyadahą yahí? ‘Where are you arriving from?’

Dókiyadahą híbi (he)? ‘Where are they arriving from?’
DUKTÉN ‘where’ (i.e. when asking about a location, like a place of birth, place of residence
— static)
Duktén yatí? ‘Where do you live?’

Duktén šųktógeja žé wąnága (he)? ‘Where did you see the wolf?’
Nikúši duktén tí? ‘Where does your grandmother live?’
Hokšína žé duktén wací iyáya? ‘Where is the boy going to dance?’
DÓHĄDA, DÓHĄ(N) ‘when’
Ex: Yawácibįkta dóhąda? ‘When will you all dance?’

Tugášina dóhąn timáyanikta (he)? ‘When will you visit grandpa?’
Wayáwa tíbi dóhąn inánįkta (he)? ‘When will you go to school?’
Dóhą yúda? ‘When did s/he eat it?’ (female speaker)
Midáguye! Dohą́n yahí? ‘My relative! When did you arrive?
DÓHĄC’EHĄ ‘when in the past’
Ex: Dóhąc’ehą yahí? ‘When did you arrive (here)?

Waȟpé dóhąc’ehą yagáǧa? ‘When did you make tea?’
DUWÉ ‘who’ (can also function as a stative verb duwé ‘s/he is someone’)
Ex: Duwé wąnága? ‘Who did you see?’

Ą́ba įyámni žehą́ duwé wąnága? ‘Who did you see last Tuesday?’
Duwé né (he)? ‘Who is this?’
Duwé hí (he)? ‘Who is arriving?’
Duwé waȟpé cįgá (he)? ‘Who wants tea?’
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Madúwe he? ‘Who am I?’
VERBS OF DEPARTING, GOING AND ARRIVING
Nakoda verbs of departing, going and arriving are more numerous and more complex than in
English and constitute a very important part of the Nakoda language. There are six basic verbs
which can be classified according to two parameters: a) departure, movement in progress and
arrival; b) away or towards the speaker/here.
DEPART PROGRESS ARRIVAL

iyáya yá í
‘s/he sets to go’ ‘s/he is going’ ‘s/he arrives’
SPEAKER
THERE
HERE
hí ú hiyú
‘s/he arrives’ ‘s/he is coming’ ‘s/he sets to come’
ARRIVAL PROGRESS DEPART
Here are a few examples along with the conjugation tables that will help understand the
formation of these verbs. The verbs yá and iyáya are Y-stems which require -mn- and -n- person
markers, while the others are all regular active verbs which take -wa- and -ya-. Note that for
iyáya the inflection occurs twice as shown in bold for the 1st and 2nd persons.
iyáya ‘s/he is setting to go (there)’

(Y-stem, Class 2)
imnámna ‘I am setting to go’
inána ‘you are setting to go’
ųgíyayabi ‘we are setting to go’
iyáyįkta ‘s/he will be setting to go’
iyáyabįktešį ‘they will not be setting to go’
Ex: Imnámnįktešį no! ‘I will not be setting to go!’

Mitą́gena dóki inána (he)? ‘My (male speaker) older sister where are you
setting to go?’
Owópetų tíbi imnámna. ‘I’m setting to go to the store.’
Dóki ųgíyayabi (he)? ‘Where are we setting to go?’
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Nikúši dóki iyáyįkta (he)? ‘Where will your grandmother be setting to go?’
Wayáwa tíbi dóhąn inánįkta (he)? ‘When will you be setting to go to school?’
yá ‘s/he is going (after departure)’

(Y-stem, Class 2)
mná ‘I am going’
ná ‘you are going’
ųgíyabi ‘we are going’
yíkta ‘s/he will be going’
yábįktešį ‘they will not be going’
Ex: Yá wo! ‘Go!’

Yábi! ‘You all go!’
Wayáwa tíbi dóki ná (he)? ‘Where do you go to school?’
Ųgíyįkte no owóde tíbi’ektá! ‘Let’s go to the restaurant.’
í ‘s/he arrives (there)’

wa’í ‘I arrive’
ya’í ‘you arrive’
ųgíbi ‘we arrive’
íkta ‘s/he will arrive’
íbįktešį ‘they will not arrive’
Ex: Dóhąc’ehą ya’í? ‘When did you arrive (there)?

Šiyónide aškán nén í. ‘S/he arrived (there) in Pheasant Rump recently.’
Ą́bawaką žehą́ owácegiye tíbi žecí ‘I went to church over there last Sunday.’
wa’í.
Hąyákeji wanúȟ wa’íkte no! ‘Maybe I will arrive (go) there tomorrow.’
hiyú ‘s/he is coming over, departing (from there)’

wahíyu ‘I am coming over’
yahíyu ‘you are coming over’
ųhíyubi ‘we are coming over’
hiyúkta ‘s/he will come over’
hiyúbįktešį ‘they will not come over’
Ex: Hiyú wo! ‘Come!’

Hiyú bo! ‘Come you all!’
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Midáguyabi néci hiyú bo! ‘My relatives come over here!’
ú ‘s/he is coming (from there)’

wa’ú ‘I am coming’
ya’ú ‘you are coming’
ų’úbi ‘we are coming’
úkta ‘s/he will come’
úbįktešį ‘they will not come’
Ex: Wa’úkte no! ‘I am arriving!’

Ya’úkte he! ‘Are you arriving?’
Nén úbįkta (he)? ‘Are they arriving here?’
Néci ú. ‘Come here.’
Ą́bawaką štén wa’úkta. ‘I will come next Sunday.’
Tín ú bo! ‘Come in all!’
Úkta he? ‘Will he come?’
hí ‘s/he arrives (from there)’

(Y-stem, Class 1)
wahí ‘I arrive’
yahí ‘you arrive’
ųhíbi ‘we arrive’
híkta ‘s/he will arrive’
híbįktešį ‘they will not arrive’
Ex: Dóhągeja yahíkta? ‘At what time will you arrive?’

Ą́ba né wąží ehą́’i wahí. ‘I arrived at one o’clock today.’
Duwé gicí yahí? ‘Who did you arrive with?’
Duwé hí (he)? ‘Who is arriving?’
Hokšína žé hąhébic’ehą hí. ‘That boy arrived last night.’
Nén wahí. ‘I arrived here.’
Lastly, there are two other very frequent verbs of departing, going and arriving in
Nakoda. One very common is timáni ‘to visit people’. The verb kní ‘to come home’ was
introduced in Unit 7, but we give here its conjugation table. Note that some speakers put the
noun tída ‘home’ (which is often pronounced cída TSHEEDA) in front of kní to reinforce the
idea of ‘coming home’.
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kní ‘s/he is coming, returning home’

wakní ‘I am coming home’
yakní ‘you are coming home’
ųkníbi ‘we are coming home’
kníkta ‘s/he will come home’
kníbįktešį ‘they will not come home’
Ex: Hącógądu žehą́ wacíbi žé dahą́ ‘I came home from the dance at midnight.’
wakní.
Waná tída wakníkta. ‘I am going home now.’
Yakní c! ‘You came back home!’ (strong assertion)
Ą́ba įyámni ųkníbįkta. ‘We will go home on Wednesday.’
Aké cída kníbįkta. ‘They will come home again.’
DIRECTIONS
There are a few ways to indicate directions and locations in Nakoda. One can use the adverb ektá
‘at, to, in’ which indicates a location (to live in a location) or a direction (to go in the southern
states). It is used with cardinal directions (see Unit 12 for the rest of the cardinal terms).
Ex: Hų́gu Céǧa K’ína’ektá tí. ‘His/her mother lives in Carry-the-Kettle.’

Wiyóȟpaya’ektá timáni mniḱ ta. ‘I am going to visit people in the West.’
When the location is approximative use one of the following adverbs néci ‘around here,
over here’, žéci ‘around there, over there’ or gakí ‘around there, in a distant area.’ These words
are formed from a demonstrative (né, žé, gá) on which a suffix -ci ‘general location’ is added,
but often times another suffix -ya ‘general direction’ is added after. The adverbs žéci ‘around
there, over there’ and žéciya ‘over that way’ are by far the most common forms.
Ex: Žéci iyódąga wo! ‘Sit around there!’ (general location, static)
Huhúžubina žéciya dahą́ wahí. ‘I arrive from around there Regina.’ (general
direction, dynamic)
ACTIVE VERBS: INTRANSITIVE AND TRANSITIVE
In Unit 6 we saw that some verbs belong to Class 4 stative (like to be tall, fat, sacred) and were
inflected with the markers -ma- ‘1SG’, -ni- ‘2SG’ and -Ø- ‘3SG.’ Other verbs belong to the
active classes (like to eat, walk, take it) and necessitate either -wa-, -mn- or -m- ‘1sg.’, -ya-, -n-
or -n- ‘2sg.’ and -Ø- ‘3sg.’ There is another distinction that exists between verbs that require an
object — a thing or person acted upon — and those that do not. Those that require an object will
be called “transitive” and does that do not “intransitive”.
Transitivity is a notion that relates to a transfer of power. For instance, when I hit a ball
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there’s a subject (I) and an object (the ball), and there is a transfer of power, just like when you
(subject) push her (object), or when I (subject) talk to my mom (object). We will say that hit,
push and talk are transitive verbs. On the contrary, intransitive verbs may imply a transfer of
power (like walk) but it is not always the case (like wait). Intransitive verbs only necessitate a
subject, as in I sleep, you yawn, he is tall. We will say that sleep, yawn and be tall are
intransitive verbs. The following table will serve to expand on transitive inflections. Note that
all four types of inflections can occur on intransitive verbs to express the subject, but the active
(regular stem, Class 1), Y-stem (Class 2) and the stative (NV-conjugation, Class 4) are the most
common ones occur on transitive verbs to express the subject and object.
INTRANSITIVE SUBJECT
TRANSITIVE SUBJECT TRANSITIVE
OBJECT
active active active stative
(regular stem) (Y-stem) (N-conjugation) (NV-conjugation)
CLASS 1 CLASS 2 CLASS 3 CLASS 4
-wa- ‘1sg.’ -mn- ‘1sg.’ -m- ‘1sg.’ -ma- ‘1sg.’
-ya- ‘2sg.’ -n- ‘2sg.’ -n- ‘2sg.’ -ni- ‘2sg.’
-Ø- ‘3sg.’ -Ø- ‘3sg.’ -Ø- ‘3sg.’ -Ø- ‘3sg.’
wak’ú ‘I give it wąmnága ‘I see mų́ ‘I wear it’ mašítų ‘I am fat’
to him/her’ him/her/it’
INFLECTIONS OF TRANSITIVE VERBS (3RD PERSON OBJECT)
Transitive verbs (e.g. Peter loves Mary) are the most complex verbs to inflect since both the
subject and the object are marked on the verb in Nakoda. In this unit we will learn how to inflect
a verb when the object is a 3rd person him/her/it. Since person marking of transitive verbs is
intricate the steps have been broken down as such:
1) to indicate the subject of a transitive verb use the active regular stem (Class 1), the
active Y-stem (Class 2), or the active N-conjugation (Class 3) markers (shown in the
table above);
2) to indicate the object of a transitive verb use only the stative NV-conjugation
markers;
3) put the markers in the following order: OBJECT + SUBJECT. With some verbs like ‘see’
and ‘ask’ the order is reversed.
Here are a few examples of the verb k’ú, a transitive verb, inflected for the first three
persons, along with the internal analysis:
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CLASS 1 (PREFIX)
Ø- wa- k’ú > wak’ú ‘I give it to him/her’

3SG.object 1SG.subject give
Ø- ya- k’ú > yak’ú ‘you give it to him/her’

Ø- Ø- k’ú > k’ú ‘s/he gives it to him/her’

Ø- ų- k’ú-bi > ųk’úbi ‘we give it to him/her’

3SG.object 1.pl.subject give-pl
CLASS 2 (PREFIX) (the y is deleted)
Ø- mn- (y)uha > mnuhá ‘I have him/her/it’

3SG.object 1SG.subject have
Ø- n- (y)uha > nuhá ‘you have him/her/it’

Ø- Ø- yuha > yuhá ‘s/he has him/her/it’

Ø- ų- yuha-bi > ųyúhabi ‘we have him/her/it’

3SG.object 1.pl.subject have-pl
CLASS 3 (INFIX) (the w is deleted and ųg- is placed before the stem)
į- Ø- m- (w)ųǧa > įmų̨́ǧa ‘I ask him/her’

root 3SG.object 1SG.subject ask
į- Ø- n- (w)ųǧa > įnų̨́ǧa ‘you ask him/her’

į- Ø- Ø- wųǧa > įwų̨́ǧa ‘s/he asks him/her’

ųg- Ø- į’- wųǧa-bi > ųgįwųǧabi ‘we ask him/her’

1.pl.subject 3SG.object root ask-pl
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The following tables comprise the inflections for four frequent verbs. The inflections are
in bold.
k’ú ‘s/he gives it to someone’ wąyága ‘s/he sees someone/something’

(regular stem, Class 1) (Y-stem, Class 2)
1sg. wak’ú ‘I give it to him/her/it’ wąmnága ‘I see him/her/it’
subject
2sg. yak’ú ‘you give it to him/her/it’ wąnága ‘you see him/her/it’
subjet
3sg. k’ú ‘s/he gives it to him/her/it’ wąyága ‘s/he him/her/it’
subject
1pl. ųk’úbi ‘we give it to him/her/it’ wą’ų́yagabi ‘we see it’
subject
2pl. yak’úbi ‘you all give it to him/her/it’ wąnágabi ‘you all see it’
subject
3pl. k’úbi ‘they give it to him/her/it’ wąyágabi ‘they see him/her/it’
subject
-snohya- ‘to know him/her/it’ -ųspekiya- ‘to teach him/her/it’

(regular stem, Class 1) (regular stem, Class 1)
1sg. snohwáya ‘I know him/her/it’ ųspéwakiya ‘I teach him/her/it’
subject
2sg. snohyáya ‘you know him/her/it’ ųspéyakiya ‘you teach him/her/it’
subjet
3sg. snohyá ‘s/he knows him/her/it’ ųspékiya ‘s/he teaches him/her/it’
subject
1pl. snohų́yabi ‘we know him/her/it’ ųspé’ųkiyabi ‘we teach him/her/it’
subject
2pl. snohyáyabi ‘you all know him/her/it’ ųspéyakiyabi ‘you all teach him/her/it’
subject
3pl. snohyábi ‘they know him/her/it’ ųspékiyabi ‘they teach him/her/it’
subject
Ex: Yak’úbi he? ‘What did you all give him?’

Niyá-wašté yak’ú no! ‘You give him/her a good life!’
Wįcij́ ana gá búza wąží k’úbi. ‘They gave that girl a cat.’
Asąbi edáhą k’úbi. ‘They gave him/her/it some milk.’
Nitúgaši miní edáhą k’ú. ‘Give your grandfather some water.’
Wįcá gá íš aǧúyabi edáhą k’ú. ‘Give that man some bread/bannock also.’
Duwé wąnága? ‘Who did you see?’

Duktén šų́ga žé wąnága he? ‘Where did you see the dog?’
Ą́ba įyámni žehą́ duwé wąnága? ‘Who did you see on Wednesday?’
 81
Dáguni snohyábįšį no! ‘They don’t know anything!’

Wįcá žé opétų snohwáyešį. ‘I don’t know the man who bought it.’
Waná duwé ecų́ žé snohwáya. ‘Now, I know who did it.’
Niciḱ ši nakón-i’á ųspéwakiya’ecą. ‘I taught the Nakoda language to your son.’

Dąyą́ ųspé’ųkiyabi no! ‘We taught him well!’
Hą́ mázaska mnuhá. ‘Yes I have money’

Mína nuhá he? ‘Do you have a knife?’
Wasé Wakpá’ekta wótijaǧa ‘They will have a sundance at Lodge Pole.’
yuhábįkta.
Ą́ba né, tadéyąba ųyúhabi. ‘We have a windy day today.’
Hokšína gá šųkcij́ ana zí wąží yuhá. ‘That boy over there has a brown puppy.’
Sába žé ųgéyagubi no! ‘We took the black one’
Dąyą́ nawáȟ’ų štén, wašté no! ‘When I hear well, it is good!’
SOUNDS: EJECTIVE CONSONANTS
Ejective consonants are voiceless consonants which are produced by closing the lips or the
tongue against the palate and the glottis and by suddenly releasing the airstream. A common way
to produce them is by holding your breath and trying to pronounce a /p/, /s/ or /t/. Try
pronouncing these words out loud: mak’ú, dohą́c’ehą. For the ejective /k’/, you should hear a
soft click. Practice pronouncing out loud the following syllables:
k’u t’u s’a t’a t’ų p’i p’u
 82
EXERCISES
1) Fill in the blank boxes in the following conjugation tables.
-k’u- ‘give’ -wąyaga- ‘see’ -snohya- ‘know’

1sg wąmnága ‘I see him/her/it’ snohwáya ‘I know
subject him/her/it’
2sg yak’ú ‘you give it to
subjet him/her/it’
3sg k’ú ‘s/he gives it to
1pl ųk’úbi ‘we give it to wą’ų́yagabi ‘we see it’
2pl snohyáyabi ‘you all know
3pl
subject
2) Translate the following sentences in Nakoda and pronounce them out loud.
a) They came back home yesterday._________________________________________________
b) Give these boys some water.____________________________________________________
c) Did you see the buffalo?________________________________________________________
d) He did not come home last night._________________________________________________
e) We will be leaving in two days.__________________________________________________
f) Where do they go to school?_____________________________________________________
g) I will arrive there at noon._____________________________________________________
h) Will you visit your grandmother out west?_________________________________________
i) I gave her oranges and coffee.___________________________________________________
j) They did not see him yesterday.__________________________________________________
 83
k) I arrived there at midnight.______________________________________________________
l) Where does his older brother live._________________________________________________
3) Find the correct English translation for the following time adverbs.
a) hącógądu ____ ‘noon, midday’
b) hąhébic’ehą ____ ‘early this morning’
c) hąyákena ____ ‘tomorrow’
d) wiyódahą ____ ‘midnight’
e) ȟtániȟą ____ ‘night’
f) ą́ba né ____ ‘yesterday’
g) ȟtayédu ____ ‘evening’
h) hąhébi ____ ‘today’
i) hąyákeji ____ ‘last night’
4) Translate the following short story in English. (žécų ‘having done that’)
Hąyákena štén aǧúyabi nakó asą́bi wacíga.
Žécų híkna wayáwa tíbi mniḱ ta.
Wayáwa tíbi gakná mitákona wąmnága.
Wįcíjana gicí škáda.
Dóba ehą́’i, waná wakní no!
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
 84
 85
UNIT 9
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Body parts
 Animals
 More common objects
GRAMMAR
 More verbs expressing states and bodily functions
 Ownership and possession: inflecting nouns
 Using and inflecting the verbs táwa ‘s/he owns, possesses it’; yuhá ‘s/he has it’
 Part/whole relations
 Noun modifiers edáhą ‘some’ and dóna ‘some, many’
DIALOGUES
Duwé iyécįgayena tó žé táwa? Who owns that blue car?
Mitą́ga né iyécįgayena tó žé táwa. This blue car belongs to my (female) younger
sister.
Háu adé! Šų́gatąga gá duwé táwa (he)? Hi father! Who owns that horse over there?
Mitákona šų́gatąga gá táwa no! My friend owns that horse over there.
Obáwįge mázaska nuhá (he)? Do you have a hundred dollars?

Hą́ iná, mázaska wacíga no! Miyáde edáhą Yes Mother I have money! I’ll give some to
wak’ú no! my father!
Cįjábi dóna nuhá (he)? How many children do you have?

Cįjábi wikcémna ųyúhabi no! We have ten children!
Háu koná, dóken ya’ų́ (he)? Hello friend! How are you?
Madą́yąšį, nína mapáyažą no! I’m not doing well, I have a big headache.
 86
VOCABULARY
Body parts
cądé ‘heart’ niǧé ‘stomach’
ceží ‘tongue’ núǧe ‘ear’
hí ‘tooth’ pá ‘head’
hú ‘leg’ pahí ‘hair’
í ‘mouth’ póǧe ‘nose’
įdé ‘face’ sihá ‘foot’
įštá ‘eye’ sipá ‘toes’
įstó ‘arm’ šubé ‘guts, intestines’
nąbé ‘hand’ tacą́ ‘body’
nąpsíhu ‘finger’ wé ‘blood’
Objects Animals
iyécįgayena ‘car’ bizéna ‘gopher’
hú (mįmámina) ‘wheel’ įkmų́ ‘lynx’
mázaska ‘money’ maštij́ a ‘rabbit’
minískuya ‘soda pop’ mató ‘bear’
océti ‘fire place ,stove’ ptecij́ ana ‘calf’
otókšu ~ tokšú ~ įwátokšu ‘truck’ ptewánu ‘domestic cow’
wáda ‘canoe’ šųkšíjana ‘puppy’
MORE VERBS EXPRESSING STATES AND BODILY FUNCTIONS
In Unit 6 we studied some stative verbs expressing states (dąyą̨́ ‘s/he is well’, tą̨́ga ‘s/he is big’,
payázą ‘s/he has a headache’, hą̨́ska ‘s/he is tall’, gána ‘s/he is old’, yazą̨́ ‘to be sick’). In this
section the conjugation tables are given for more statives verbs expressing states as well as
bodily functions. Some of them belong to Class 1 (-wa- ‘I’, -ya- ‘you’) while others belong to
Class 4 (-ma- ‘I’, -ni- ‘you’) as seen in Unit 6.
cesní ‘s/he defecates’ (NV- néža ‘s/he is peeing’ (regular stem,

conjugation, Class 4) Class 1)
macésni ‘I am defecating’ wanéža ‘I am peeing’
nicésni ‘you are defecating’ yanéža ‘you are peeing’
ųcésnibi ‘we are defecating’ ųnéžabi ‘we are peeing’
cesníkta ‘s/he will defecate’ nežik
́ ta ‘s/he will pee’
cesníbįktešį ‘they will not nežiḱ tešį ‘they will not pee’
defecate’
 87
stustá ‘s/he is tired’ (NV- káda ‘s/he is feverish, hot’ (NV-

conjugation, Class 4) conjugation, Class 4)
mastústa ‘I’m tired’ makáda ‘I am feverish’
nistústa ‘you are tired’ nikáda ‘you are feverish’
ųstústabi ‘we are tired’ ųkádabi ‘we are feverish’
́ ta ‘s/he will be tired’
stustik kádįkta ‘s/he will feverish’
stustábįktešį ‘they will not be tired’ kádįktešį ‘they will not be feverish’
Ex: Dóki yanéžįkta (he)? ‘Where are you going to pee?’

Nína mastústa no! ‘I’m very tired!’
Stustá (he)? ‘Is she tired?’
Micų́kši nína káda no! ‘My daughter is really feverish!’
Nína káda no! ‘It’s really hot!’
Some verbs expressing a state pertaining to a body part have the noun for the body part in
question incorporated in the verb. This is the case of payázą ‘to have a headache’ which is made-
up of pa ‘head’ and yazą ‘to be sick.’ To indicate numbness in a body part the verb t’á ‘to die’ is
reduplicated (or doubled) as in t’at’á ‘to be paralyzed’ and the noun for the body part is put in
front, sometimes it is truncated as in sihá ‘foot’ > si.
payázą ‘s/he has a headache’ (NV- sit’át’a ‘s/he has a numb foot’ (NV-
conjugation, Class 4) conjugation, Class 4)
mapáyazą ‘I have a headache’ simát’at’a ‘I have a numb foot’
nipáyazą ‘you have a headache’ sinít’at’a ‘you have a numb foot’
ųpáyaząbi ‘we have a headache’ si’ų́t’at’a ‘we have a numb foot’
payáząkta ‘s/he will have a sit’át’akta ‘s/he will have a numb
headache’ foot’
payáząbiktešį ‘they will not have a sit’át’abįktešį ‘they will not have a
headache’ numb foot’
Finally, two of the most basic verbs expressing human feelings show the incorporation of
the noun cądé ‘heart’ before the verbs wašté ‘to be good’ or sijá ‘to be bad’, such as Nidáguyabi
cądéwašte wo! ‘Be kind to your relatives!’
cądéwašte ‘s/he is kind, good- cądésija ‘s/he is sad, broken

hearted’ (NV-conjugation, Class 4) hearted’ (NV-conjugation, Class 4)
cądémawašte ‘I am kind’ cądémasija ‘I am sad’
cądéniwašte ‘you are kind’ cądénisija ‘you are sad’
cądé’ųgiwaštebi ‘we are kind’ cądé’ųsijabi ‘we are sad’
cądéwaštekta ‘s/he will be kind’ cądésijįkta ‘s/he will be sad’
cądéwaštebįktešį ‘they will not be cądésijabįktešį ‘they will not be sad’
kind’
 88
OWNERSHIP AND POSSESSION
Possession refers to the notion of ownership, a situation where a person or entitiy owns
something, or is in relation to someone. In English, possession can be expressed with possessive
adjectives (my, your, his/her, etc.), possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, etc.) or verbs of
possession (I own, you have, etc.).
Ex: My car is red.

Their house is on the left.
This is yours.
This money is his.
I have a debt.
They own three horses.
There are a few ways to express the notions of ownership and possession in Nakoda: 1)
use of a noun with possessive person markers (e.g. my dog); 2) use of the intransitive verb táwa
‘to own, possess it’; 3) use of the verb yuhá ‘to have it’.
1a) Possessive markers for objects and body-parts
There are two sets of possessive affixes. There are those which indicate a relation of possession
between a person and an object (e.g. my truck) or a body part (e.g. my head), and those which
indicate kinship relations (e.g. my father).
BODY-PART POSSESSIVE MARKERS
hí ‘tooth’ pá ‘head’

mihí ‘my tooth’ mapá ‘my head’
nihí ‘your tooth’ nipá ‘your head’
hí ‘his/her/its tooth’ pá ‘his/her/its head’
ųgíhibi ‘our tooth’ ųgípabi ‘our head’
nihíbi ‘your (pl.) tooth’ nipabi ‘your (pl.) head’
híbi ‘their tooth’ pábi ‘their head’
Note that with nouns starting with a vowel, a glottal stop /’/ is inserted before the stem in
order to make a connection with the possessor prefix: í ‘his/her mouth’, mi’í ‘my mouth’, ni’í
‘your mouth’; įdé ‘his/her face’, mi’į́ dé ‘my face’, ni’į́ de ‘your face.’ For object possession the
prefix -ta- is inserted before the noun, but after the person prefixes, while for body-parts this
prefix is not used. This prefix means that the entity in question is not permanently attached as
with most objects.
 89
OBJECTS AND ANIMALS POSSESSIVE MARKERS
tokšú ‘truck’7 šų́gatąga > šúga ‘horse’

mitátokšu ‘my truck’ mitášųga
nitátokšu ‘your truck’ nitášųga ‘your horse’
tatókšu ‘his/her truck’ tašų́ga ‘his/her horse’
ųgítatokšubi ‘our truck’ ųgítašųgabi ‘our horse’
nitátokšubi ‘your (pl.) truck’ nitášųgabi ‘your (pl.) horse’
tátokšubi ‘their truck’ tášųgabi ‘their horse’
1b) Possessive markers for kinship nouns
The possessive markers on kinship terms are highly irregular and have to be memorized as such.
This is especially true of the addresss forms for mother and father (as seen in Unit 2) but also of
3rd person markers ‘his/her’ which can be expressed by a prefix Ø- ‘3rd possessor’, but in some
cases, has to be also accompanied by a suffix -tko, -gu, -co or -cu. The most regular pattern is
when the prefixed Ø- ‘3rd possessor’ appears since it is slotted in the same position as mi- ‘my’
and ni- ‘your.’ Thus, the internal formation of tawį́ ju ‘his wife’ is Ø-tawį́ ju.
REGULAR (PREFIX Ø- ‘HIS/HER’ ONLY)
tawíju ‘wife’ tąhą́ ‘male’s brother in law’

mitáwįju ‘my wife’ mitą́hą ‘my brother-in-law’
nitáwįju ‘your wife’ nitą́hą ‘your brother-in-law’
tawij́ u ‘his wife’ tąhą́ ‘his brother-in-law’
ųgítawįjubi ‘our wives’ ųgítąhąbi ‘our brother-in-law’
nitáwįjubi ‘your (pl.) wives’ nitą́hąbi ‘your (pl.) brother-in-law’
tawíjubi ‘their wives’ tąhą́bi ‘their brother-in-law’
IRREGULAR (PREFIX + SUFFIX -tko, -cu, -go, -gu OR -co ‘HIS/HER’)
šic’é ‘female’s brother-in-law’ tugáši ‘grandfather’

mišíc’e ‘my brother-in-law’ mitúgaši ‘my grandfather’
nišíc’e ‘your brother-in-law’ nitúgaši ‘your grandfather’
šic’étko ‘her brother-in-law’ tugą́šicu ‘his/her grandfather’
ųgíšic’ébi ‘our brother-in-law’ ųgítugašibi ‘our grandfather’
nišic’ébi ‘your (pl.) brother-in-law’ nitugašibi ‘your (pl.) grandfather’
šic’étkobi ‘their brother-in-law’ tugą́šicubi ‘their granfather’
7
Often times the alienable the alienable prefix -ta- is left out as in tokšú ‘his/her truck’, or tokšúbi ‘their truck.’
Moreover this word is often truncated in tokšú, the long form being įwátokšu.
 90
timnógu ‘female’s older brother’ hįknágu ‘husband’

mitímno ‘my older brother’ mihíkna ‘my husband’
nitímno ‘your older brother’ nihiḱ na ‘your husband’
timnógu ‘his/her older brother’ hįkną́gu ‘her husband’
ųgítimnobi ‘our older brother’ ųgíhįknabi ‘our husbands’
nitímnobi ‘your (pl.) older brother’ nihiḱ nabi ‘your (pl.) husbands’
tímnogubi ‘their older brother’ hįkną́gubi ‘their husbands’
Ex: Nihíkna dóki iyáya? ‘Where did your husband go?’

Jim tawíju wací iyáya. ‘Jim’s wife went dancing.’
Mikúši waȟpé gáǧa. ‘My grandmother is making tea.’
Nitúgašibi dágu yuhá? ‘What does your (pl.) grandfather have?’
Ųgítugašibi šų́gatąga zí wąží yuhá. ‘Our grandfather has one brown horse.’
In order to master the formation of the 3rd person possessor one has to refer to the
Kinship table at the end of the lessons. Remember that many, if not all of the kinship terms, have
specificities which cannot be guessed out and have to be memorized. Note also that some semi-
fluent speakers will tend to regularize the kinship terms. That is they will delete the irregular
forms and replace them with the 3rd person Ø- ‘his/her’ prefix.
2) Intransitive verb táwa ‘to be one’s own’
To express possession or ownership use an intransitive verb táwa (sometimes written as itáwa)
which means ‘to be one’s own.’ Unlike other intransitive verbs, it has mi- as 1st person prefix
(instead of ma-) and ni- as 2nd person prefix.
táwa ‘s/he owns it, it is his/hers’ (irregular verb,

similar to Class 4)
mitáwa ‘it’s mine’ ųgítawabi ‘it’s ours’
nitáwa ‘it’s yours’ nitáwabi ‘it’s yours all’
táwa ‘it’s his/hers/its’ táwabi ‘it’s theirs’
Ex: Duwé né táwa? ‘Who owns this?’

Žé táwa. ‘S/he owns that.’
Žé táwabi. ‘They own that.’
Šųkšij́ ana skána né nitáwa he? ‘Is this white puppy yours?’
Šų́ga zí gá nitáwabi he? ‘Does that brown dog over there belong to you all?’
Šų́ga zí né ųgítawabi. ‘This brown dog is ours.’
Šų́ga sába mitáwabi. ‘My dogs are black.’
Wáda ųgítawabi. ‘our canoes/ We own canoes.’
Gugúša šįtų́ gá wįcá žé táwa. ‘The man owns that fat pig over there.’
 91
Wįcij́ ana né miní-skuya žé táwa. ‘This pop belongs to that little girl. / The little girl
owns the pop.’
3) Transitive verb yuhá ‘to have’
To express the state of possession or ownership one can also use the transitive verb yuhá ‘to have
it.’
yuhá ‘s/he has it’ (Y-stem, Class 2)8

mnuhá ‘I have it’
nuhá ‘you have it’
ųyúhabi ‘we have it’
yuhákta ‘s/he will have it’
yuhábįktešį ‘they will not have it’
Ex: Niyáde dágu yuhá? ‘What does your father have?’

Miyáde šų́gatąga zí waží yuhá. ‘My father has a brown horse.’
Mázaska nuhá (he)? ‘Do you have money?’
Hiyá, mázaska mnuhéšį. ‘No, I don’t have money.’
Hą́, mázaska mnuhá. ‘Yes, I have money.’
PART/WHOLE RELATIONS
Part/whole relations refer to things that are part of a whole such as the leg of a chair, the guts of
a bear etc. There are two ways to express this idea in English and Nakoda. In English there is a
difference between the skull of a bear (specified, e.g. the one that is in front of the speaker) and
bear skull (unspecified, i.e. bear skulls in general). Nakoda too makes this distinction between
specified and unspecified things.
1) Specified (the X of a Y) as seen in the previous section: the verb táwa ‘to own, possess’ is
used. The words are placed in the following order: POSSESSOR + THING POSSESSED + TÁWA.
Ex: mató pá táwa ‘the bear’s head’

Mary hí táwa. ‘Mary’s tooth/teeth’
Mary pá táwa. ‘Mary’s head’
Mary įštá táwa. ‘Mary’s eye(s)’
2) Unspecified (a Ypossessor Xthing possessed): the words for the possessor and the thing possessed are
simply put together:
8
This verb can also be compounded with the noun hokšína ‘boy’ which is contracted to hokši-: hokšíyuha ‘she is
delivering’ (Class 2).
 92
Ex: mató šubé ‘bear guts’

mató pá ‘bear head’
įkmų́ šagé ‘lynx claw’
iyécįgayena hú mįmámina ‘car wheel’
iyécįgayena įštá ‘car headlights’
NOUN QUANTIFIERS EDÁHĄ ‘SOME’ AND DÓNA ‘SOME, MANY’
There are two very frequent noun quantifiers or quantifiers in Nakoda: a) edáhą is used with
mass nouns (i.e. entities that are not countable like water, sand, snow etc.) b) dóna is used with
count nouns (i.e. entities which are countable like winters, children, apples, etc.). While in
English the modifiers come before the noun (e.g. some water, some apples), in Nakoda they
occur after it, as shown in the following examples (the nouns are underlined):
Ex: Miní edáhą mak’ú. ‘Give me some water.’

Nitúgaši miní-skuya edáhą k’ú. ‘Give your grandfather some pop.’
Ȟuȟnáȟyabi edáhą wak’úkta no! ‘I’ll give him some coffee!’
Cįjabi dóna nuhá (he)? ‘How many children do you have?’

Dóna yaciǵ a? ‘How many do you want?’
Waníyedu dóna ehą́yaki (he)? ‘How old are you?’
Dáguškibina dóna híbi. ‘Some of the children came.’
 93
EXERCISES
1) Translate the following possessive nouns in English.
a) his grandfather _________________ f) their hair _________________
b) my toes _________________ g) their legs _________________
c) your nose _________________ h) your (pl.) arms _________________
d) our bodies _________________ i) my grandchildren _________________
e) her eyes _________________ j) your (female) (pl.) _________________

younger brother
2) Translate the following sentences in English. (Indicate the gender M/F of the speaker)
a) Šų́gatąga gá táwa he!___________________________________________________
b) Búzabi dóna nuhá he?__________________________________________________________
c) Miyáde nína káda._____________________________________________________________
d) Wiý ąbi ganá stústabi he?_______________________________________________________
e) Mázaska yuhábi?______________________________________________________________
f) Žé táwabi.___________________________________________________________________
g) Hokšína né miní-skuya žé táwa.__________________________________________________
h) Miyáde edáhą wak’ú no!_______________________________________________________
i) Mitúgašina šų́gatąga zí waží yuhá.________________________________________________
j) Waníyedu dóna ehą́ki he?_______________________________________________________
k) Šų́gatąga dóna nuhá he?________________________________________________________
l) Waná šų́kšíjanabi dóba mitáwa._________________________________________________
m) Cįjábi dóba ųyúhabi no!______________________________________________________
n) Dąyą́šį, nína páyažą!_________________________________________________________
o) Hąhébic’ehą tá wąmnága.______________________________________________________
 94
3) Complete the following verbal paradigms.
-tawa- ‘to own it’ -yuha- ‘to have it’ -stusta- ‘to be tired’
1sg. mnuhá ‘I have it’
subject
2sg.
subjet
3sg.
subject
1pl. ųgítawabi ‘we
subject own it’
2pl. nistústabi ‘you all are
subject tired’
3pl.
subject
4) Read out loud and translate the following Nakoda story in English.
Cįjábi dóna nuhá he?
Cįjábi nų́ba wįcá’ųyuhabi.
Ceǧá K’iń a’ekta tíbi.
Iyécįgayena yuhábi hiḱ na ą́ba waką́ žehą́ timánibi.
Miciḱ ši nína stústa hiḱ na payážą iš́ iš́ ta šá.
Maštíja tanó íš hą́bi wašpą́wįcawakiya híkna óda wódabi no!
Ųgítagožabi iš́ timaní úbi.
Nína dąyą́ ųgípibi.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
 95
UNIT 10
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Food and drinks
 People and occupation
 Physical and moral qualities
 Animals and birds
GRAMMAR
 Forming nouns from stative verbs
 Suffixes used to form nouns from verbs: -s’a, -bi and -na
 Diminutive suffix -na
 Independent pronouns for focus and contrast
 Intensifiers: -ȟ and -ȟtįya
DIALOGUES
Nihų́ dágu ecų́ (he)? What is your mother doing?

Tągán pahá gisų́ no! She is braiding her hair outside.
Dóken owágiyįkta (he)? How can I help?

Wacís’a gá ógiya wo! Help that dancer over there!
Duwé né tíbi né ógiya gáǧįkta (he)? Who will help him build this house?
Duwéniš, tíbi né iyé gáǧįkta. Nobody, he will build this house himself.
Niš́ wóyadįktaȟ yaciǵ a (he)? As for you, what do you want to eat?
Aǧúyabi, tanó edáhą, wíbazuka iš́ wacíga. I want bannock, some meat and Saskatoon
berries too.
Šų́gatągabi dóna ni’ádena yuhá (he)? How many horses does your uncle have?
Mi’ádena tašų́gaȟ dóna táwa. Šųksába waží iš́ My uncle owns many horses. He has a black
šųkskána nų́ba táwa. one, and two white ones.
 96
VOCABULARY
Persons Animals and birds

adéna ‘my uncle’ (father’s hįhą́ ‘owl’
brother) hįhą́hąna ‘pigmy owl’ (lit. small owl)
aǧóbas’a ‘snorer’ hįhą́ oȟnóga otís’a ‘burrowing owl’
eyés’a ‘blabbermouth’ įkmų́na ‘bobcat’
gisų́na ‘Asian person’ kąǧí ‘raven’
inána ‘my aunt’ (mother’s paǧų́da ‘duck’
sister) sihásaba ‘Canada goose’
įštímes’a ‘sleeper’ snohéna ‘snake’
nową́s’a ‘singer’ šųksába ‘black horse’
ogíyes’a ‘servant’ šųkskána ‘white horse’
wacís’a ‘dancer’ ųkcé ȟeȟą́ ‘magpie’
wadópena ~ wadópana wamní ‘eagle’
‘band of Nakoda called the zitkána ‘bird’
“Paddlers”’ zitkánato ‘bluebird’
yatkés’a ‘drunkard’ zitkásaba ‘blackbird’
Objects Verbs
awódabi ‘table’ aǧóba ‘s/he snores’
hąbí ‘juice’ i’á ‘s/he talks, speaks (to him/her)’
hųská ‘leggings’ wadópa ‘s/he paddles’
hųskána ‘stockings’ gisų́ ‘s/he braids his/her own hair’
o’í ‘beads’ nowá ‘s/he sings’
škoškóbena ‘banana’ snohá ‘s/he crawls’
wib́ azuką ‘Saskatoon tóȟtįya ‘it is purple’
berries’ iṕ į ‘s/he is full satiated’
wakmúhaza ‘corn’ ȟuȟnáȟya ‘s/he burns, roasts it’
wítka ‘egg’ wa’áyaza ‘s/he is beading’
wožábi ‘gravy’
WORD FORMATION
In English one can form a noun by using the -ing form of a verb or by adding a modifier (a,
some) in front of a bare verb as in the following examples:
Smoking is bad.
Remember, some thinking is required.
This book was a nice read.
A run in the park would be benefic.
In Nakoda there are two ways of deriving (i.e. forming) nouns from verbs: a) by adding a
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demonstrative or a modifier after a stative verb; b) by adding a suffix on a verb.
1) Stative verbs
Stative verbs can serve as nominal subject or object when a demonstrative is placed after such as
“the [stative verb] one”. The verb cannot be inflected with person prefixes and mood markers.
Stative verbs are in bold in the following examples:
Ex: Skána žé waná iyáya. ‘The white one is gone now.’
Zí žé nitáwa. ‘Yours is yellow.’
Mitáwa žé júsina. ‘Mine is small.’
Tą́ga žé nitáwa. ‘The big (one) is yours.’
Wąží júsina né įštímes’a. ‘That small one is a sleeper.’
As indicated in the preceding examples the word order is:
STATIVE VERB + DEMONSTRATIVE + VERB
Note that many words for animals and birds are compounds made of a color verb:
zitkánato ‘bluebird’, zitkásaba ‘blackbird.’ These compound nouns carry only one accent and are
considered as one word (see Unit 16).
2) Noun suffixes
Beside stative verbs one can also derive some nouns by adding suffixes such as -s’a or -bi or -na.
i) -S’A ~ -S’Ą ‘agent, one who does X’ is used to form an agentive noun from an active or
stative verb. It is similar to the English suffix -er which may indicate a profession (to bake > a
baker; to surf > a surfer) or a habit (to snore > a snorer; to drink > a drinker). Note that
sometimes the resulting noun has a pejorative meaning.
Ex: wací ‘s/he dances’ > wacís’a ‘dancer’

įštíma ‘s/he sleeps’ > įštímes’a ‘sleeper’
yatką́ ‘s/he drinks it’ > yatkés’a ‘drunkard’
i’a ‘s/he talks’ > i’és’a ‘chatterbox, blabbermouth’
ógiya ‘s/he helps him/her’ > ogíyes’a ‘servant’
aǧóba ‘s/he snores’ > aǧóbas’a ‘snorer’
nowá ‘s/he sings’ > nową́s’a ‘singer’
The suffix -s’a also occurs with nouns as in hįhą̨́ oȟnóga otís’a ‘burrowing owl’ a noun
phrase which contains hįhą̨́ ‘owl’ + oȟnóga ‘hole’ + otí ‘dwelling’ (> otís’a ‘dweller’). Finally,
-s’a can also be used with verbs to indicate that the action is a habitual or continuous one.
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wacíbi ‘they dance’ > wacíbis’a ‘they dance all the time’
nowá bi ‘they sing’ > nową́bis’a ‘they sing all the time’
ii) -BI ‘unspecified agent’ is used to form nouns from transitive and intransitive verbs. The
agent is left unspecified and those nouns can be translated as ‘someone did it to make it thus.’
Beware not to confuse the homophones -bi ‘unspecified agent’ with -bi ‘animate plural.’
Ex: tí ‘s/he lives there’ > tíbi ‘a dwelling’

ȟuȟnáȟya ‘s/he burns it’ > ȟuȟnáȟyabi ‘coffee’
wóda ‘s/he eats’ > awódabi ‘table’
wací ‘s/he dances’ > wacíbi ‘dance’
iii) -NA ‘agent which has a given quality.’ The suffix -na is used to form nouns from verbs
which indicate that the agent referred to has the quality indicated by the verb. Note that -na is an
ablauting element.
Ex: snohá ‘s/he crawls’ > snohéna ‘snake’

wadópa ‘s/he paddles’ > wadópena, wadópana ‘Band of Nakoda’
gisų́ ‘s/he braids his/her > gisų́na ‘Asian person’
own hair’
iv) -NA ‘diminutive, small size, endearment’ occurs on the names of some birds and animals to
indicate small size. In kinship terms -na carries the idea that a person is somehow parallel (in
status and duties) to another one (ie. a maternal aunt inána is like a mother iná)9. However, one
can add -na on a kinship term to indicate endearment. Beware not to confuse the diminutive -na
and the nominal -na ‘agent’ seen above. A way to distinguish between the two is that -na
‘nominalizer’ provokes ablauting while the diminutive -na does not.
PARALLEL STATUS, DUTIES, ENDEARMENT
Ex: iná ‘Mother’ > inána ‘my aunt’ (mother’s sister)

adé ‘Father’ > adéna ‘my uncle’ (father’s brother)
mihų́ ‘my mother’ > mihų́na ‘my dear mother’
SMALL SIZE
Ex: įkmų́ ‘lynx’ > įkmų́na ‘bobcat’

hųská ‘leggings’ > hųskána ‘stockings’
hįhą́ ‘owl’ > hįhą́hąna ‘pigmy owl’
ų́ ‘she wears it’ > ų́na ‘it (baby) wears it’
9
Some words like zitkána ‘bird’ exist only with the diminutive -na.
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INDEPENDENT PRONOUNS FOR FOCUS AND CONTRAST
In the previous units we saw that person markers occurred on verbs (e.g. mawáni ‘I walk’) and
not as a separate pronoun as in English (e.g. I love you). However, Nakoda has independent
focus pronouns that are used to put emphasis on a participant. They can be translated using the
suffix -self.
miyé ‘I, myself’ ųgíyebi ‘we, ourselves’

niyé ‘you, yourself niyébi ‘you all, yourselves’
iyé ‘he, himself, her, herself’ iyébi ‘they, themselves’
As seen in the preceding table, the independent pronouns are formed by adding the Class
3 (N-conjugation) person markers m- ‘1sg.’, n- ‘2sg.’, ųg-…-bi ‘1pl.’ on the root -iyé- ‘self’.
These pronouns appear before the verb as can be seen in the following examples and be used like
an existantial “be” verb:
Ex: Awódabi né wagáǧa. ‘I’m building this table.’

Wáda né miyé wagáǧa. ‘I’m building this canoe, myself.’
Škoškóbena wąží yúda. ‘S/he is eating a banana.’

Wíbazuką iyé yúda. ‘S/he, herself, is eating Saskatoon berries.’
Miní yacíga? ‘Are you thirsty?’ (lit. do you want water?)

Hą́ miyé’! ‘Yes I am./I do.’ (female speaker)
In Unit 5 we saw that the pronoun į́ š meant ‘she, he, it too, also’, but that it was also used
to joint two nouns (e.g. ȟuȟnáȟyabi į́š waȟpé ‘coffee and tea too’). In fact the root -įš- indicates a
contrast or a comparison and may be inflected for some of the persons, as shown in the next
table.
míš ‘me too’

niš́ ‘you too’
iš́ ‘him, her, they, it too’
ųgiš́ ‘us too’
Ex: Micíkši nína dąyą’ų́ no! Míš dąyą́ ‘My son is doing very well! Me too I’m doing
wa’ų́. well.’
Níš wóyadįkte no! ‘You will eat as well! You too will eat!’
Wožábi íš gáǧa. ‘She made gravy as well.’
INTENSIFIERS -Ȟ AND -ȞTĮYA
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In Nakoda, there are two suffixes -ȟ and -ȟtįya known as “intensifiers.” They attach at the end of
a pronoun (like iyé), verb or adverb and can mean different things.
(a) INTENSIFICATION: -ȟ can be translated as ‘really, very, specifically’;
Ex: Tíbi né wagáǧa miyéȟ. ‘I’m building this house specifically myself.’
Sąksája né wa’ámnaza miyéȟ. ‘I beaded this dress specifically myself.’
Niš́ wóyadįktaȟ yaciǵ a he? ‘As for you, what do you want to eat too?’
Dąyą́ȟ įmápį no! ‘I’m really full!’
(b) MULTIPLICITY: -ȟ can be translated with an indefinite quantifier such as ‘many, lots,
multiplication (times)’;
Ex: Dáguȟ táwa žé. ‘his/her things’

Wazíȟeȟ ‘Cypress Hills’
Jim tašų́gaȟ táwa. ‘Jim’s horses; Jim owns many horses.’
Nųbáȟ žé eyá. ‘He said it twice.’
(c) DESIRE TO TO DO SOMETHING: -ȟtįya can be translated as ‘want, desire, much, more’. Note that
this suffix ablauts a preceding vowel a > e while -ȟ does not.
Ex: Míš wówadįkteȟtįya. ‘I want to eat too.’

Huhúžubina ųyábįkeȟtįya. ‘We want to go to Regina.’
Wašté ųskádabįkteȟtįya. ‘We want to have fun.’
Šiyónide mniḱ teȟtįyą. ‘I want to go to Pheasant Rump.’
Some words have ths suffix lexicalized (i.e. fixed in them): tóȟtįya ‘it is purple’
(blue+much, more intense), wįcáȟtįyąna ‘old man’ (man+more).
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EXERCISES
1) Translate the following sentences in Nakoda.
a) I want some bannock.__________________________________________________________
b) That woman wants to go to Regina._______________________________________________
c) My uncle is a drinker.__________________________________________________________
d) I intend to build that house over there myself._______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
e) As for them what do they want to eat?_____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
f) Ask your mother! (male speaker)_________________________________________________
g) I saw a bobcat yesterday._______________________________________________________
h) Mine is red.__________________________________________________________________
i) The black one is walking there.___________________________________________________
j) I want to eat too!______________________________________________________________
k) My father has many horses._____________________________________________________
l) She has many things.___________________________________________________________
m) Where is the small one?________________________________________________________
n) Where is the big one?__________________________________________________________
o) My uncle owns three dogs.______________________________________________________
2) Circle the four words that do not belong in the following list and explain why.
aǧóbas’a hįhą́ tóȟtįya gisų́

wamní awódabi kąǧí wacís’a
zitkásaba i’á snohéna wit́ ka
įpí adéna hųská hą́ska
gisų́na zitkána hąbí Taȟé
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3) Complete the following table.
-wa’ayaza- X-self X too
1sg. wa’ámnaza ‘I bead’
2sg. niyé ‘you too’
3sg.
1pl. ųgiš́ ‘ourselves’
2pl.
3pl.
4) Match the English sentence with its Nakoda counterpart.
a) Skána žé waná iyáya. ___ ‘She is eating a banana.’

b) Mitáwa žé júsina. ___ ‘Mine is small.’
c) Tą́ga žé nitáwa. ___ ‘Jim’s wife went dancing.’
d) Awódabi né wagáǧa. ___ ‘My daughter is really feverish!’
e) Wáda né miyé wagáǧa. ___ ‘Where did your husband go?’
f) Škoškóbena wąží yúda. ___ ‘Is she tired?’
g) Wíbazuką wąží iyé yúda. ___ ‘She, herself, is eating Saskatoon berries.’
h) Nihíkna dóki iyáya? ___ ‘The big one is yours.’
i) Jim tawij́ u wací iyáya. ___ ‘My grandmother is making tea.’
j) Mikúši waȟpé gáǧa. ___ ‘I’m building this canoe, myself.’
k) Stustá he? ___ ‘The white one is gone.’
l) Micų́kši nína káda no! ___ ‘I’m building this table.’
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UNIT 11
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Ceremonies and dances
 Cardinal directions
 Verbs of speaking
 Adverbs of time/space and manner
GRAMMAR
 Formation of irregular verbs
 Inflections of transitive verbs (3rd person subject)
DIALOGUES
Mitímno! Dóki inána (he)? My (female) older brother where are you
going?
Huhúžubina nągáhą imnámnįkte no! Yá I am going to Regina now! Do you want to
yacíga (he)? come?
Snohwáyešį no! I don’t know!
Mitákona iš́ gicó no! Invite your friend too!
Iná omágiya wo! Black horse nakón i’á dóken Mother help me! How do(es) they/one say(s)
eyábi (he)? black horse in Nakoda?
Šųksába eyábi. They/one say(s) šųksába.
Mitúgaši nawáȟ’ų. Duktén nážį (he)? I hear my grandfather. Where is he standing?

Įníbi nén iyódąga. Waná nową no! He is sitting here in the sweatlodge. He is
singing.
Nową́ knuštą́ hą́da, cén owágiyįkta no! After he finishes singing, I will help him.
Wašté! Nitúgaši dąyą́ nína nową́s’a. Good! Your grandfather is a real good singer.
Nitímno dóka’ų (he)? What is your older brother up to?

Naȟą́ȟ įštíma no! He is still sleeping!
Dágucén? Why?
Hąyákena nų́ba ehą́’i kní. He came home at 2 o’clock this morning.
Hįį! Ą́ba né nína stustá. Oh! He will be tired very today.
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VOCABULARY
Nouns and other adverbs

cądé-wašte ‘sweetheart’ owáyawa ‘school’10
dágucén ‘why’ oyáde ‘nation’
dóhąda ‘when’ šųkšóšo, šóšona ‘mule, donkey’
hokší-togápa ‘first-born son’ šųkšíjana ‘puppy’
hú ‘voice’ táȟca ‘deer’
iyúhana ‘all’ wagíyą ‘thunderbird’
niyá-wašte ‘health’ wahíkiyabi ‘radio’
owacégiye tíbi ‘church’ wanáǧi ‘spirit’
Verbs
ahídųwa ‘s/he looks on him/her/it’ (Class 1)
ahópa ‘s/he respects him/her/it’ (Class 1)
apá ‘s/he hits him/her/it’ (Class 1)
basí ‘s/he drives it’ (Class 1)
ecá’ų ~ ecų́ ‘s/he does, uses it’ (Class 3)
eyá ‘s/he says’ (irregular)
gicó ‘s/he invites him/her’ (irregular)
kté ‘s/he kills him/her/it’ (Class 1)
naȟ’ų́ ‘s/he listens to him/her/it’ (Class 1)
snohyá ~ snokyá ‘s/he knows him/her/it’ (Class 1)
teȟína ‘s/he loves him/her/it’ (Class 1)
wacégiya ‘s/he prays’ (Class 1)
The Nakoda language is called nakón iyá or nakón wįcó’i’e while Nakoda customs and
traditions are referred to as nakón wįcóȟ’ąge. Ceremonies and dances are diversified and
numerous, each being held for specific occasions in the communities.
Nakoda ceremonies
acáštųbi ecų́bi ‘naming ceremony’
cąnúba oȟpáǧa ecų́bi ‘pipe ceremony’
įníbi ecų́bi ‘sweatlodge ceremony’
įwą́žikte ecų́bi ‘first kill ceremony’
wótijaǧa ‘medicine lodge, sun dance’
zoyábis’a tíbi ‘warrior lodge society’
The words ecų̨́bi, ecų̨́bina are derived nouns indicating that a contest, ceremony or an
event is taking place. As seen in Unit 10 one can add the suffix -s’a ‘agent performing a habitual
10
Some speakers pronounce the word for ‘school’ wayáwa instead of owáyawa.
 105
action’ to form ecų̨́nas’a ‘player.’ Thus, in the examples above ecų̨́bi occurs after the word
describing a given ceremony such as in įwą̨́žikte ecų̨́bi ‘first kill ceremony.’
Ex: Įníbi nén iyódąga. ‘They are sitting here in the sweatlodge.’
Įníbi wagáǧa štén, miní óda waciǵ a no! ‘When I make a sweat lodge, I want a lot
of water.’
Nakón wįcóȟ’ąge tewáȟina cá no! ‘I really cherish my Nakoda traditions!’
Nakón iyá ecų́gųbįkta no! ‘We will speak Nakoda!’
The terms for dances are referred to by using the specific modifier ‘Omaha, round, scalp’
etc. followed by the noun wacíbi ‘a dance.’ Like ecų̨́bi the noun wacíbi is made of wací ‘s/he
dances, to dance’ and -bi which transforms a verb into a noun. Remember that -bi ‘plural’ and -bi
‘noun’ are homophonous (i.e. they sound exactly the same but mean different things).
Types of dances
gahómni wacíbi ‘courting song, round dance’
hąwácibi ‘women dance, night dance’
mįméya wacíbi ‘round dance’
omáha wacíbi ‘Omaha dance’
wamní wacíbi ‘eagle dance’
šųkwácibi ‘horse dance’
Ex : Mįméya wacíbi ec’ų́bįkte no! ‘They will do a round dance!’

Dąyą́ wawáci. ‘I dance well.’
Waną́gaš wacíbi né’ecén. ‘Long ago they danced like this.’
Hącógądu žehą́ wacíbi žé dahą́ ‘I came home from the dance at midnight.’
wakní.
Finally, here more conjugated transitive and intransitive verbs dealing with ceremonial
activities, along with examples of their use in sentences.
ahópa ‘s/he respects it, honors it’ nową́ ‘s/he sings’ (regular
ahówapa ‘I respect it’ wanówą ‘I sing’
ahóyapa ‘you respect it’ yanówą ‘you sing’
ahó’ųpabi ‘we respect it’ ųnówąbi ‘we sing’
ahópįkta ‘s/he will respect it’ nowiḱ ta ‘s/he will sing’
ahópįktešį ‘s/he will not respect it’ nowik ́ tešį ‘s/he will not sing’
ahópabi ‘they respect it’ nową́bi ‘they sing’
 106
wací ‘s/he dances’ (regular wacégiya ‘s/he prays’ (regular

stem, Class 1) stem, Class 1)
wawáci ‘I dance’ wacéwagiya ‘I pray’
wayáci ‘you dance’ wacéyagiya ‘you pray’
wa’ų́cibi ‘we dance’ wacé’ų́giyabi ‘we pray’
wacíkta ‘s/he will dance’ wacégiyįkta ‘s/he will pray’
wacíktešį ‘s/he will not dance’ wacégiyįktešį ‘s/he will not pray’
wacíbi ‘they dance’ wacégiyabi ‘they pray’
Ex: Makóce né ahópa wo! ‘Respect the land!’

Makóce né ayáhopa bo! ‘All of you respect the land!’
Ą́bawaką štén, wįcášta nową́bįkta. ‘On sunday, people are going to sing.’
Nową́ wo! ‘Sing!’
Dóhąda yanówąbįkta? ‘When will you sing?’
Dóhągeja yanówąbįkta he? ‘At what time are you all singing?’
Dąyą́ wayáci no! ‘You dance well!’
Nągáhą wacé’ųgiyabi. ‘Now we pray together.’
ADVERBS OF TIME/SPACE AND MANNER
Adverbs are words that specifiy a verb. They are not obligatory although they provide a finer
gradation of meaning and often clarify when, where and how an activity is done. The adverbs fall
into three categories: time/space, place and manner. Place adverbs and postpositions were
studied in Unit 7. Adverbs are usually placed before the verb they modify.
a) Time/space adverbs express when an action is or will take place:
Times of the day (Unit 5) Other time/space adverbs

ȟtániȟą ‘yesterday’ aškán ‘recently’
ą́ba né ‘today’ éstena ‘early’
ȟtayédu ‘evening’ nągáhą ‘now’
hąhébi ‘night’ tehą́da ‘far, long time’
hąyákeji ‘tomorrow’ waną́gaš ‘long ago’
Ex: Huhúžubina aškán nén wahí. ‘I arrived here in Regina recently.’

Éstena gíkta no! ‘S/he wakes up early!’
Nągáhą wacé’ųgiyabi hą́da. ‘Now we pray together.’
Huhúžubina nągáhą imnámnįkte no! ‘I am going to Regina now!’
Nągáhą wayáwa tíbi imnámnįkte no! ‘I am going to school now!’
Hókuwa O’ínažį gakí tehą́da. ‘Fort Qu’Appelle is far over there.’
 107
b) Manner adverbs tell you how an activity is done:
awánųka ‘accidentally’ įknúhana ‘suddenly’

ektášį ‘wrongly’ inína ‘quietly, softly’
įdú ‘only, just, simply’ naȟą́ȟ ‘still’
Ex: Táȟca awánųka wakté. ‘I accidentally killed a deer.’

Ektáši ecámų. ‘I did it wrongly.’
Ektáši ecánų. ‘You use it wrongly’
Ektáši ecų́. ‘S/he uses it wrongly.’
įdú wacís’a ‘the only dancer’
Įknúhana awápa no! ‘I hit him suddenly.’
Inína mawáni ‘I walk quietly, softly.’
Inína mawánįkte no! ‘I will walk quietly.’
Naȟą́ȟ waná (he)? ‘Are you ready yet?’
Naȟą́ȟ wagáǧįkte no! ‘I am still going to make it!’
Finally to indicate a general direction, or a static location one can also use one of the four
cardinal directions which are listed in the following table:
Four cardinal directions

wiyóhąbam ‘East’
wí-hiną́pa’ektá ‘to the East (lit. where the sun comes up)’
wiyódahąm ‘South’
wiyódahą’ekta ‘to the South, at noon (lit. at noon)’
wiyóȟpeyam ‘West’
wiyóȟpaya’ekta ‘to the West (lit. where the sun goes down)’
wažíyam ‘North’
wažíyadą’ektá ‘to the North’
Here are a few sentences which illustrate how the cardinal directions may be used in a
ceremonial context As can be seen from the following examples cardinal directions are an
important part of Nakoda spirituality and cosmology.
Ex: Hokší-togápa wiyódahąm žéci iyódąga. ‘The first born boy sits in the South.’
Wagíyą-šá wiyóȟpeyam žéci iyódągabi. ‘The Red Thunderbirds sit in the West.’
Wagíyą-sába wazíyam žéci iyódągabi. ‘The Black Thunderbirds sit in the North.’
Kúši wanáǧi oyáde wihínąpa žéci ‘The Grandmother Spirit Nation sits
iyódąga. in the East.’
 108
FORMATION OF IRREGULAR VERBS
In Units 2 and 5 we studied the structure and inflections of four types of verbs (i.e. regular stem,
Y-stem, N-conjugation and NV-conjugation). There is another type of verbs that show
irregularity in their formation. The verb ecų̨́ ‘s/he uses it, does it’ is a N-conjugation verb (see
Unit 6) and slightly irregular, especially for the 1st and 2nd persons’ markers.
ecų́ ‘s/he uses it, does it’ (N-conjugation,

irregular, similar to Class 3)
ecámų ‘I do it’
ecánų ‘you do it’
ecų́gųbi ‘we do it’
ecų́kta ‘s/he will do it’
ecų́ktešį ‘s/he will not do it’
ecų́bi ‘they do it’
As can be seen in the preceding tables, the first three forms are identical. This is because
ecų̨́ requires the insertion of an epenthetic /a/ or /ų/ making the 1st, 2nd and 1st plural forms
identical.
Ex: Įníbi hą́da ecánųkte (he)? ‘When will you do a sweat lodge?’
Žé ecánų dágucén? ‘Why did you do that?’
Ecų́šį! ‘Don’t do it!’
Ecų́mįktešį no! ‘I will not do it!’
Eca’ų́ktešį no! ‘S/he will not use it’
Waná snohwáya duwé ecų́ žé. ‘Now I know who did it.’
Dayą́ ecánų! ‘You did well!’
Dayą́ ecánųšį! ‘You did not do well!’
Another highly frequent but completely irregular verb is eyá ‘s/he says it.’ As with ecų̨́
only the 1st -p- and 2nd -h- person markers are irregular. This verb is used mostly in the 3rd person
to quote somebody’s words, and is rarely heard for other persons.
eyá ‘s/he says it’ (irregular verb)

epá ‘I say it’
ehá ‘you say it’
ųgéyabi ‘we say it’
eyákta ‘s/he will say it’
eyáktešį ‘s/he will not say it’
eyábi ‘they say it’
Ex: “Dágu yatką́bi yacígabi (he)?” eyá. ‘“What do you all want to drink?” he said.’
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Nakón i’á dóken eyábi (he)? ‘How is it said in Nakoda?’ (lit. How do
they say it in Nakoda?)
Dóken eyábi žé? ‘How do they said that?’
Aké eyá wo! ‘Say it again!’ (also Aké i’á wo!)
Dóken epíkta né____ __. ‘What I’m saying is__________’
Another frequent verb of speaking is žeyá ‘s/he says that’ which is made of žé ‘that’ and
eyá ‘s/he says it.’ It is used extensively in stories to quote what people have said. As seen in the
following examples it can be placed at the beginning or at the end of a sentence.
Ex: Mihų́ žeyá, “Nén iyódąga!” ‘My mother said “Sit down here!”’
“Mázaska iyúhana mak’ú” žéyá! ‘“Give (me) all your money!” he said that.’
Lastly, the verb gicó ‘s/he invites him/her’ also presents some irregularities in the 1st and
nd
2 persons (i.e. wéco, yéco), although some speakers have regularized it (i.e. wáco, yáco).
gicó ‘s/he invites him/her’(irregular verb,

similar to Class 1)
wéco ~ wáco ‘I invite him/her’
yéco ~ yáco ‘you invite him/her’
ųgícobi ‘we invite him/her’
gicókta ‘s/he will invite him/her’
gicóktešį ‘s/he will not invite him/her’
gicóbi ‘they invite him/her’
Ex: Wįcá žé wáco. ‘I invited that man.’

Wįcábi žená ųgícobi. ‘We invited these men.’
Nená iyúhana ųgícobi. ‘We invited everybody’
Ą́ba né wéco. ‘I invited him/her today.’
Gicó wo! ‘Invite him/her!’
Macóbi cén imnána. ‘They invited me so I came.’
INFLECTIONS OF TRANSITIVE VERBS (3RD PERSON SUBJECT)
As seen in Unit 8, in Nakoda the most complex verbs to inflect are the transitive ones (e.g. Peter
loves Mary) since both the subject and the object are marked on the verb. We have already seen
the inflections of transitive verbs with a 3rd person singular object. In this unit we will study the
formation of transitive verbs with a 3rd person singular subject doing an action on a 1st person
‘me’ and 2nd person ‘you’, and 3rd ‘him/her’ object. Again the steps to build up a transtitive verb
are as follow:
1) to indicate the subject of a transitive verb use the active regular stem or the active Y-
stem inflections depending on the verb class (shown in the tables below);
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2) to indicate the object of a transitive verb use the stative NV-conjugation inflections.
This means that whenever you want to express the object of a verb you will use the
stative NV-conjugation forms -ma- ‘me’ (mastústa ‘I am tired’) and -ni- ‘you’ (nistústa
‘you are tired’) as seen in Unit 8;
3) put the markers in the following order: OBJECT + SUBJECT
Here are a few examples with the transitive verb k’ú inflected for the first three persons,
along with the internal analysis:
CLASS 1 (PREFIX)
ma- Ø- k’ú > mak’ú ‘s/he gives it to me’
ni- Ø- k’ú > nik’ú ‘s/he gives it to you’

Ø- Ø- k’ú > k’ú ‘s/he gives it to him/her’

Ø- ų- k’ú-bi > ųk’úbi ‘s/he gives it to us’

3SG.object 1.pl.subject give-pl
CLASS 2 (PREFIX)
ma- Ø- yuha > mnuhá ‘s/he has me’
1sg.object 3SG.subject have
ni- Ø- yuha > nuhá ‘s/he has you’

Ø- Ø- yuha > yuhá ‘s/he has him/her/it’

ų- Ø- yuhá-bi > ųyúhabi ‘we have him/her/it’

1pl.object 3.sg.subject have-pl
CLASS 3 (INFIX) (ųg- is placed before the stem)

į- ma- Ø- wųǧa > įmų̨́ǧa ‘s/he asks me’
į- ni- Ø- wųǧa > įnų̨́ǧa ‘s/he asks you’

į- Ø- Ø- wųǧa > įwų̨́ǧa ‘s/he asks him/her’

ųg- Ø- į’- wųǧa-bi > ųyúhabi ‘s/he asks us’

1.pl.object 3SG.object root ask-pl
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The following table exemplifies the verb formation of two common verbs of Class 1 and
2 respectively. Note that the 3rd person plural object marker -wįca- will be studied in Unit 13.
-snohya- ‘to know him/her/it’ -wąyaga- ‘to see him/her/it’

(regular stem, Class 1) (Y-stem, Class 2)
1sg snohmáya ‘s/he knows me’ wąmáyaga ‘s/he sees me’
object
2sg snohníya ‘s/he know you’ wąníyaga ‘s/he sees you’
object
3sg snohyá ‘s/he knows him/her/it’ wąyága ‘s/he him/her/it’
object
1pl snohų́yabi ‘s/he knows us’ OR ‘we wą’ų́yagabi ‘s/he sees us’ OR ‘we see
object know him/her/it’ him/her/it’
2pl snohníyabi ‘s/he knows you all’ wąníyagabi ‘s/he sees you all’
object
3pl snohwícaya ‘s/he knows them’ wąwícayaga ‘s/he sees them’
object
Ex: Mázaska óda mak’úbi. ‘They gave me a lot of money.’

Miní edáhą mak’ú. ‘Give me some water.’
Niyáwašte yak’ubi no! ‘You give them a good life!’
Dágu nik’úbi no! ‘What did they give you!’
Dágu nik’ú he? ‘What did he/she/it give you?’
Dágucén šų́ga žé nik’úbi (he)? ‘Why did they give you the dog?’
Duwé škoškóbena né nik’ú (he)? ‘Who gave you this banana?’
Nitúgaši dágu nik’ú (he)? ‘What did your grandfather give you?’
Nitúgaši miní edáhą k’ú. ‘Give your grandfather some water.’
Wįcą́ gá íš aǧúyabi edáhą k’ú. ‘Give that man some break/bannock also.’
Wįcij́ ana gá búza wąží k’úbi. ‘They gave that girl a cat.’
Asą́bi edáhą k’úbi. ‘They gave him/her/it some milk.’
Iyúhana gakí šóšobina wąwícayaga. ‘He saw a whole bunch of mules yonder.’
Macóbi cén imnámna. ‘They invited me so I came.’
Nągáhą né duwéni šų́gatąga ųwįcábasibišį. ‘Nowadays none of us drives horse teams.’
Dóken eníjiyabi he? ‘What is your name?’ (lit. how do yhey call
you?)
Jimmy emágiyabi. ‘My name is Jimmy.’ (lit. they call me
Jimmy)
In order to gain a full grasp of transitive verb formation, here are some conjugation tables
 112
with the forms for both the 3rd person object (as those of Unit 8) and the 3rd person subject.
naȟ’ų́ ‘to hear, listen him/her/it’ (transitive, regular stem, Class 1)

3rd object 3rd subject
nawáȟ’ų ‘I hear him/her/it’ namáȟ’ų ‘s/he hears me’
nayáȟ’ų ‘you hear him/her/it’ naníȟ’ų ‘s/he hears you’
naȟ’ų́ ‘s/he hears him/her/it’
na’ų́ȟ’ųbi ‘we hear him/her/it’ OR ‘s/he hears us’
nayáȟ’ųbi ‘you all hear him/her/it’ naníȟ’ųbi ‘s/he hears you all’
naȟ’ų́bi ‘they hear him/her/it’ nawícaȟ’ų ‘s/he hears them’
Ex: Hó namáȟ’ų wo! ‘Hear my voice!’

Dáguškina ųgítawabi na’ų́ȟ’ųbi, ‘Our children listen to us, but others don’t
(ecén) edáhąȟ na’ų́ȟ’ų́bįšį. listen to us.’
Miciḱ ši namáȟ’ų. ‘My son heard me.’
teȟína ‘to love him/her/it’ (transitive, regular stem, Class 1)

tewáȟina ‘I love him/her/it’ temáȟina ‘s/he loves me’
teyáȟina ‘you love him/her/it’ teníȟina ‘s/he loves you’
teȟína ‘s/he loves him/her/it’
te’ų́ȟinabi ‘we love him/her/it’ OR ‘s/he loves us’
teyáȟinabi ‘you all love him/her/it’ teníȟinabi ‘s/he loves you all’
teȟínabi ‘they love him/her/it’ tewícaȟina ‘s/he loves them’
Ex: Wíyą žé teníȟina. ‘That woman loves you.’

Macą́de skúya tewáȟina no! ‘I love my sweetheart!’
Nakón wicóȟ’aǧe teȟína cá no! ‘S/he really cherishes Nakoda traditions!’
snohyá ‘to know him/her/it’ (transitive, regular stem, Class 1)

snohwáya ‘I know him/her/it’ snohmáya ‘s/he knows me’
snohyáya ‘you know him/her/it’ snohníya ‘s/he knows you’
snohyá ‘s/he knows him/her/it’
snohų́yabi ‘we love him/her/it’ OR ‘s/he knows us’
snohyáyabi ‘you all know him/her/it’ snohníyabi ‘s/he knows you all’
snohyábi ‘they know him/her/it’ snohwícaya ‘s/he knows them’
Ex: Žé snohwáya. ‘I know that.’

Snohwáyešį no! ‘I don’t know!’
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Wįcá žé snohwáyešį wašíju tí žé ‘I don’t know the man who bought the
opétų žé. house.’
Ȟtániȟą wiý ą nową́ žé wahíkiyabi ‘I know the woman who sang on the radio
snohwáya. yesterday.’
Wįcá zé snohníyešį. ‘That man doesn’t know you.’
Dáguni snohyábįšį no! ‘They don’t know anything!’
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EXERCISES
a) I arrived here recently._________________________________________________________
b) The man arrived here yesterday._________________________________________________
c) Long ago my grandfather had many horses._________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
d) Now he has some mules too.____________________________________________________
e) This evening there is a round dance._______________________________________________
f) Tomorrow we will do a sweat lodge ceremony.______________________________________
g) The girl hit the boy accidentally._________________________________________________
h) At night time, my son walks quietly.______________________________________________
i) My grandmother still dances.____________________________________________________
j) Everything on earth is sacred.____________________________________________________
k) I respect the earth!____________________________________________________________
l) They always dance on Friday.____________________________________________________
m) They will dance at 7 o’clock.___________________________________________________
n) I said it wrongly._____________________________________________________________
2) Circle the words (3) that do not belong in the following set and explain why.
ą́ba né škoškóbena epá edáhą éstena
jé ecų́bi ȟtayétu ȟtániȟą aškán
hąhébi waną́gaš tągánókša žéci búza
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3) Match the Nakoda words with the proper English translation.
hí ceží iyécįgayena wé mázaska minískuya

bizéna nąpsíhu otókšu océti ptecij́ ana hųská
įštá núǧe wáda wib́ azuką wožábi škoškóbena
pahí cądé hú póǧe įstó įkmų́
maštíja ptewánu awódabi hųskána wakmúhaza wítka
hąbí mató iyúhana í šųkšíjana šųkšóšo
niyá-wašte dágucén
‘all’ __________ ‘why’ __________

‘health’ __________ ‘mule’ __________
‘puppy’ __________ ‘gopher’ __________
‘voice’ __________ ‘heart’ __________
‘tooth’ __________ ‘tongue’ __________
‘ear’ __________ ‘hair’ __________
‘mouth’ __________ ‘nose’ __________
‘eye’ __________ ‘arm’ __________
‘finger’ __________ ‘blood’ __________
‘car’ __________ ‘lynx’ __________
‘money’ __________ ‘bear’ __________
‘soda pop’ __________ ‘stove’ __________
‘rabbit’ __________ ‘truck’ __________
‘calf’ __________ ‘canoe’ __________
‘domestic cow’ __________ ‘table’ __________
‘juice’ __________ ‘leggings’ __________
‘stockings’ __________ ‘corn’ __________
‘banana’ __________ ‘egg’ __________
‘Saskatoon berries’ __________ ‘gravy’ __________
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4) Translate the following story in English.
Wowić ak’u ą́ba štén, ųnówąbįkte no!

Micína waná hiḱ ta.
Dąyą́ wašté nową́s’a.
Nakón-i’ábi ųnówąbįkta híkna wacé’ųgiyabįkta.
Įníbi wagáǧa’ehą gakná tíbi.
Péda tągán hiḱ na cą́ óda héktam tíbi.
Wakpá kiyą́na miní óda ųyúhabįkta.
Miciḱ ši iš́ óda omágiya.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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UNIT 12
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Tribes and tribal affiliation
 More weather verbs
 Land features
GRAMMAR
 Transitive verb inflections: -ci- ‘I on you’ and -maya- ‘you on me’
 Aspectual markers
DIALOGUES
Nisų́ga dóki he? Where is your (male) younger brother?

Makóce mnaská gakí manís’a. He usually walks over there in the prairies.
Kníbi duká cén hokniḱ ne nawáȟ’ų. He should come back because I heard
thundering.
Owić awanecuna no! I will keep on looking for him!
Iná, šiná né cic’ú no! Mother! I give you this blanket.
Hií !́ Micik
́ ši! Nína pinaḿayaya. Oh! Son! Thank you very much!
Tecíȟinaȟ no! I love you a lot!
Miciḱ ši! Miš́ tecíȟinaȟ! Iyógipimayaya jé nén My son! Me too I love you a lot! You always
yahí hą́dahą. make me happy whenever you come here.’
Háu iná! Dóken ya’ų́ he? Hello mother! How is it going?

Hą́! miciḱ ši duwé né? Wįcij́ ana né snohwáya? Good my son, who is this? Do I know this girl?
Hiyá! Jane egíyabi macą́de-skuya no! No! My sweetheart is called Jane.
Hą́, wįcíjana né Michel Yes, she is Michel’s daughter. She lives in
cųwit́ ko. Waná Huhúžubina’ektá tí. Regina now.
Dágu ženíca he? Of what tribe are you?

Wadópena žemáca, duká mihų́ Įhą́ktųwąna I am of the Wadopena Band, but my mother is
žéca. Yanktonai Dakota.
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VOCABULARY
Weather verbs
a’ó’azą ‘it is clearing up maȟpíyato ‘it is a blue sky’
after a storm’
ą́ba ú ‘it is dawn’ mąkóškąšką ‘it is an earthquake’
ahą́zi ‘it is dusk’ ošíjeja ‘it is a storm’
amáȟpiya ‘it is cloudy’ ot’í apá ‘it is thundering’
hokniḱ ne ‘it is a thunder clap’ wasú hįhą́ ‘it is hailing’
Land features
bahá ‘hill’ mąkáži ‘sand’
cą́ ‘tree, wood’ makóce mnaská ‘prairies, flat
land’
iý ą ‘stone’ ocą́gu ‘road’
įyą́ȟe, įyáȟe ‘mountain, hill’ ocą́guȟe ‘gravel road’
maká ‘earth, soil’ oná ‘prairie fire’
Hydrographic features
minítąga ‘lake’ wída ‘island’
šošéna ‘waterfall’ wiwí ‘swamp, marsh’
wakpá ‘river’ wiwína ‘it is swampy’
TRIBES AND TRIBAL AFFILIATION
The following tables contain the names for other indigenous as well as non-indigenous groups.
We have included some of the etymologies for these terms since they are relelvant culturally and
historically.
Indigenous groups translation

Téhąn Nakóda ‘Stoney Nakoda’ far away Nakoda
I’ášija ‘Dakota’ bad talkers
Įhą́ktųwąna ‘Yanktonai Dakota’
Kąǧí Tóga ‘Crow’ crow enemy
Šahíya ‘Cree’
Šahíyena ‘Cheyenne’ little Cree (those who speak like the Cree)
Sihásaba ‘Blackfoot’ black foot
I’ášijana ‘Chippewa, German’ bad talkers
Maȟpíyato ‘Arapaho’ blue sky
 119
Non-indigenous groups translation

Wašíju ‘Whiteman’
Gisų́na ‘Asian’ the braided
Špe’óna ‘Mexican, Spaniard’ comes from French Espagnol
Wašíju sába ‘Black man, black whiteman
African’
Along with greetings, questions about a person’s tribal affiliation and origins are very
important aspects of a person’s social life. In Nakoda, the stative verb žéca ‘to be of a certain
kind’ is used when asking a person’s origin, or work. This verb requires the NV-conjugation
person markers ma- ‘1sg.’, ni- ‘2sg.’ and Ø- ‘3sg.’
žéca ‘s/he his of a certain kind’ (NV-conjugation, Class 4)

Singular Plural
žemáca ‘I am of that kind’ že’ų́cabi ‘we are of that kind’
ženíca ‘you are of that kind’ ženícabi ‘you all are of that kind’
žéca ‘s/he his of a certain kind’ žecábi ‘they are of that kind’
To indicate tribal affiliation use the verb žecá ‘s/he is of that kind’ after the name of the
tribe of nation you belong to.
Ex: Dágu ženíca he? ‘Of what (tribe, work, trade) are you?’
Wadópena žemáca no! ‘I am of the Wadopena Tribe!’
Céǧa K’ína žemáca no! ‘I am of the Carry-the-Kettle Tribe!’
Dágu žéca he? ‘What (tribe, work, trade) is s/he?’

Wíyą né žéca he? ‘This woman is of what kind?’
Dágu žécabi he? ‘What (tribe, work, trade) are they?’
Ženíca he? ‘Are you of that kind, tribe?’

Že’ų́cabi no! ‘We are of that kind!’
Beside the word tiwáhe ‘family’ there are others nouns which refer to different sizes of
human groupings. Oyáde can be heard in ceremonial contexts such as when referring to the kúši
wanáǧi oyáde ‘Grandmother Spirit Nation’ or the į́ yą oyáde ‘Stone Nation.’
TRANSITIVE VERB INFLECTIONS: -CI- ‘I ON YOU’AND -MAYA- ‘YOU ON ME’
The last inflections to be studied are the I on you set. To indicate an action of the 1st person
singular on the 2nd person singular, the single form -ci- is used. Basically, -ci- indicates that I, the
1st person, am the subject, and that you, the 2nd person, are the object. The transitive inflection
that indicates the you (subject) on me (object) relation is indicated by two elements: -ma- + -ya-
 120
as in mayák’u ‘you give it to me.’ As seen in Unit 8, -ma- is the stative NV-conjugation marker
for 1st person, while -ya- is the active regular stem marker for 2nd person.
teȟína ‘s/he cherishes him/her/it’

> tecíȟina ‘I cherish you’
> temáyaȟina ‘you cherish me’
naȟ’ų ‘s/he hears, listens to him/her/it’

> nacíȟ’ų ‘I hear you, listen to you’
> namáyaȟ’ų ‘you hear me, listen to me’
snohyá ‘s/he knows him/her/it’

> snohcíya ‘I know you’
> snohmáyaya ‘you know me’
However, some verbs undergo unpredictable sound changes which have to be

memorized. For example, wąyága ‘s/he sees him/her/it’ is a Y-stem verb which requires a
change of -y- to -mn- ‘1st sg.’ when inflected with -ci- ‘I on you.’ Thus, for this verb there are
two markers indicating the 1st person as underlined.
wąyága ‘s/he sees him/her/it’

> wącímnaga ‘I see you’ {wą- cí- mnaga}
see- 1SUBJECT/2OBJECT- 1SG- see
> wąmáyayaga ‘you see me’
This verb is very frequent since it is used in greetings: Dąyą̨́ wącímnagįkte no! ‘It’s good
to see you!’; Aké wącímnagįkte no! ‘I’ll see you again!’
The verb k’ú ‘s/he gives it to him/her/it’ also undergoes a sound change but only for the I
on you form. More precisely, the sound [k] of the stem changes to [c]: thus ci- + -k’ú- = ci-c’ú ‘I
give it to you.’ This change does not apply to the you on I form.
k’ú ‘s/he gives it to him/her/it’

> cic’ú ‘I give it to you’ sound change
> mayák’u ‘you give it to me’ no sound change
Ex: Miní cic’ų́kta. ‘I’ll give you water.’

Mázaska mayák’ųkta he? ‘Are you going to give me money?’
Mázaska mayák’u he? ‘Did you give me money?’
ASPECTUAL MARKERS
The grammatical category of tense relates generally to three different eras: past, present, and
future. We already know that Nakoda, unlike English, does not have obligatory markers of tense.
One can express that something happened in the past with adverbs like waną̨́gaš ‘long time ago’,
but there is no such markers of past tense as that of English -ed. However in Nakoda marks
 121
modality (if a sentence is a declaration or and order, or if it is uncertain, obtained by hearsay,

etc.) as well as aspect. Aspect is a grammatical notion that relates to the inner temporal
organization of a situation (Trask, 1993). For example in English the neutral, progressive or
perfective aspects are expressed with auxiliaries and and inflections like -ed and -ing.
TENSE ASPECT EXAMPLES

present neutral She writes a letter.
past neutral She wrote a letter.
future neutral She will write a letter.
present progressive She is writing a letter.

past progressive She was writing a letter.
future progressive She will be writing a letter.
present progressive She has slept all day.

past progressive She had slept a lot already when I came in.
future progressive She will have slept if you get there late.
Nakoda marks different types of aspects on the verb, but not tenses. In other words for a
Nakoda speakers it does not matter when something happened (past tense), but if it is still
happening (progressive aspect) or if it usually happens (habitual aspect), or if it is happening
over and over again (durative aspect). In this section we will study a few of the aspectual
markers: enclitic (an element that attaches on a verb but which carry no accent), and particle
(independent word).
1) -S’A ‘HABITUAL ASPECT’
In Unit 10 we saw that the enclitic -s’a- meant ‘agent, one who does X’. This element can also
be used on verbs to indicate that and action is done continuously (i.e. one does it all the time) but
with some temporal boundedness. For example we can say that ‘he dances all the time’ but in
reality that person has to stop in order to eat and sleep. This is what is implied by “temporal
boundedness”. This enclitic always follows the plural -bi.
wacíbi ‘they dance’ > wacíbis’a ‘they dance all the time’
maníbi ‘they walk’ > maníbis’a ‘they walk all the time’
wódabi ‘they eat all the time’ > wódabis’a ‘they eat all the time’
The habitual -s’a- can also occur on stative verbs and indicates that an entity has a
permanent quality. It is used in superlative construction such as the tallest man.
Ex: Cą́ ptéjenas’a ‘the shortest tree’

Wįcá ptéjenas’a ‘the shortest man’
Note that taken out of context one cannot tell if the word is a noun (i’és’a ‘a talker, a
blabbermouth’) or a verb (i’és’a ‘s/he talks all the time’) since they have the exact same form.
 122
Here are a few active verbs with -s’a-.
2) -HĄ- ‘CONTINUATIVE ASPECT’
This enclitic indicates that a given quality, usually express by a stative verb, is permanent or
continuous with no temporal boundedness. If you have small hands then this is a permanent
condition and it doesn’t change. Speakers often use -hą- to express the fact that their ethnicity
cannot be altered. You’re Nakoda and this is a continuous state that cannot be altered ‘I am being
a Nakoda person’
Ex: Nakón-emácahą. ‘I am Nakoda.’

Ti’óba yušpáhą? ‘Is the door opened?’
Note that -hą ‘continuative’ can also attach on adverbs like hą̨́da ‘when’ yielding hą̨́dahą
‘whenever’ to indicate multiple occurrences of an event, as shown by the following examples.
Ex: Sipátąga ksumáya hą́da, mawánišį no ‘When/after I hurt my toe, I couldn’t walk!’
Iyógipimayaya jé nén yahí hą́dahą. ‘You always make me happy whenever you
come.’
3) -GA- ‘DURATIVE ASPECT’

This enclitic indicates that an action is done over a stretch of time with temporal boundedness.
The action can be repetitive or continous. This enclitic can also be used with impersonal weather
verbs. This element changes in -ge- when followed by an ablauting suffix. Note that often times
the modality particle jé is also used along the enclitic -ga-.
i’á ‘s/he talks with him/her’ > i’ága ‘s/he discusses with him/her’ (continously)
wašténa ‘s/he likes it’ > waštégena ‘s/he likes it constantly’
Ex: Dágu dókanųga? ‘What have you been doing (for all this time)?’
Táȟca owánįktaga no! ‘I looked for a deer for a long time.’
Mitákona! Ya’úbi hą́dahą ‘My friends whenever you all come, I always like
waštéwagena jé. it.’
Waná waníyeduga! ‘Now it’s winter for good!’
4) -CUNA- ‘KEEP ON DOING, REPETITIVE’
This suffix attaches attaches on action verbs. We know it is a suffix and not an enclitic because
the 3rd person plural subject -bi- is inserted inside the suffix -cuna- such as -cu-bi-na-. This is not
possible with enclitics which are more loosely tacked on the verb.
Ex: A’ótacuna. ‘He kept on shooting at it.’
 123
A’ótacubina. ‘They kept on shooting at it.’

Wáhįhącuna. ‘It keeps snowing.’
Ąbéyes’a įwáȟącuna. ‘I kept on lauging all throughtout the day.’
Hoȟpácuna. ‘He is coughing all the time.’
Žé ecų́cuna. ‘He did that over and over again’
5) JE ‘ALWAYS’
The modality particle jé is used to indicate that something occurs habitually. It carries its own
accent. Some speakers say it indicates “past tense” since habits can only be built up with past
experiences. It usually occurs at the end of a sentence.
Ex: Ahópa gicí ma’ų́nibi jé. ‘We always walk with respect.’
Iná íš adé nakón-i’ábi jé. ‘My mother and my father always spoke Nakoda.’
Mitúgaši waną́gaš i’á cén ‘I heard my grandfather speak it thus long ago.’
nawáȟ’ų jé.
Mitášųga gicí iwá’a jé. ‘I always talk with my horse.’
Ą́ba hą́da įštíma jé. ‘He always slept during daytime.’
Jé also appears in some interjections like Hą̨́ jé! ‘Yes, ok, mmh, of course!’ and Hą̨́ jé
žécen! ‘Yes, ok, so’.
 124
EXERCISES
a) My father is of the Wadopena tribe._______________________________________________
b) I know you guys, you live in Carry-The-Kettle.______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
c) Hi! my friend. Come and eat with me._____________________________________________
d) Do you know me?_____________________________________________________________
e) You should not do it!__________________________________________________________
f) She is dancing with her husband._________________________________________________
g) I want to play with that boy._____________________________________________________
h) Do you want to play with that girl?_______________________________________________
i) Do you all love me?____________________________________________________________
2) Fill in the following I/you forms for the following transitive verbs (e.g. I like you, you like
me)
I on you (sg.) you (pl.) on me

-teȟina- ‘to love’
-snohya- ‘to know’
-k’u- ‘to give’
-wok’u- ‘to feed’
-naȟ’ų- ‘to hear’
-iyáksamkiya- ‘to
train’
 125
3) Match the following Nakoda words with their English translation.
Téhąn Nakóda Įhą́ktųwąna minítąga wiwí wakpá cą́

I’ášija wasú hįhą́ naȟ’ų́ bahá ocą́gu oná
iý ą Lakóta Maȟpíyato Wašíju ošíjeja amáȟpiya
mąkáži ą́ba ú Šahíya Sihásaba maȟpíyato Wašíju sába
‘Black man, African’ _______________ ‘Stoney Nakoda’ _______________
‘Whiteman’ _______________ ‘Dakota’ _______________
‘Yanktonai Dakota’ _______________ ‘Lakota’ _______________
‘Cree’ _______________ ‘hill’ _______________
‘sand’ _______________ ‘tree, wood’ _______________
‘stone’ _______________ ‘road’ _______________
‘lake’ _______________ ‘river’ _______________
‘Blackfoot’ _______________ ‘Chippewa, German’ _______________
‘Arapaho’ _______________ ‘it is a blue sky’ _______________
‘it is dawn’ _______________ ‘it is a storm’ _______________
‘it is cloudy’ _______________ ‘it is hailing’ _______________
‘prairie fire’ _______________ ‘s/he hears it’ _______________
4) Translate these sentences in Nakota and add the correct aspectual enclitic on the verbs.
They will always be Chinese.______________________________________________________
They are constantly talking to him.__________________________________________________
Yesterday they slept for a long time.________________________________________________
What have they been doing for all this time?__________________________________________
I’m getting tired now.____________________________________________________________
 126
 127
UNIT 13
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Horse vocabulary
 Words related to hunting activities
GRAMMAR
 Sentences with want + verb
 Sentences with štén ‘if, when’ and hą̨́dahą ‘whenever’
 Inflections of transitive verbs: -wįca- ‘3rd person plural object’
DIALOGUES
Mázaska óda wįcáwak’ú. I gave them a lot of money.

Dágucén wįcáyak’ú he? Why did you give it to them?
Omágiyabi hą́da mázaska wįcáyak’ú. Whenever they help me, I give them money.
Míš edáhą wacíga no! I want some too!
Šų́gatąga nitáwabi he? Do you own horses?

Hą́, šų́gatąga wikcémnabi, šųkwíyena, Yes, I have ten horses, a mare and a colt too. I
šųȟpéna iš́ wįcámnuha. Dąyą́ train them well. Do you see that appaloosa
iyáksamwįcawakiya no! Šųknídeska gá over there? Would you love to ride it?
wąnága he? Agą́n-nągéȟtįya he?
Hą́! Yes!
Ak’í sába žé ecų́ wo! Use that black saddle!
Háu koná! Dokén ya’ų́ he? Hello friend! How it is going?

Dąyą́ wa’ų́ no! Hąyákena taȟcíjana I’m doing well! Early this morning a saw a
iyúhana wąwícamnaga. herd of deer.
Duktén nážįbi-c’ehą he? Where were they standing?
Wakpá gakná nážįbi. Ahą́zi hą́da yatką́bi. They were standing beside the river. Whenever
it is dusk they drink.
Aké nená onébi yacíga he? Do you want to go look for them again?
Hą́, waná ųgíyįkte no! Táȟca wąží ktébi Yes, let’s go now. We want to kill a deer.
ųciǵ įkte no!
 128
VOCABULARY
The vocabulary pertaining to horses and horse culture is very rich in Nakoda, as in other
languages of the Plains. Many are formed with the noun šų̨́ga ‘dog’ contracted to šųk- ‘horse,
canine’.
Types of horses Horse equipment

šųgána ‘old horse’ ak’í ‘saddle’
šųȟpéna ‘colt’ ak’im ́ aheda ‘saddle blanket’
šųkhíto ‘blue horse’ ak’ih́ a ‘saddle bag’
šųkknékeǧa ‘pinto’ įką́ ‘reins’
šųknídeska ‘appaloosa’ įpáȟte ‘bridle’
šųksába ‘black horse’ mąs’ípaȟte ‘bite’
šųkwágįc’į ‘pack horse’ šųksíhamaza ‘horseshoe’
šųkwícaȟtįyaną ‘old stallion’ šųkšpą́ya ‘horse brand’
šųkwíyena ‘mare’ šųktáwap’i ‘collard’
šųk’ápeskana ‘palomino’ šųk’ij́ apšįde ‘horse whip’
Words related to hunting

caȟnísaba ‘gunpowder’ ptecónica ‘dry buffalo meat’
cótąga ‘gun’ ptehá ‘buffalo hide’
įwą́yage ‘gunsight’ sú ‘seed, bullet, pellet’
owícanebi ‘hunter’ tatą́gabina ‘buffalo herd’
The verbs describing horse activities are also numerous. We give here the main ones
along with their conjugation and some sentences.
agá n-yągá ‘s/he rides a horse’ (N- iyáksamkiya ‘s/he trains, teaches
conjugation, Class 3) him/her/it’ (regular stem, Class 1)
agą́n-mągá ‘I ride a horse’ iyáksamwakiya ‘I train him/her/it’
agą́n-nągá ‘you ride a horse’ iyáksamyakiya ‘you train him/her/it’
agą́n-ųyą́gabi ‘we ride a horse’ iyáksamųkiyabi ‘we train him/her/it’
agą́n-yągíkta ‘s/he will ride a horse’ iyáksamkiyįkta ‘s/he will train
him/her/it’
agą́n-yągábįktešį ‘s/he will not ride a iyáksamkiyabįktešį ‘s/he will not
horse’ train him/her/it’
 129
oné ‘s/he is looking for him/her/it’ wók’u ‘s/he feeds him/her/it’ (regular
owáne ‘I look for him/her/it’ wówak’u ‘I feed him/her/it’
oyáne ‘you look for him/her/it’ wóyak’u ‘you feed him/her/it’
o’ų́nebi ‘we look for him//her/it’ wó’ųk’ubi ‘we feed him/her/it’
oníkta ‘s/he will look for wók’ukta ‘s/he will feed him/her/it’
him/her/it’
oníktešį ‘they will not look for wók’ubįktešį ‘they will not feed
him/her/it’ him/her/it’
Ex: Agą́n-yągábi no! ‘Ride the horse!’

Šųkšká agą́n-mągíkta no! ‘I will ride a white horse!’
Mitášųga iyáksamwakiya. ‘I train my horse.’
Mína wąží oné. ‘He is looking for a particular knife.’

Táȟca owánįkte no! ‘I’ll look for a deer.’
Owáne né. ‘I looked for it’
Oyánįkta he? ‘Will you look for it?’
Táȟca o’ų́nįkta ga no! ‘We kept looking for a deer!’
Hąyákeji šų́gatąga žé wówak’ukta. ‘Tomorrow, I will feed that horse.’

Šų́gatąga nená wówįcak’u. ‘S/he feeds those horses.’
Hunting, fishing and berry picking are traditional activities that sustained the Nakoda and
all Indigenous people of the Americas for thousands of years. These are often heard in daily life
and we present here two of the most common verbs pertaining to hunting activities.
iyámekiya ‘s/he goes hunting’ kté ‘s/he kills him/her/it’ (regular

iyámewakiya ‘I went hunting’ wakté ‘I kill it’
iyámeyakiya ‘you went hunting’ yakté ‘you kill it’
iyáme’ųkiyabi ‘we went him/her/it’ ųktébi ‘we kill him/her/it’
iyámekiyįkta ‘s/he will go hunting’ ktíkta ‘s/he will kill him/her/it’
iyámekiyibįktešį ‘they will not go ktebįšį ‘they will not kill him/her/it’
hunting’
Ex: Hąyákeji štén iyámeyakíyįktešį no! ‘When it was morning you did not go hunting!’
Ktékta. ‘He will kill it.’
Táȟca ųkté waciǵ a. ‘We (two) want to kill a deer’
Madó žé wašíju kté. ‘The bear killed the Whiteman.’
 130
Né miyé wakté né. ‘I’m the one who killed it.’
SENTENCES EXPRESSING WANTING TO DO X
In the preceding units we have been looking at the structure of simple sentences containing only
one verb. In this unit, we study complex sentences that contain two clauses (i.e. two verbs). In
English, for example, the statement of wanting to do something as in Jim wants to swim implies
that a subject (Jim) has a desire (wants) to do something (to swim). The verb want is the verb of
the main clause, while the verb to swim is the verb of the subordinate clause. The latter functions
as the verbal complement (i.e. direct object) of the verb wants. In Nakoda, the complex idea of
wanting to do X is expressed differently than in English. There are three details to remember:
i) the verb cįgá ‘to want it’ (regular stem, Class 1) comes after the verbal complement
expressing the intended activity.
ii) the word to is expressed with the suffix -bi which is different from -bi ‘3rd plural’
or -bi ‘nominalizer’.
iii) the object (if any) comes first in the sentence.
Ex: Táȟca ktébi waciǵ a. ‘I want to kill a deer.’

deer kill.to I.want
Eyábi cįgábišį. ‘They don’t want to say it.

say.it they.don’t.want.
Žé ecų́bi ųwácįga. ‘We (two) don’t want to do that.’

that do.it we.don’t.want
Note that when -kta occurs the suffix -bi ‘to’ is not used. It should be kept in mind
however that some speakers don’t do not use the suffix -bi at all.
Ex: Tín’úkta cįgá. ‘S/he wants/intends to come in.’

in’come.will s/he.wants
Dágu yatką́ yacígabi? ‘What do you all want to drink?’

something drink.to you.pl.want
COMPLEX SENTENCES WITH THE CONDITIONAL ŠTÉN ‘IF, WHEN’
In English complex sentences expressing a condition and a consequence as in If I don’t wear my

coat, I’ll catch a cold or If I eat early, I’ll visit my friends the condition is encoded by if which is
placed before the first verb, while the consequence is expressed by will or’ll ‘future action’ and
appears after the second verb. We will say that the “if-clause” is subordinate and the “will-
clause” is the main clause, as in:
 131
[If I buy a horse], you’ll teach me how to ride.

[subordinate clause] main clause
The subordinate clause appears between brackets since it is optional and does not express
a complete idea, while the main clause does express a complete idea. In other words, the main
clause could be used alone as in You’ll teach me how to ride while this is not the case for the
subordinate clause *?If I buy a horse.
In Nakoda conditional sentences are formed by using the word štén ‘if, when’ which is
placed after the verb of the subordinate clause. The general template for conditional sentences is
the following:
(OBJECT) + SUBJECT + VERBSUBORDINATE + ŠTÉN + VERBMAIN
Wíyą žé teyáȟina štén, hįknáya wo!

[woman that you.love.her IF] marry.her imperative.sg
[subordinate clause IF] main clause
‘If you love that woman, marry her!’
Ex: Nodít’a štén, wóda wó! ‘If you are hungry, then eat!’
Huhúžubina wa’í štén, timáwaniḱ ta. ‘When I get to Regina, I will visit people.’
It is important to note that štén also means ‘when’ and expresses the idea of a potential
action that will happen in the future, or also a punctual action, as in:
When you come to the city bring your children with you. (potential action)
When it is Friday I play bingo. (punctual action)
The sentence template for this use of štén is exactly the same as shown above, except that
štén in the sense of ‘when’ (punctual) appears after nouns expressing days of the week (on
Sundays) or temporal adverbs (in the morning), as well as after the verb of a subordinate clause.
Here are a few examples to illustrate the ‘when’ meaning of štén:
1) ŠTÉN ‘when’ (punctual or potential action + -kta) in subordinate clause:
Ex: Įnib́ i ųgáǧabi štén, miní odá ųcígabi no! ‘When we make a sweat lodge, we want a
lot of water.’ (punctual)
Ą́bawaką ehą́’i štén, miciḱ ši tawij́ u ‘When it is [reaches] Sunday, my son and
gicí timáni ų́bįkta. his wife are coming to visit.’ (potential)
2) ŠTÉN ‘when’ (punctual or potential action + -kta) after days of the week or temporal adverbs.
It is often translated by ‘in, at, on, next’:
Ex: Hąyákena štén, aǧúyabi sága edáhą wacíga. ‘In the morning, I want some toasts.’
 132
Wiyódaȟą štén, aǧúyabi nagų́ waȟą́bi ‘At noon, we will eat bannock/bread
ųyúdabįkta. and soup.’
Ą́bawaką gicúni štén, owáyawa mníkta. ‘On Monday, I will go to school.’
Ą́bawaką štén, wa’úkta. ‘I will come on Sunday.’
COMPLEX SENTENCES WITH THE CONDITIONAL HĄ́ DAHĄ ‘WHENEVER’
In the previous section we saw that štén ‘if, when’ was used in sentences describing punctual or
potential actions. There is another word hą̨́dahą ~ hą̨́da ‘whenever’ that is used in complex
sentences to express a regularly occurring action, as in the following English examples:
Whenever she comes to visit me, we have a good chat.

Whenever it’s cold I wear my duffled boots.
Hą̨́dahą ‘whenever’ occurs in the same place as štén ‘if, when’, that is, before the verb of
the main clause or the time adverb. It is not always translated by whenever but also by a
preposition on, in, etc. This adverb — which is formed with the continuative aspectual suffix -hą
(see Unit 12) — indicates that something happens continuously, that is, on a regular basis.
Ex: Ą́ba yužáža hą́dahą, wamnúžaža ‘On Saturdays I wash all my stuff
hiḱ na wacówa’ųba. and do some baking.’
Ą́ba įzáptą hą́dahą, tanó yúdabišį. ‘Whenever it is Friday, they don’t eat meat.’
Timáhen wa’ų́ jé, ošíjeja tągán ‘Whenever there is a storm outside, I usually
hą́dahą. stay in my house.’
Dáguškibina tągán skádabi jé wáhįhą ‘Kids usually play outside, whenever it
hą́dahą. snows.’
INFLECTIONS OF TRANSITIVE VERBS: -WĮCA- ‘3RD PERSON PLURAL OBJECT’
In Unit 8 we studied the transitive inflections with a singular 3rd person object and noted that it
was expressed by a zero prefix (Ø) as in wak’ú ‘I give it to him’. The internal analysis of this
verb is as follows:
OBJECT + SUBJECT + VERB STEM

Ø- wa- k’ú
wak’ú ‘I give it to him/her’
When the object is a 3rd person plural the prefix -wįca- is used and placed before the
subject marker. Thus, if you want to say that you gave it to THEM, you add -wįca- in the object
slot, as in:
OBJECT + SUBJECT + VERB STEM

wįca- wa- k’ú
wįcáwak’u ‘I give it to them’
 133
However, there is a small quirk with these forms. When the subject is ‘1st pl’ (we) and the
object ‘3rd pl.’ (them), the order is:
SUBJECT + OBJECT + VERB STEM

ųgi- wįca- k’u
ųgíwįcawak’u ‘we give it to them’
and not OBJECT + SUBJECT. This special form of k’ú is underlined in the following table, along
with other verb paradigms.
-k’u- ‘to give it to someone’ -wąyaga- ‘to see someone/something’

(Regular stem, Class 1) (Y-stem, Class 2)
1sg wįcáwak’u ‘I give it to them’ wąwícamnága ‘I see them’
subject
2sg wįcáyak’u ‘you give it to them’ wąwícanaga ‘you see them’
subjet
3sg wįcák’u ‘he give it to them’ wąwícayaga ‘s/he sees them’
subject
1pl ųgíwįcak’ubi ‘we give it to them’ wąwíca’ųyagabi ‘we see them’
subject
2pl wįcáyak’ubi ‘you all give it to them’ wąwícanagabi ‘you all see them’
subject
3pl wįcák’ubi ‘they give it to them’ wąwícayagabi ‘they see them’
subject
-snohya- ‘to know him/her/it’ -ųspekiya- ‘to teach him/her/it’

(regular stem, Class 1) (regular stem, Class 1)
1sg snohwícawaya ‘I know them’ ųspéwįcawakiya ‘I teach them’
subject
2sg snohwícayaya ‘you know them’ ųspéwįcayakiya ‘you teach them’
subjet
3sg snohwįcáya ‘s/he knows them’ ųspéwįcakiya ‘s/he teaches them’
subject
1pl snohwíca’ųyabi ‘we know them’ ųspéwįca’ųkiyabi ‘we teach them’
subject
2pl snohwícayayabi ‘you all give it to ųspéwįcayakiyabi ‘you all teach them’
subject them’
3pl snohwícayabi ‘they know them’ ųspéwįcakiyabi ‘they teach them’
subject
Ex: Dágu nik’úbi he? ‘What did they give you?’
 134
Dágu wįcáyak’úbi he! ‘What did you give them?’

Mázaska óda mak’úbi. ‘They gave me a lot of money.’
Mázaska óda wįcáwak’ú. ‘I gave them a lot of money.’
Hąhébi wanáǧi wowícak’u. ‘S/he feeds the Night Spirits.’

Hąhébi wanáǧi wowícak’ubi. ‘Night Spirits Feeding ceremony’
Šų́gatągabi nená wąwícanaga. ‘Did you see those horses?’

Iyúhana gakí šóšobina wąwícayaga. ‘He saw a whole bunch of mules yonder.’
Šų́gatągabi nená wąníyagabi. ‘Those horses see you.’
Iyúhana snohwícayabi. ‘They know them all.’
Šų́gatąga ųspéwįcakiyebįšį no! ‘They didn’t teach the horses!’
Šų́gabi yámni wįcá‘ųyuhabi no! ‘We have three dogs!’

Mikúši ą́bahotųna agé nų́ba ‘My grandmother has twelve chickens.’
wįcáyuha.
Nągáhą né duwéni šų́gatąga ‘Nowadays none of us drives horse teams.’

ųwįcábasibišį.
 135
EXERCISES
a) Those horses saw you._________________________________________________________
b) The man trained many horses._________________________________________________
c) We gave them a lot of money._________________________________________________
d) If you come here, then you’ll ride a horse.________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
e) Whenever it rains, I play inside with my younger sister._______________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
f) My grandfather went hunting and he killed two deer and a duck._______________________
__________________________________________________________________________
g) If it rains, they will not go hunting._____________________________________________
2) Complete the following verb paradigms.
wok’ú kté k’ú

you on them,
FUT
he on them
he on them,
FUT/NEG
we on you NEG
 136
3) Match the following Nakoda words with their English translation.
iyámeyakiya agą́n-yągiḱ tešį ak’ih́ a įką́
caȟnísaba ptecónica agą́n-mągá šųknid́ eska
cótąga ptehá šųkhíto šųksába
owícanebi sú šųkšpą́ya šųksíhamaza
įwą́yage tatą́gašina šųkknékeǧa šųkwícaȟtįyaną
šųgána ak’í šųkwíyena taȟcá
‘horse brand’ ____________ ‘deer’ ____________
‘old stallion’ ____________ ‘mare’ ____________
‘pinto’ ____________ ‘horseshoe’ ____________
‘reins’ ____________ ‘bite’ ____________
‘appaloosa’ ____________ mąs’įpaȟte ____________
‘saddle bag’ ____________ ‘black horse’ ____________
‘old horse’ ____________ ‘blue horse’ ____________
‘seed, bullet, pellet’ ____________ ‘gunsight’ ____________
‘gunpowder’ ____________ ‘buffalo meat’ ____________
‘buffalo hide’ ____________ ‘gun’ ____________
‘buffalo robe’ ____________ ‘I ride a horse’ ____________
‘saddle’ ____________ ‘you went hunting’ ____________
‘s/he will not ride a ____________ ‘hunter’ ____________

horse’
 137
4) Translate the following story in English.
Hąyákeja štén iyámewakíyįkta.
Táȟca owánįkte no!
Wąží wąmnága hą́da, waktékte no!
Duwé iyúhana tanó cic’úbįkte no!
Midáguyabi iṕ ibi hą́da wašté įštimabįkte no!
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5) Look at the compounds in the horse vocabulary section at the beginning of this unit and try to
analyse the words used in these complex words.
 138
 139
UNIT 14
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 More transitive and intransitive verbs
 More adverbs and question words
 Expressing doubt, certainty, reliability, ability, obligation
GRAMMAR
 Gicí ‘with someone’
 Reciprocal -gici- ‘action on one another’
 Modality particles
 Specific, unspecific objects
DIALOGUES
Šų́ga tą́ga wąží gakí nážį. There is a big dog standing over there.
Waktá! Nína šikná oti’iǵ a! Niyúde no! Beware! I think he is very angry! He’ll eat
Omáyagaȟniǧa he? you! Do you understand me?
Hą́! Waná ųkní duká! Ok! We should go home now.
Dágu žé nayáȟ́’ų he? Did you hear that?

Hą́! Gakí ot’í apá stéya. Yes! It seems like it is thundering over there.
Hukwááá! Mitą́kši žewágiya cén tągán škáda! Oh! I should tell my (male) younger sister
because she is playing outside!
Duwé gicí yahí? Who did you arrive with?

Micij́ a gicí wahí. Įjámna štén nén ųgíštima I came here with my child. Because there is a
epcá. O’iš́ tima tíbi wąží iyéwaya duká no! blizzard, I guess we (two) will sleep here
tonight. I have to find a hotel!
Gakí owóde tíbi gakná yuką́. There is one over there, beside the restaurant.
Mitą́kši! Dágu awácąni he? Dágucén yacéya Little sister! What do you have on your mind?
he? Why are you crying?
Hokšína wąží awácąmi. Ȟtánihą iyáya cén I have a boy on my mind. He left yesterday and
nągáhą cądémasija. this is why I’m sad now.
Waná ahą́zi no! Yakní wo! It is dusk already! Come home!
Hiyá! Omáwaníkta. No! I’ll go for a walk.
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VOCABULARY
Vocabulary
agú ‘s/he brings it’ (Class 1) įšną́na ‘alone’ (ADV)
apá ‘s/he hits, knocks him/her/it’ (Class 1) oǧų́ǧa ‘s/he wakes up’ (Class 4)
a’í ‘s/he brings him/her/it there’ (Class 1) ománi ‘s/he travels, s/he goes for a walk
outside’ (Class 1)
cądésija ‘s/he is sad’ (Class 4) o’iš́ tima tíbi ‘hotel’ (N)
dágucén ‘why’ (ADV) šikná ‘s/he is mad, angry’ (Class 1)
hústaga ‘s/he/it is lean, skinny’ (Class 4) tehąda ‘far, long ago’ (ADV)
iyéska ‘s/he converses, interprets’ (Class 1) yuką́ ‘s/he/it exists’ (VI)11
iyéya ‘s/he finds him/her/it’ (Class 1) ų́s ‘using it’ (CONJ)
įjáhi ‘it is mixed together with’ (Class 4) wací ‘mind, plan, goodwill’ (N)
Verbs that express processes involving the mind such as thinking about, wondering about
are numerous in Nakoda. Firs the noun wacį́ ‘mind’ can be possessed using -ta- as in mitáwacį
‘my mind’, nitáwacį ‘your mind’. Below you will find a list of some of them along with the way
they are be inflected.
awácį ‘s/he has something on the ogáȟniǧa ‘s/he understands

mind’ (irregular stem, Class 3) him/her/it’ (regular stem, Class 1)
awácąmi ‘I have it on the mind’ owágaȟniǧa ‘I understand him/her/it’
awácąni ‘you have it on the mind’ oyágaȟniǧa ‘you understand him/her/it’
ųgáwacįbi ‘we have it on the mind’ ųgógaȟniǧabi ‘we understand him/her/it’
awácįkta ‘s/he will not have it on ogáȟniǧakta ‘s/he will understand
his/her mind’ him/her/it’
awácįbįktešį ‘they did not have it on ogáȟniǧabįktešį ‘they will not
their mind’ understand him/her/it’
iyúkcą ‘s/he thinks about someone’ (Y- wįyúkcą ‘s/he is thinking’ (Y-stem,
stem, Class 2) Class 2)
imnúkcą ‘I think about someone’ wįmnúkcą ‘I’m thinking’
inúkcą ‘you think about someone’ wįnúkcą ‘you are think’
ųgíyukcąbi ‘we think about someone’ wį’ų́yukcąbi ‘we are thinking’
iyúkcąkta ‘s/he will think about wįyúkcąkta ‘s/he is not thinking’
someone’
iyúkcąbįktešį ‘they did not think about wįyúkcąbįktešį ‘they are not thinking’
someone’
11
Note that a few compounds are built with the verb yuką̨́ and in these cases it means something like ‘it has, is
accompanied’: heyúką ‘s/he/it has horns’ (VI), wíyaga wapáha sįdé yuké ‘war bonnet with trailer’ (N), hopútįhį yuką̨́
‘catfish’ (N).
 141
Ex: Tawácį ų́s iyéskabi. ‘They converse using their mind.’

Dóken įnúkcą he? ‘What are you thinking about?’
Mikúši dóken i’ábi žé įyúkcą wa’ų́. ‘I’m thinking of how my grandmother
spoke.’
Nągáhą né wáhįhąkta įnúkcą he? ‘Do you think it will snow today?’
Nakón-i’ábi ogáȟniǧa jónanaȟ. ‘He understands Nakoda a little bit.’
Nakón gitána owágaȟniǧa duká iwá’ešį. ‘I barely understand Nakoda but I don’t
speak it.’
Makóce agą́n ų́bi žé, né waką́ įknúkcąbi. ‘This land they live on, they think of it as
holy.’
GICÍ ‘WITH’
To indicate that a person is doing an activity with somebody else, as in the English sentence I’ll
play with Charles, the postposition gicí ‘with’ is used. Gicí occurs before the verb, but after the
noun (hence the label “postposition”). However, it should be kept in mind that the preceding
noun is often deleted resulting in the apparition of gicí in the first position. A locational adverb
such as nén ‘here’ can also intervene between gicí and the verb.
Ex: Mitákona gicí waškáda. ‘I play with my friend.’

Gicí škáda. ‘S/he plays with him/her.’
Gicí wanówą. ‘I sing with him/her.’
Gicí wawáci. ‘I dance with him/her.’
Mitáwįju gicí nén wahí. ‘I arrived here with my wife.’

Duwé gicí yahí? ‘Who did you arrive with?’
Nisų́ga duwé gicí škáda? ‘Whom is your little brother playing with?’
James cihítku gicí kní. ‘James came home with his son.’
Gicí én wa’ų́šį. ‘I wasn’t there with her.’
The postposition gicí can also link two nouns and mean ‘accompanied with’, or ‘among a
group’.
Ex: Ȟuȟnáȟyabi gicí asą́bi mak’u. ‘Give me coffee with milk.’

Škoškóbena gicí įjáhi. ‘It’s mixed with bananas.’
Wįcá žé duwé he, wíyą žená ‘Who is that man standing with those women?’
gicí nážį no!
RECIPROCAL -GICI- / -CI- ‘ACTION DONE TO ONE ANOTHER’
While gicí ‘with’ is a postposition that occurs after a noun and before an intransitive verb, there
is a homophonous verbal prefix that is very similar in form -gici- (or its short variant -ci-) and
meaning, indicating that an ‘action is done to one another’. The base verb is always transitive
(subject+object) and the resulting verb is intransitive (subject only). These verbs are always in
the plural form, since the singular persons would be expressed with the reflexive ‘I was myself’,
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‘he loves himself’, etc. The short variant occurs when the stem starts with gi.
long i) wąyága ‘s/he sees him/her/it > wągíciknagabi ‘they see each other’
short ii) gizá ‘s/he fights him/her’ > gicízabi ‘they fight one another’
gíza ‘s/he fights him/her/it’ ógiya ‘s/he helps him/her’

ųgíciza ‘we two fought each other’ ųgógiciya ‘we two helped each other’
ųgícizabi ‘we all fought one another’ ųgógiciyabi ‘we helped one other’
gicízabi ‘they fought each other’ ógiciyabi ‘they helped each other’
wąyága ‘s/he sees him/her/it’ (change of y to giksúya ‘s/he remembers him/her/it’

kn)
wą’ų́giciknaga ‘we two see each other’ ųgíciksuya ‘we two remember each other’
wą’ų́giciknagabi ‘we all see one another’ ųgíciksuyabi ‘we all remember one another’
wągíjiknagabi ‘they’ll see each other’ gicíksuyabi ‘they remember each other’
Ex: Wįcá žé Kelly dáguya. ‘That man is related to Kelly.’

Dágugiciyabi. ‘They are related to one another.’
Dág’ųgiciyabi. ‘We are related to one another.’
MODALITY PARTICLES
Modality particles are small words that express the speaker’s commitment and knowledge about
the truth value of his/her sentence, that is, whether s/he is certain or not about what is said, or if
s/he was told about it, but also social obligation and ability. This section is based partly on Linda
Cumberland’s doctoral thesis A Grammar of Assiniboine: a Language of the Northern Plains
(2005:313-343).
1) DUKÁ expresses an obligation or the duty to do something. It often occurs after the verb. The
following examples indicate that the intensifier -ȟ (seen in Unit 10) can also be suffixed to dukáȟ
in order to expresses a stronger feeling.
Ex: Táȟca owánįkta duká no! ‘I had to look for a deer!’

Úktešį dukáȟ. ‘S/he should not have come!!!’
Úkta duká. ‘S/he should have come.’
Žé ecų́ duká no! ‘S/he should do that!’
Žé ecų́ duká wo! ‘You should do that!’
Nína nišit́ ų cén aktága duká wo! ‘You’re very fat thus you should run!’
Niyé nihústaga óda wóda duká wo! ‘As for you you’re skinny you should eat more!’
 143
Note that duká also functions as a conjunction with the meaning ‘but’ as in:
Ex: Mihų́ owáyawa žéci amá’įkta, ‘My mother will take me over there to school over,
duká aké cída kníkta. but she will go home again.’
Some speakers from Carry-the-Kettle use céyaga instead, but both have roughly the same
meaning:
Ex: Ú céyaga! ‘He should come.’

Ú céyagįšį! ‘He should not come.’
2) OTÍ’ĮGA expresses a guess based on mental inference or some knowledge of the state of
affair.
Ex: Úkta otí’įga. ‘It seems like he will come.’

Úktešį otí’įga. ‘It seems that he will not come.’
Šikná otí’įga. ‘S/he seems angry.’
Some speakers use stéya instead:
Ex: Šikná stéya no! ‘S/he seems angry!’

Aké osní no, wáhįhąkta stéya no! ‘It is cold again, it seems it will snow.’
Ąbá né Huhúžubina’ekta ‘I am going to go to Regina today. It seems like
imnámnįkta. Maǧážukte stéya no! it’s going to rain!’
Ąbá né nína mášta, amáȟpiya stéya. ‘It’s very hot today, but it seems like it’s cloudy.’
3) GEPCÁ(M) ~ EPCÁ expresses an opinion based on facts.
Ex: Nįšną́na gepcám no! ‘I think you’re alone!’

Nįšną́na gepcá ya’ų́. ‘It seems you are like that, alone.’
Táȟca óda gakí tehą́da gepcám. ‘I thought there was a lot of deer over there in a
distance.’
4) HŲŠTÁ expresses an opinion based on secondhand narrative or on hearsay. Often times the
verb eyábi ‘they said’ is used instead:
Ex: Wažíyadą’ektá nína wáhįhą hųštá. ‘It is said that it is snowing very hard in the north.’
Wįcá né yatkés’a wána tawij́ u apá ‘It is said that this man drinks a lot and that now he
hųštá no! is beating up his wife!’
Waną́gaš nécen eyábi no! ‘This is what they said long ago!’
5) ŲKÁŠĮ means ‘if only, I wish’ and expresses the fact that an event is unexpected, contrary to
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facts or desires, as in I wish he’d done it (but the facts tell me he did not). This form seems to
have a contracted version ų̨́š:
Ex: Mázaska mnuhá ųkášį no! ‘If only I had money!’

Maǧážu ųkášį no! ‘If only it rained!’
Ą́ba wašté ųkášį. ‘If only it was a nice day./ I wish it was a nice day.’
Regína ocą́gu wašté ųkášį. ‘If only Regina roads were good (but they are not)’
Mína mnuhá ų́š. ‘I wish I had a knife!’
6) WACÍ means that something is just about to happen, that the speaker feels an event is
imminent. This particle is linked to the noun wacį́ ‘mind, plan, goodwill’, tawácį ‘his/her mind’
and the verb awácį ‘s/he wonders about it/has it on his/her mind’.
Ex: Maǧážu wací no! ‘It is about to rain!’

Dágúškina oǧų́ǧakta wací no! ‘The baby is about to wake up!’
Cíjabi ceyábįkta wací. ‘The children are about to cry.’
Tawácį ų́s iyéskabi. ‘They converse using their mind.’
SPECIFIC, UNSPECIFIC OBJECTS
In English to convey the idea that you want a given type of car, one uses the definite article the,
but if any car works then the indefinite article a is used. One can also omit the indefinite article
and still get the indefinite meaning, especially for mass nouns.
Specific Unspecific
I want that car. I want a car.
I want the car you mentioned. I want love not friendship!
I want one all-dressed pizza. I want a drink.
I want that coffee. (specific flavor) I want coffee.
Notice that the use of a number such as one also indicates specificity in English. The
marking of specificity works in a similar way in Nakoda. There are three general ways to
indicate that:
1) Demonstrative žé or no demonstrative plus intensifier -ȟ (specific)
Ex: Mína žé ayágu wo! ‘You bring that knife.’ (discussed about earlier on)
Mína yuháȟ he? ‘Do you have the (specific) knife?’
Ocą́guȟ žé. ‘That’s the road.’
2) Demonstrative né or no demonstratives at all (unspecific)
Ex: Mína né agú wo! ‘Bring a knife.’
 145
Mína ayagú wo! ‘You bring a knife.’

Mína owánįkta. ‘I am looking for a knife.’
Mína nuhá he? ‘Do you have a knife?’
Mína mak’úkta no! ‘He will give me a knife.’
3) Number wąží ‘one, a’ (unspecific)
Ex: Ą́ba né iná pasú agástaga wąží co’ųba. ‘Today mother is roasting a turkey.’
Wįcíjana gá búza wąží k’úbi. ‘They gave that girl over there a cat.’
Škoškóbena wąží yudá. ‘He is eating a banana.’
Wamní pá skána wąží wąmnága. ‘I see a bald eagle.’
Búza zí wąží mnuhá. ‘I have a brown cat’
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EXERCISES
1) Translate the following sentences in Nakota.
a) What are they thinking about?___________________________________________________
b) I have this girl on my mind._____________________________________________________
c) He understands a little bit of English.______________________________________________
d) I don’t understand you._________________________________________________________
e) The boys don’t understand them._________________________________________________
f) My daughter will understand that lady._____________________________________________
g) I guess it’ll rain.______________________________________________________________
h) He has to do it._______________________________________________________________
i) We should do that now!_________________________________________________________
j) It is said that he did not do it.____________________________________________________
k) I wish I understood Chinese.____________________________________________________
l) Do you have the money?________________________________________________________
m) That’s the man (I’m talking about)._______________________________________________
n) Where is the car?_____________________________________________________________
o) Give me a smoke!_____________________________________________________________
p) I guess she did bring the car.____________________________________________________
q) Wow! I saw two wolves!_______________________________________________________
r) Wait! I’ll do it myself._________________________________________________________
s) Beware! He is coming here!____________________________________________________
t) Oh my! This horse is big._______________________________________________________
u) I brought a cake.______________________________________________________________
 147
2) Complete the following paradigms.
ogáȟniǧa iyúkcą
I on them, FUT
they on you, NEG
he on him, FUT, NEG
they on us, FUT, NEG
you all on me, FUT
I on you
they on us, FUT, NEG
3) Match the following Nakota sentences with their translation.
a) Wįcíjana žé gicí waškáda. ___ ‘He is standing with his horse!’
b) Šų́ga gicí škáda. ___ ‘I’ll dance with her.’
c) Mitímno gicí wanówįkta. ___ ‘We were not here with her.’
d) Gicí wawácikta. ___ ‘Who did you arrive with?’
e) Micįkši gicí wa’í. ___ ‘I arrived there with my son.’
f) Tašų́ga žé gicí nážį no! ___ ‘I’ll sing with her oldest brother.’
g) Duwé gicí yahí? ___ ‘You play with this girl.’
h) Nisų́ga duwé gicí škáda? ___ ‘Whom is your little brother playing with?’
i) Cuwit́ ku gicí kní. ___ ‘He came home with his daughter.’
j) Gicí én ų’ų́bišį. ___ ‘S/he is playing with a dog.’
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 149
UNIT 15
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 More transitive verbs
 More objects and people
 Interjections
GRAMMAR
 Instrumentals
 Indefinite prefix wa-
 Locatives a-, o-, į-
 Nominalizing ablaut and zero nominalization
DIALOGUES
Bang! Dókų he? Bang! What happened?

Dágunišį! Įdú tadé né tiyóba žé natága. Nothing! It’s just the wind that closed the door
shut.
Iyáya hiḱ na tiyóba, įwáknage iš́ waštéya Go and shut the door and the windows
natága wo! properly!
Hįįį! Dágu dókanų? Oh my! What happened to you?

Íyą wąmną́ga híkna nawápsija cén sipátąga I saw a stone and I kicked it and this is why my
ksumáye no! big toe is hurting now.
Aké ecų́šį! Don’t do it again!
Macą́deskuya néci ú wo! Tecíȟina cén nína My sweetheart, come here! I will squeeze you
yut’ícízįkte no! real tight because I love you very much.
Waná hiną́ga! Togáhe dáguškina awą́mnaga. Wait now! First I’ll take a peek at the baby.
Hą́ tehą́n yągábi wacígišį no! Ok! I don’t want to wait too long!
Ȟtánihą iyámewakiya hiḱ na táȟca. Yesterday I went hunting and I saw a deer.
Žé yakté-c’ehą he? Did you kill it?
Hą́! Awá’ota híkna gakí wot’á. Yes! I shot it and it died over there in a
distance.
 150
INTERJECTIONS
Interjections like Mom! Hey! Shut up! Beware! etc., are words used to warn, salute or call out
someone. In other words, interjections are short words that keep the channel of communication
open. Usually interjections are short and cannot be analyzed internally. In Nakoda some
interjections are used only by male speakers and others only by female speakers.
Interjections
Ahé! (expression of humility used at the beginning of prayers or songs)
Dágeyešį! ‘Shh! Shut up! Don’t talk!
Dágunišį! ‘Nothing!’
Eyáš aké ‘Not again!’
Hą́ jé! ‘Yes, ok, mmh!’
Hą́ jé žécen! ‘Yes, ok, so’
Hiną́ga! ‘Wait!’
Hiyá ‘No!’
Hií !́ ‘Oh my!’ (women’s expression of surprise)
Hukwá waná he? ‘What’s happening now?’
nų́ške … ‘euh’ (when a speaker is thinking about what to say)
Wągá! ‘as if’ (it was true)’
Waná hiną́ga! ‘Wait now!’
Waktá šiwákna! ‘Beware I am angry!’
Ex: Dágeyešį! Dáguškina žé gídąȟ įštíma’. ‘Shhh! The baby is finally sleeping.’
Hįį! Naȟą́ȟ yazą́bi. ‘Gee! They are still sick!’
Hįįįį! Ą́ba nén osní. ‘Oh my! It is cold today!’
Dagų́ dókanų? Dágunišį! ‘What are you doing? Nothing!’
Other words that differ according to the gender of the speaker include the interjections
hukwáá ‘For heaven’s sake!; Oh my God!’ which are used by male speakers to indicate surprize.
Positive interjections like hók ‘yes (male speaker)’ have a gender neutral counterpart hą̨́ ‘yes.’
Finally, expressions like Háu kóna! ‘Hello friend!’ are usually employed between male speakers
only in some Nakoda communities.
INSTRUMENTALS
In English to express the idea that someone is doing something with an instrument (e.g. saw,
hammer) or a body part (e.g. with one’s teeth, or feet), or simply that natural forces are acting
upon something one prepositional phrases or verbs that express a movement of the body, as in:
He hit him with a bat.

She cut it with a jigsaw.
I poked the fire with a stick.
 151
I opened that beer bottle with my teeth.

The elephant crushed the dumb tourist. (body weight)
I jerk it back and forth until it snapped. (hand movement)
In Nakoda the idea of using an instrument or a body part to perform an action is

expressed with instrumentals prefixes. These elements are attached roots which cannot be used
alone. In order to have a general idea of instrumental formation look at the following table which
displays all the instrumentals attached to a single root -ksa ‘to cut’. Note that most instrumental
verbs belong to Class 1 and 2. This section is based on Cumberland (2005:227-231)
INSTRUMENTAL EXAMPLE
ya- ‘with the mouth, teeth; by speech’ yaksá ‘s/he bites it off’ (Class 2)
ga- ‘with stricking, sharp blow; force of gaksá ‘s/he cuts it with a tool’ (Class 1)
the wind’
na- ‘action of the foot, leg; internal force, naksá ‘s/he breaks it forcefully’ (Class 1)
by itself’
ba- ‘by pushing, poking’ ---
yu- ‘by pulling, action of the hand, yuksá ‘s/he cuts it by hand (e.g. with
general causation’ scissors)’ (Class 2)
wo-, mo-, bo- ‘action from a distance, by woksá ‘s/he breaks his/her word, betrays’
shooting, pointed object, force of wind, boksá ‘s/he breaks it by pushing with an
water, accidental collision’ instrument (e.g. with a truck)’ (Class 1)
1) YA- ‘with the mouth, teeth; by speech’. These verbs are all of Class 2, as in mnašpé, etc.
yat’á ‘s/he kills it by biting, by inhaling or ingesting poison’

yaȟnéja ‘s/he tears it with the teeth’
yašpé ‘s/he brakes, cracks it open with the teeth (e.g. a peanut)’
2) GA- ‘by stricking, with a sharp blow; force of the wind’. These verbs are all of Class 1 and
require prefixes, as in wagát’a, etc.
gat’á ‘s/he kills someone by striking (e.g. as with a club)’

gaȟnéja ‘s/he tears it by pressure, rips it open with its weight’
gaȟnóga ‘s/he makes a hole by striking with an instrument’
3) NA- ‘action of the foot, leg; internal force, by itself’. These verbs are all of Class 1 and
require infixes, as in nawát’a, nawáȟnoga, nawášpe, etc.
nat’á ‘s/he kicks someone to death’

naȟnóga ‘s/he makes a hole by kicking’
nąšpé ‘s/he opens up forcefully with the foot’
 152
natága ‘s/he closes it, by pushing or by force (e.g. wind closes a door)’
napsíja ‘s/he kicks it’
nazúda ‘s/he wears it down’
4) BA- ‘by pushing, poking’. These verbs are all of class 1 and require prefixes, as in wabát’a,
wabáȟneja, wabákca, etc.
bat’á ‘s/he/it crushes someone to death’

baȟnéja ‘s/he punctures it (e.g. with a sharp tool)’
baȟnóga ‘s/he makes a hole with a sharp tool, to pierce’
bašpé ‘s/he opens with a sharp tool’
bakcá ‘s/he combs it’
5) YU- ‘by pulling, action of the hand, general causation’. These verbs are all of Class 2, as in
mnušpé, etc.
yubéhą ‘s/he twists it’

yužáža ‘s/he washes it by scrubbing’
yut’á ‘s/he kills someone by strangulation’
yuȟnéja ‘s/he tears it with the hand’
yuȟnóga ‘s/he makes a hole in it with an instrument or with the hand’
yut’iź a ‘s/he tights it up by stretching, pulls it up tight’
yušpé ‘s/he opens up’
yuȟíja ‘s/he wakens someone py pulling’
6) WO- ~ BO- ~ MO- ‘action performed in a distance, by shooting, pointed object, force of
wind, water, accidental collision’
wot’á ‘s/he/it dies in a distance’

wosíja ‘s/he brakes it (by throwing)’
boȟnóga ‘s/he makes a hole by pressing on it’
bošpá ‘s/he knocks it open with force, pressure’
modą́ ‘s/he bumps against someone’ (Class 1)
INDEFINITE PREFIX WA-
In English to express the idea that the object of a verb is indefinite in quality or number, one uses
the nouns things, stuff or something, or drop the indefinite article a. Even though there are often
times no changes in the verb form between the transitive (I’m reading a book on astronomy) and
the intransitive forms (I’m reading), some verbs have an intransitive counterpart such as I bought
it vs I shopped.
Definite (transitive) Indefinite (intransitive)
 153
I’ll buy it. I’ll go shopping.

I’ll think about it. I’m thinking here!
I’ll read it. I’ll read.
I’ll play with it. I’ll play.
In Nakoda to express the indefinite object add the prefix wa- ‘indefinite object, things,
people’ (or the short variant w- when the stem starts in a vowel) to a transitive verb. The derived
verb becomes intransitive as indicated in the following table. Note that the point of insertion of
the indefinite object verb is that of the transitive verb.
Transitive verbs Intransitive indefinite object verbs

babmnáya ‘s/he irons it’ wabábmnaya ‘s/he iron clothes’
capá ‘s/he stabs him/her/it’ wacápe ‘s/he stabs’
co’ú ba ‘s/he roasts it, fries it’ wacó’ųba ‘s/he is baking, bakes stuff’
oné ‘s/he looks for him/her/it’ wóne ‘s/he is looking for something’
opétų ‘s/he buys it’ wópetų ‘s/he buys stuff, shops’
oyága ‘s/he tells, announces it’ wóknaga ‘s/he tells his/her own story,
discusses it’ (possessive verb -k-)
padá ‘s/he butchers it’ wapáda ‘s/he does butchering, butchers
meat’
špą́yą ‘s/he cooks it’ wašpą́yą ‘s/he is cooking’
ų́šina ‘s/he pities him/her/it’ wa’ų́šina ‘s/he pities people, is kind to
people’
yawá ‘s/he counts it, reads it’ wayáwa ‘s/he reads’
yužáža ‘s/he washes it’ wayúžaža ‘s/he washes things’
Ex: Ą́ba yužáža hą́dahą wamnúžaža hiḱ na ‘On Saturdays I do some washing and
wacówa’ųba. baking.’
Tanó co’ų́ba žehą́, waná píȟpiǧana maȟ’u. ‘While she baked the meat she peeled
carrots.’
Wįcá žé wacó’ųbabi ogíhišį. ‘This man can’t cook.’
Wópetų nábįkta štén mázaska dóna ‘How much money will you all want, when
yacígabi he? you all go shopping?’
Wįcá né wasnóhya. ‘This man is knowledgeable.’
Pežítoyeȟ hí štén aké nén, ti’ų́manibįkta ‘When the green comes here again, we will
kó wó’ųknagabi no! visit and tell stories.’
Wašpą́ mįc’íya jé ‘I habitually cook for myself.’
Sometimes the meaning of wa- is more abstract, as in the case of wayáwa which is
derived from yawá ‘s/he counts’. Here, the verb yawá probably refered historically to winter
counts, a way of keeping track of important historical events by painting pictures on a large hide.
Concretely, then, “to keep a winter count” was to read out loud a people’s history written as a
large fresca. The Dakotan tribes later derived the verb wayáwa ‘s/he reads’ (literally ‘s/he counts
things’, with the indefinite object wa-) which was closely related, in their worldview, with
 154
keeping winter counts. Note that the meaning of ‘to read’ is still present in Lakota yawá ‘s/he
reads’and in the Nakoda dative verb: giyáwa ‘s/he reads it to someone’.
LOCATIVES A-, O-, Į-
Nakoda has three prefixes (called “locatives”) that are added to a word to indicate a general
location. In some cases these prefixes are used to derive a noun indicating a location (e.g.
church, circus) or a thing (e.g. ladder) from a verb. Locative prefixes are placed before wa-
‘indefinite object’ and can transform an intransitive verb into a transitive one (i.e. in other words
they add an object).
1) A- ‘in, on, about someone, with someone, on purpose’
Ex: bapsų́ ‘s/he pours liquid out (manually)’

> abápsų ‘s/he pours liquid in’
nową́ ‘s/he sings’ (VI)

> anówą ‘s/he sings for or over someone’ (VT)
wąyága ‘s/he sees him/her/it’ (VT)

> awą́yaga ‘s/he looks after him/her/it’ (VT)
> awą́yages’a ‘guard, bodyguard’ (N)
wóda ‘s/he eats’ (VI)

> awódabi ‘table’ (N)
Note that there is another prefix a-, used to form verbs of ‘taking’, ‘bringing’ or even
‘collective group action’, which is homophonous with instrumental a-. The former a- has no
locative meaning as indicated by the following examples:
í ‘s/he arrives there’ (VI)

> a’í ‘s/he takes him/her/it there’ (VT) (taking)
Gakí amáya’i. ‘Take me over there!’
hí ‘s/he arrives here’ (VI)

> ahí ‘s/he brings him/her/it here’ (bringing)
> ahí ‘they come here as a group’ (collective group action, no -bi)
Né hékta nén aškán Įhą́ktuwąbi nén ahí no! ‘Back in the recent past the Sioux
came here.’
2) O- ‘inside, in, into, nouns of a place, outside’
Ex: basísa ‘s/he sews it’ (VT)
 155
> obásisa ‘s/he sews it on’ (VT)
bazó ‘s/he shows it’ (VT)

> wabázo ‘s/he shows things’ (VI)
> owábazo ‘circus’ (N)
įknúžaža ‘s/he washes him/herself’ (VR)

> o’iḱ nužaža ‘bathroom’ (N)
maní ‘s/he walks’ (VI)

> ománi ‘s/he walks outside, is taking a walk, is travelling’
okšú ‘s/he plants it’ (VT)

> wokšú ‘s/he plants things’ (VI)
> owókšubi ‘garden’ (N)
én owókšubi ‘in the garden’
opétų ‘s/he buys it’ (VT)

> wopétų ‘s/he buys stuff, shops’ (VI)
> owópetų tíbi ‘store’ (N)
wacégiya ‘s/he prays’ (VI)

> owácegiya tíbi ‘church’ (N)
Ą́ba waką́ žehą́ owácegiya žecí wa’í. ‘I went to church on Sunday’
wóda ‘s/he eats’ (VI)

> owóde tíbi ‘restaurant’ (N)
yawá ‘s/he counts’ (VT)

> wayáwa ‘s/he reads’ (VI)
> owáyawa tíbi ‘school’ (N)
yúda ‘s/he eats it’ (VT-Y)

> wóyude ‘food’ (N) (w(a)- ‘indefinite’ + -o- ‘locative’)
3) Į- ‘in relation to, with, in contact with’ in many cases it indicates an instrument. Note that
many show nominalizing ablaut.
Ex: aní ‘s/he climbs’ (VI)

> į’áni ‘s/he climbs on it’ (VT)
> į’áni ‘ladder’ (N)
babnáya ‘s/he irons it’ (VT)

> wabábnaya ‘s/he irons clothes’ (VI)
> įwábabnaya ‘iron’ (N)
 156
basísa ‘s/he sews it’ (VT)

> įbásise ‘needle’ (N)
moȟtága ‘s/he bumps into it accidentally’ (VT)

> įmóȟtage ‘bumper’ (N)
tokšu ‘s/he hauls him/her/it’ (VT)

> watókšu ‘s/he hauls something’ (VI)
> įwátokšu ‘truck’ (N) (lit. a thing used to haul things in)
wųgá ‘s/he lies down’ (VI-N)

> įwų́ga ‘s/he goes to bed/ s/he lies down in bed’ (VI-N)
yušpá ‘s/he opens it by pulling’ (VT-Y)

> įyúšpe ‘key’ (N) (lit. a thing that opens things)
capá ‘s/he stabs him/her/it’ (VT)

> įcápa ‘s/he stabs, forks with it’ (VI)
> įcápe ‘fork’ (N) (lit. a thing one stabs with)
yuksá ‘s/he cuts it manually (e.g. with a saw) (VT)

> cąyúksa ‘s/he cuts wood’ (VT)
> įcą́yukse ‘saw’ (N)
NOMINALIZING ABLAUT AND ZERO NOMINALIZATION
In Nakoda one can form new nouns by adding a suffix such as -na ‘diminutive’ or -s’a ‘habitual
agent’. However, there are two other ways to form words. We have encountered them in
previous sections, namely, vowel change (or nominalizing ablaut) and zero nominalization. In
Unit 3 we saw that ablauting was a sound changing process that affected some of the final
vowels of some verb stems. For instance, verbal ablaut is triggered when the enclitic -kta
‘potential/future’ is attached to the root yúda ‘s/he eats it’ > yúdįkta ‘s/he will/intend to eat it’.
On the other hand, nominalizing ablaut is not triggered by a suffix. It is used to derive
nouns from verbs, indicating the function of an object. It will be labelled here “nominalizing
ablaut”. The tricky thing here is that nominalizing ablaut is unpredictable since not all ablauting
verbal stems change their final vowel to /e/ and this is why we consider here nominalizing ablaut
and zero nominalization as complementary word formation processes. Zero nominalization
operates on verbal roots that do not ablaut, while nominalizing ablaut operates on those verb
roots that change their final vowel to /e/.
1) NOMINALIZING ABLAUT is a change of vowel into e and creates nouns from verbs. It
often occurs with į- ‘instrument, thing used to’ as note above.
Ex: capá ‘s/he stabs him/her/it’ (VT)
 157
> įcápa ‘s/he stabs, forks with it’ (VI)

> įcápe ‘fork’ (N) (į- ‘instrument’ + /e/ nominalizing ablaut)
nųwą́ ‘s/he swims’ (VI)

> onų́we ‘swimming hole, bathtub’ (N) (o- ‘location’ + /e/ nominalizing ablaut)
basísa ‘s/he sews it’ (VT)

> įbásise ‘needle’ (N) (į- ‘instrument’ + /e/ nominalizing ablaut)
giknų́ga ‘s/he dives in water, like a bird’ (VI)

> giknų́ge ‘Mormon’ (N) (/e/ nominalizing ablaut) (lit. the diver, in reference to
their baptism custom)
moȟtága ‘s/he bumps accidentally with something a person is carrying’ (VT)

> įmóȟtąge ‘bumper’ (N) (į- ‘instrument’ + /e/ nominalizing ablaut)
yuksá ‘s/he cuts it with a sharp tool’ (VT) + nominalizing ablaut

> cąyúksa ‘she chops wood’ (VI)
> įcą́yukse ‘saw’ (N) (į- ‘instrument’ + /e/ nominalizing ablaut)
2) ZERO NOMINALIZATION changes a verb into a noun but without a change in the shape
of the word. This is parallel to the difference in English between a good read (noun) and I read
(verb). In Nakoda, for example, a word like waką̨́sija can mean either ‘evil spirit’ (N) or ‘s/he is
evil spirited’ (VS), as indicated by the possibility of inflecting the latter wamákąsija ‘I am evil
spirited’ or inserting the former in an NP waką̨́sija né ‘this evil spirit’.
Ex: cą- ‘tree’ (N) + -iyupi ‘s/he jumps’ (VI) (lexical compound)
> cą’íyupi ‘monkey’ (N)
į’áni ‘s/he climbs on it’ (VT)

> į’áni ‘ladder’ (N)
k’í ‘s/he carries it on the back’ (VT)

> ak’í ‘s/he carries it on the back’ (VT) (a- ‘locative, with purpose’)
> ak’í ‘saddle’ (N)
pte- ‘cow, cattle’ (N) + -kuwa ‘s/he chases it, pursues it’ (VT) (lexical compound)
> ptekúwa ‘rancher’ (N)
tí ‘s/he dwells’ (VI)

> tí ‘dwelling, house’ (N) (besides tíbi)
zibéna ‘it is thin’ (VS)

> zizíbena ‘it is very thin’ (VS)
> zizíbena ‘thin cloth’ (N)
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EXERCISES
1) In this unit we became familiar with three types of prefixes that are used to form more
complex words. Here are some words built on the roots -žaža- ‘wash’ and -mu- ‘sound’ which
illustrate well the productivity and complexity of Nakoda’s morphology. The task is to separate
the prefixes and suffixes and to find the meaning of all those derived words.
yužáža namú
įyúžaža gamú
kpážaža wagámu
hi’íkpažaža gamúbi
owáyužažabi įjámu
ą́ba yužáža
ą́ba owáyužažabi
2) Find a Nakoda dictionary and select five words that start with the locatives a-, o- and į- (15 in
total) and try to find out the verb from which they are derived as well as the literal meaning.
3) Conjugate the following verbs, with the appropriate modality suffixes or particles.
yuksá wópetų
I, FUT, NEG
you, might
he, FUT, probably
we, FUT, NEG
you all, should
they
 159
4) Translate this short story in English, then change it into the ‘we’ form.
Wanágaš’ehą omáka agé napjúwąga wikcémna šakpé sám šaknóǧa’ehą.
Wįcá matéjana hą́da, hą’ų́manibic’ehą.
Íyą wąmną́ga žehą́ hiḱ nawápsija cén sipátąga ksumáya, sipátąga ksumáya hą́da, mawánišį no!
Íyą aké nawápsiješį no!
Free translation
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
‘We’ form translation
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
 160
 161
UNIT 16
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 More common objects
 Animals, birds and fish
 Plants and fruits
GRAMMAR
 Reduplication
 Compounding
 Aspectual auxiliary verbs
 Modal verbs
DIALOGUES
Nisų́ga dágu dóka’ų? What is your (male) younger brother up to?

Nakón-i’ábi ųspé, nakón-okmábi nína wayúpi He is learning the Nakota language and he’s
áya. getting good at writing it.
Duwé né ųspékiya? Wa’ų́spekiya táwa žé Who is teaching him? What is the name of his
dóken egíyabi? teacher.
Duwéni! He does not have a teacher. Nobody! Wa’ų́spekiya yuhéšį no!
Hįį! Miyéȟ dóken nakón-i’ábi snokwáyišį. Wow! As for myself I don’t know how to
speak Nakoda!
Wanúȟ žé ųspénikiyabi cígįkte no! Maybe he’ll want to teach it to you!
Waną́gaš ptewįyenabi wįcáknuhabi, hiḱ na Long ago, they kept cows and made butter and
asą́bi wiḱ ni, asą́bi súda iš́ gáǧabi. cheese too.
Hą́, nągáhą dágu iyúhana wópetų tíbi én Yes and nowadays we buy everything from the
opé’ųtųbi, žécen mázaska gáǧabi a’ų́yabi store, and that is why we have to keep on
making money.
Mi’áde naȟą́ȟ gánašį, duká waná My father is not old yet but he has white hair
pahásapsabina yuhá. already.
Hą́ naȟą́ȟ wawášte. Yes, but he is still good looking.
Snohwáya, nécen wiý ąbi eyábi. I know, this is what the women say.
 162
VOCABULARY
Reduplicated words for animals

bisbízena ‘mouse’ homnáska ‘gold-eye fish’
cągą́dodona ‘woodpecker’ tugígina ‘snail’
cąkáhuknekneǧana ‘chipmunk’ wamnúška hįšmąšmą ‘caterpillar’
hįhą́hąna ‘pigmy owl’ wamnúška pašáša ‘red ant’
hįhą́wapapana ‘barking owl’ wamnúška sapsábina ‘cricket’
Compounds
aǧúyabisu ‘wheat kernel’ pežíȟoda ‘sage’
cąská ‘white poplar’ taspą́ ǧí hįšmą ‘peach’
gugúša ší ‘bacon’ taspą́ pestóstona ‘pear’
hąhébi wódabi ‘supper’ tuȟmá ǧa cesní ‘honey’
hąyákena wódabi ‘breakfast’ wakmúhazaskuya ‘sweetcorn’
hįcą́hu ‘cattail stalk’ waȟpé tą́ga ‘cabbage’
įdéȟnuga ~ wįcánųȟnųgena ‘pumpkin’ wiyódahą wódabi ‘dinner’
Aspectual auxiliary verbs Modal verbs

áya ‘s/he/it is becoming, continue ciǵ a ‘s/he wants to’ (Class 1)
doing’ (Class 4)
ų́ ‘s/he does continuously, goes wayúpi ‘s/he is skilled at’ (Class 2, Y-
around’ (Class 1) stem)
yągá ‘s/he sits and does ogíhi ‘s/he is able to’ (Class 1)
continuously’ (Class 3)
wašténa ‘s/he likes it’ (Class 1)
snohyá ~ snokyá ‘s/he knows how’
(Class 1)
šką́ ‘s/he tries to’ (Class 1)
ší ‘s/he asks/tells/orders to’ (Class 1)
REDUPLICATION
The label “reduplication” refers to the process of doubling one of the syllables of a word or a full
word, as in the case of these fictive examples: tikini > titikini; kojit > kojijit. English shows
reduplication in chiffchaff, jibber jabber, mish mash, mumbo jumbo but these examples are in
restricted number and the meaning of English reduplication remains obscure. In Nakoda
reduplication is very frequent and adds a specific meaning to a word. Before presenting the
different meanings, one has to know that part of a syllable, a full syllable or even a full word can
be reduplicated in Nakoda. The latter is much less frequent.
 163
PARTIAL SYLLABLE REDUPLICATION
Ex: hoǧą́ ‘fish’ > hoǧą́ǧąna ‘minnow’ (N)

pahásaba ‘black hair’ > pahásapsaba ‘s/he has black hair’ (VS)
FULL WORD REDUPLICATION
Ex: hú ‘leg, stem’ > huhú ‘bones’ (N)

cą́ ‘wood, tree’ > cącą́na ‘drumstick’ (N) (-na ‘diminutive’)
The meaning of reduplication can be broken down as follow:
1) Plurality of inanimate things/objects. Usually the verb undergoes reduplication:
Ex: Pąǧí šašá žená eyágu. ‘Take those red potatoes.’ (VS)
pahásapsaba ‘s/he has black hair’ (VS)
paháskaskana ‘s/he has white hair’ (VS)
wįcáȟniȟni ‘smallpox’ (N)
įštá tąktą́gabi ‘big eyes’ (N)
2) Intensification of a state, event or process. It is translated as ‘very, nuch’:
Ex: búza skaskáskana ‘pure white kitten’ (N) (compare búza skána
‘white cat’ (N) (not reduplicated)
Nináȟ osnísni ‘It’s very cold outside.’ (VIMP) (+ -ȟ ‘intensifier’)
Šųktógeja nų́ba tąktą́gabi. ‘The two wolves were very big.’ (VS)
wamáwašte ‘I am good, good looking.’ (VS)
cuwiḱ nąga šašábi ‘Royal Canadian Mountain Police’ (N) (lit. pure red
coat)
3) Small size of an entity, or lesser degree of intensity:
Ex: cącą́na ‘drumstick’ (N)

hoǧą́ǧąna ‘minnow’ (N)
cąšáša ‘red willow’ (N)
honáǧinatotobi ‘blue fly’ (N)
totóna ‘it is light blue’ (VS)
šašána ‘it is orange’ (VS)
4) Iterativity, that is, a repetitive action:
Ex: mąkóškąšką ‘earthquake’ (N) (lit. earth that shakes)

wamą́kaškąškąbi ‘animals’ (N) (lit. those that move on earth)
Cą́ wagáksaksa. ‘I chop wood constantly.’
 164
COMPOUNDING
A compound is a single word made of two words. They are stored as such in the speakers mind.
Here are a few compounds in English. Note that verbs, adjectives, prepositions and nouns can be
put together to form a new word.
noun + noun baseball, housewife, wallpaper

adjective + noun blackboard
verb + noun breakwater
preposition + noun underworld
adjective + adjective blue-green
Nakoda has all sorts of compounds which include verbs, nouns, adverbs, and
postpositions. Like English, Nakoda makes a distinction between lexical compounds which are
single words made of two words “welded” together and syntactic compounds which are less
tightly bounded. Lexical compounds are written as one word with or without a hyphen and bear
only one accent. On the other hand, syntactic compounds are more loosely attached and bear two
accents; a primary one marked on a vowel, and a secondary one which is marked on the second
word. Compounds are especially common with words denoting modern things, and as a rule of
thumb if an object has been known for a long time, it will be expressed with a lexical compound.
Consequently, syntactic compounds often express modern things that are relatively alien to
Nakoda culture. However, this is only a rule of thumb since one can hear both šų̨́ga tą̨́ga (a
syntactic compound written as šų̨́gatąga) and šųktą̨́ga ‘horse’ (lexical compound). Here is an
overview of the types of compounds found in Nakoda.
NOUN/NOUN NOUN/STATIVE VERB NOUN/POSTPOSITION

tá šáge ‘ruminant hoof’ cąšáša ‘red willow’ cą’ágąn ‘chair’
ta ‘ruminant’ cą ‘wood’ cą ‘wood’
šage ‘hoof’ šaša ‘to be red’ ’agąn ‘on top’
VERB/VERB VERB/NOUN ADVERB/VERB
įkník yá ‘to come to owácegiya tíbi ‘church’ dąyą̨́ ų̨́ ‘to be well’
observe’ owacegiya ‘to pray’ dąyą ‘well’
įkník ‘to observe’ tibi ‘building’ ų ‘to be’
ya ‘to go’
POSTPOSITION/VERB
agą̨́n wókmapi ‘desk’
agąn ‘on top’
-wokmapi ‘to draw’
We have already encountered both types of compounds in the preceeding units. Here are
some very common ones.
Ex: aǧúyabi ‘bannock, bread’ (N)

aǧúyabisu ‘wheat kernel’ (N) (bread + seed)
 165
aǧúyabiskuya ‘cake, cookie’ (N) (lit. bread + it is sweet)

aǧúyabisaga ‘toast’ (N) (lit. bread + it is dry)
aǧúyabi šnoyábi ‘fried bannock’ (N)
asą́bi ‘milk’ (N)

asą́bi wiḱ ni ‘butter’ (N)
asą́bi súda ‘cheese’ (N)
bizéna ‘gopher’ (N)

bistą́ga ‘prairie dog’ (N) (lit. gopher + it is big)
gugúša ‘pig’ (N)

gugúša ší ‘bacon’ (N)
hųská ‘pants, leggings’ (N)

hųskáto ‘jeans, denims’ (N)
iná ‘mother’
iná maká ‘Mother Earth’ (N)
įkmų́ ‘lynx’ (N)

įkmų́tąga ‘mountain lion’ (N)
máza ‘iron’ (N)

mázagiyą ‘airplane’ (N) (lit. iron + it flies)
mázakada ‘hot metal’ (N) (lit. iron + it is hot)
mázaska ‘money’ (N)
mázaska hągé ‘fifty cents’ (N) (lit. iron + it is white + half)
mázaska tíbi ‘bank’ (N)
mázasni ‘cold metal’ (N)
mázaša ‘penny’ (N)
mázawada ‘train’ (N)
máza’i ‘gun muzzle’ (N)
máza’ocągu ‘train track’ (N)
wįcá ‘man’ (N) (means ‘human’ in compounds)

wįcáho ‘human voice’ (N)
wįcáho eyágu ‘voice recorder’ (N)
owić anebi ‘hunter’ (N) (from oné ‘s/he goes for it’)
CAUSATIVES -YA AND -KIYA
The causatives suffixes -ya and -kiya are extremely common in Nakoda, and roughly mean ‘to
cause X to be, or become Y’. They are equivalent to the English sentences:
I made him do it.
 166
I turned it into a complete joke.

I made him become famous.
I cause it to collapse.
The most important thing to remember with causative suffixes is that they add up a
person (i.e. an object) on intransitive verbs from which they are built (like be full, be pleased,
learn on one’s own, etc.), and, consequently, they provoke a change in verb classes (like to fill
him, to please him, to teach him, etc.). Of course, you can only know that by looking at the 1st
and 2nd person markings. This is shown in the next table where three intransitive verbs are
derived into their causative versions. The tricky thing here is that the point of insertion of the
person markers in the causative verb differs from that of the simple intransitive verb.
Intransitive (Class 4)
iṕ i ‘s/he is full, sated’ iyógipi ‘s/he is pleased’ ųspé

‘s/he learns on his/her own’
įmápi ‘I am full, sated’ iyómagipi ‘I am pleased’ ųmáspe
‘I learn on my own’
įnípi ‘you are full, sated’ iyónigipi ‘you are pleased’ ųníspe
‘you learn on your own’
Causative (Class 1)
-YA -KIYA
ípiya ‘s/he sated him/her’ iyógipiya ųspékiya
‘s/he pleases him/her’ ‘s/he teaches him/her’
įpíwaya ‘I sated him/her’ iyógipiwaya ųspéwakiya
‘I please him/her’ ‘I teach him/her’
įpíyaya ‘you sated him/her’ iyógipiyaya ųspéyakiya
‘you please him/her’ ‘you teach him/her’
Ex: Dąyą́ȟ įpíciya! ‘I filled you really well.’

Midáguyabi įpíyabi. ‘My relatives sated him.’
Iyógipimayaya jé nén yahí hą́dahą. ‘You always make me happy whenever you come
here.’
12
Né duwé ųspénijiya he? ‘Do you have someone to teach you?
Šų́gatąga ųspéwįcakiyabįšį no! ‘They didn’t teach the horses!’
Ecágen miyé ecų́makiya. ‘She always makes me do it by myself.’
Iyógapte ecų́makiya. ‘She makes me do the dishes.’
As you can see from the preceding table, the person markers of Class 1 are always
inserted right before the causative suffixes -ya and -kiya. Here are a few words derived from
12
Here the /k/ of the causative suffix -kiya softens to /j/ when preceded by /i/. The same happens with the verb egíya
‘s/he tells him/her’ as in Dóken eníjiyabi? ‘What is your name?’ vs. Bill emágiyabi. ‘I am called Bill.’
 167
causative stems:
Ex: dágu ‘thing, something’

dagú-ya ‘s/he has him/her as a relative’
dagúwa-ya ‘I am related to him/her’
ȟuȟnáǧa ‘it is burned’

ȟuȟnáȟ-ya ‘s/he burns it’
ȟuȟnáȟ-ya-bi ‘coffee’ (-ya ‘cause to’ + -bi ‘noun’)
piná ‘s/he is thankful’

piná-ya ‘s/he makes him/her be thankful’
pinámaya-ya ‘you made me thankful, pleased me’ (I thank you!)
špą́ ‘it is cooked’ (VS)

špą-yą́ ‘s/he cooks it’ (VT)
wa-špą́-yą ‘s/he is cooking’ (VI)
špą́šį yúdabi ‘watermelon’ (N) (lit. that which is eaten raw, not cooked)
ųspé ‘s/he learns on his/her own’

ųspé-kiya ‘s/he teaches him/her’
wa-’ų́spe-kiya ‘teacher’ (wa- ‘things’)
wa-’ų́spe (shortened form)
wa’ų́spe-wįca-kiya ‘male teacher’ (-wįca- ‘man’)
wa’ų́spe-wįyą-kiya ‘female teacher’ (-wįyą- ‘woman’)
ASPECTUAL AUXILIARY VERBS
Aspectual enclitics were explained in Unit 12. In this unit we will learn how to use the auxiliary
verbs that express aspect, like ‘starting to, becoming to, gradually becoming, continue doing’. In
English auxiliary verbs like be or have can be used alone but only if they function as the main
verb, like I am (i.e. I exist), I have truck. Auxiliaries cannot be used a lot I am sick > *I am; I
will have to work > *I will have. Like English Nakoda auxiliaries cannot be used alone, they
must be preceded by verbal complement. In sentences with a verbal auxiliary and a verbal
complement the structure is the following:
(OBJECT) + (SUBJECT) + VERBCOMPLEMENT + VERBAUXILIARY

waȟpé šá áya
leaves be.red they.are.getting
‘The leaves are getting red.’
Some speakers inflect the auxiliary verb and others the complement verb. Here are some
of the most common auxiliary verbs.
 168
1) ÁYA ‘becoming, continue doing’. The inceptive (to become X) as well as the continuous
aspects can be express with two identical auxiliary verbs áya. These auxiliaries are placed after a
verb complement and carry the person and modality marking, exactly like the English ‘to be’ as
in:
He isAUX comingCOMPL I amAUX leavingCOMPL
a) Stative auxiliary áya ‘becoming, getting, turning’ (NV-conjugation, Class 4):
Ex: Yazą́ amáya. ‘I’m starting to be sick!’

A’ókpaza áya. ‘It’s getting dark’
Ahą́zi áya. ‘It’s becoming dusk
Ą́ba’ú áya. ‘It’s staring to be morning.’
Osní áya. ‘It’s getting cold.’
Note that some speakers inflect the complement verb instead of the auxiliary:
Ex: Skúya óda núda štén níšįtų ‘If you eat too many sweets then you’ll get fat.’
áyįkta.
Mastústa ayáȟ! ‘I’m getting really tired!’
b) Active auxiliary áya ‘continuously doing’ (Y-stem, Class 2):
Ex: Šų́ga žé búza žé kuwá áya. ‘The dog is constantly chasing the cat.’
Cą́ gaksáksa ámna. ‘I constantly chop wood into splinters.’
2) Ų́ ‘continuously doing, go around’ (regular stem, Class 1)
Ex: Tugášina ceyá wa’ų́ no! ‘Grandfather I’m going, crying!’

Giksúya wa’ų́ no! ‘I am remembering!’
Mitúgašibi dóken i’ábi žé ‘I’m thinking of how my grandfathers spoke.’
įyúkcą wa’ų́.
3) YĄGÁ ‘sit and do continuously’ (N-conjugation, Class 3,)
Ex: Iná mitą́kši iš́ gicí i’á mągá ‘I always sit down and discuss (continuously) with
jé. both my mom and aunt.’
MODALITY VERBS
Nakoda modality verbs, like those of E nglish, mark the speaker’s degree of certainty, obligation,
desire, permission or ability to do something (Cumberland, 2005:393). Like the aspectual
 169
auxiliary verbs they come last in a sentence, and bear the person and number markings. The
verbal complement requires the suffix -bi ‘to’.
SUBJECT + VERBCOMPLEMENT + VERBMODAL

Bobby įštímabi ciǵ a
Bobby sleep.to he.wants
‘Bobby wants to sleep.’
1) CÍ GA ‘want to’ requires the suffix -bi ‘to’ (regular stem, Class 1):
Ex: Eyábi wacígišį. ‘I don’t want to say it.’

Eyábi cįgábišį. ‘They don’t want to say it.’
Tehą́n yįgábi wacígišį. ‘I don’t want to wait/sit too long.’
2) WAYÚPI ‘skilled at’ requires the suffix -bi ‘to’ (Y-stem, Class 2):
Ex: Gicízabi wayúpi. ‘He is skilled at fighting.’

Gicízabi wamnúpi. ‘I’m skilled at fighting.’
Gicízabi wanúpi. ‘Do you know how to fight?/Are you skilled at fighting?’
Nína basíbi wayúpi. ‘S/he is good at driving.’
Šų́gatąga gá nína iyópsijabi ‘That horse over there is very skilled at jumping.’
wayúpi.
3) OGÍHI ‘able to’ does not require the suffix -bi. Some speakers inflect the verbal
complement instead of the modality verb, or even both of them. Thus, in the last example -bi
means ‘3rd plural’ (regular stem, Class 1):
Ex: Maní ogíhibišį. ‘They are not able to walk.’

Ecų́ ogíhi gaca! ‘As if he was capable of doing it!’
Ecámų owágihišį. ‘I can’t do it.’ (person/number marked on both verbs)

Ecų́bi ogíhi gaca! ‘As if they were capable of doing it!’ (person/number
marked on the verbal complement)
4) WAŠTÉNA ‘like to’ requires the suffix -bi ‘to’ (Class 1, regular stem)
Ex: Tehą́n yągábi waštewanešį ‘I don’t like to sit/wait too long!’

no!
5) SNOHYÁ ~ SNOKYÁ ‘know how’ requires the suffix -bi ‘to’ (Class 1, regular stem)
Ex: Dóken ecų́bi snokwáyišį. ‘I don’t know how to do it.’
 170
Dáguškina i’ábi snohyá. ‘The baby knows how to talk.’

Waną́gaš wacíbi snokwáya. ‘I knew how to dance long ago.’
Waną́gaš wacíbi žehą́ ‘I knew then how to dance long ago.’
snokwáya.
6) ŠKĄ́ ‘try to’ requires the potential suffix -kta ‘future, hypothetical event’ (Class 1, regular
stem):
Ex: Waná i’ákta šką́. ‘He is trying to talk.’

Waná nakón-i’ákta wašką́. ‘I’m trying to talk Nakota.’
7) ŠÍ ‘ask/tell/order to’, unlike the other modal verbs: 1) attaches with its verbal complement;
2) triggers ablaut (vowel change) of the complement verb; and 3) does not require the suffix -bi
‘to’. Here are some examples with the verb ú ‘s/he comes here’ (regular stem, Class 1):
Ex: Ucíši. ‘I tell you to come here.’

Uší. ‘S/he tells him to come here.’
Umáši. ‘S/he tells me to come here.’
Umáyaši he? ‘Are you telling me to come here?’
 171
EXERCISES
1) Check for the following words in the lexicon or a dictionary, analyse hem and give a
translation.
young man oil lantern
cannibal (man eater) killer
war bonnet with trailer it’s hailing
from inside (indoors) bronc
mare old stallion
buffalo meat fire keeper
clock island in the middle of a lake
tree dweller (dwarf) prairie dog
February from across the border
wheat kernel language, word
 172
2) Look at the reduplicated nouns and the compounds in the vocabulary section at the beginning
of this unit and try to analyze the words used in these complex words. For the reduplicated nouns
you will need to figure out what is being reduplicated (full word, or syllables).
3) Translate in English the following sentences.
a) Ȟtánihą cą́ ųgáksaksabi.________________________________________________________
b) Wáhįhą áya._________________________________________________________________
c) Nína osní áya.________________________________________________________________
d) Eyábi yacígišį he?_____________________________________________________________
e) Hokšíbina žená eyábi cįgábišį.___________________________________________________
f) Gicízabi wanúpibi?____________________________________________________________
g) Nína nową́bi wamnúpi.________________________________________________________
h) Šų́ga né iyópsijabi wayúpi.______________________________________________________
i) Dáguškina i’ábi snohyéšį._______________________________________________________
j) Waną́gaš nakón-i’ábi snokwáya.__________________________________________________
k) Uníši no!____________________________________________________________________
l) U’ų́yaši he?__________________________________________________________________
m) Ųgíye wašpáyąbi wašte’ųnibišį no!_______________________________________________
 173
4) Fill in the following verb paradigms.
nową́ …. wayúpi wašįn-i’ábi …. ogíhi
1sg. FUT
1sg. FUT/NEG
2sg. NEG
3sg. FUT/NEG
1pl. FUT
1pl. FUT/NEG
2pl. FUT
3pl. FUT/NEG
 174
5) Match the Nakota words with their English translation.
cąšíhąba oyák’ų awágu tída tawací hįhą́hąna
hayábi šinágaȟci anípabi dágucen dágeyešį pežíȟoda
gic’ų́bįktešį nų́ omá’ųnibi iyéwaya taspą́ pestóstona wamnúpi
nąbiḱ pa nįknúžaža cądé’ųsijabi yuką́ cąská ogíhešį
įwábabnaya moȟtága įcápe įmóȟtage basísa onų́we
______________ ‘I found it’ ______________ ‘sage’
______________ ‘his/her mind’ ______________ ‘s/he is not able to’
______________ ‘iron’ ______________ ‘s/he bumps into him/her’
______________ ‘s/he swes it’ ______________ ‘bumper’
______________ ‘Shh! Shut up!’ ______________ ‘I am skilled at’
______________ ‘pigmy owl’ ______________ ‘his/her mind’
______________ ‘home’ ______________ ‘poplar’
______________ ‘why’ ______________ ‘you wear it’
______________ ‘fork’ ______________ ‘swimming pool’
______________ ‘gloves’ ______________ ‘shawl’
______________ ‘clothes’ ______________ ‘rubber boots’
______________ ‘pear’ ______________ ‘they will not put it on’
______________ ‘I bring it’ ______________ ‘you wash yourself’
______________ ‘they hit you’ ______________ ‘we are sad’
______________ ‘we travel’ ______________ ‘it exists’
 175
UNIT 17
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 Winter clothing
 Keeping something, cleaning, and washing oneself
GRAMMAR
 Reflexive -į’ci- / -įk- ‘to act upon oneself’
 Possessive -gi- / -k- ‘one’s own thing’
 Dative -gi- ‘to, for, of somebody else’
 Benefactive -giji- ‘for the benefit of someby else’
 Summary
DIALOGUES
Mihų́ snohyáya (he)? Do you know my mother?

Hiyá, duktén nážį? No! Where is she standing?
Gakí, wapáha skána wąží ų́. Wíyą gá Over there, she is wearing a white cap! It’s the
ašón’įc’iya. woman smudging herself.
Hą́! Waná wąnága. Nína téjanaȟ. Yes! I see her now. She is very young!
Iná! Tągán osní (he)? Mother! Is it cold outside?

Hií !́ Tągán nína osní. Hayábi cóza žéca gic’ų́. Oh my! It is very cold outside. Wear some
warm clothes.
Hą́! Nąbiḱ pa, cuwiḱ nąga iš́ nitáwa Ok! I don’t see my mittens and my warm coat.
wąmnáyagešį. Duktén iyódągabi (he)? Where are they sitting?
Gakí hąyákena nená mnužáža. Over there I washed them this morning.
Ȟtánihą mitúgaši timáwani. Yesterday I visited my grandfather.

Dóken šką́ he? How was he?
Waná nína gána hiḱ na maníšį no! Cuwit́ ko He is very old and he cannot walk anymore!
wacígiya. He depends on his daughter now.
Duwé búza žé knuhá (he)? Who is keeping that cat?

Miyéȟ mitáwa no! Myself specifically, it’s mine!
Duwé búza žé opénijitų (he)? Who bought you that cat?
Inána búza né opémajitų no! My aunt bought me this cat.
 176
VOCABULARY
Winter clothing
cąšíhąba ‘rubber boots’ oyák’ų ‘socks, stockings’
cuwiḱ nąga ‘coat, shirt’ šinágaȟci ‘shawl’
hayábi ‘clothes’ wapáha ‘cap, hat, bonnet’
nąbiḱ pa ‘gloves’ wówaši hayábi ‘working
clothes; coveralls’
gic’ų́ ‘s/he puts on (article of clothing)’ ų́ ‘s/he wears it’ (N-conjugation, Class 3)
(irregular, Class 1)
wec’ų́ ‘I put on’ mų́ ‘I wear it’
yec’ų́ ‘you put on’ nų́ ‘you wear it’
ųgíc’ųbi ‘we put on’ ųgų́bi ‘we wear it’
gic’ų́kta ‘s/he will put on’ ų́kta ‘s/he will wear it’
gic’ų́bįktešį ‘they will not put on’ ų́bįktešį ‘they will not wear it’
knuhá ‘s/he has is own thing, keeps it įknužáža ‘s/he washes her/himself’ (NV-
with’ (regular stem, Class 1) conjugation, Class 4)
waknúha ‘I have my’ mįknúžaža ‘I wash myself’
yaknúha ‘you have yours’ nįknúžaža ‘you wash yourself’
ųknúhabi ‘we have ours’ ųgiḱ nužažabi ‘we wash ourselves’
knuhíkta ‘s/he will have his/her’ įknúžažakta ‘s/he will wash her/himself’
knuhábįktešį ‘they will not have theirs’ įknúžažaktešį ‘they will not wash themselves’
Ex: Hayábi gic’ų́! ‘Put your clothes on!’

Wapáha né nų́kta he? ‘Are going to wear this hat?’
Šiná žé ų́šį. ‘She did not wear that blanket.’
Gugúša šįtų́ né knuhábi. ‘They kept their fat pig.’
Wicíjana gá búza wąží knuhéšį. ‘That little girl over there is not carrying her cat.’
Įknúžaža wo! ‘Wash yourself./Go take a bath!’
REFLEXIVE -ĮC’I- / -ĮK- ‘TO ACT UPON ONESELF’
The prefix -įc’i- indicates that the subject of the verb is acting upon him or herself. Thus, the
subject is both the agent and the patient of an action. We already know that with the transitive
verb teȟína ‘s/he loves him/her’ the point of insertion is after the first syllable te as indicated in
the following example:
teȟína ‘s/he loves him/her’

> te-wá-ȟina ‘I love him/her’
 177

> te-yá-ȟina ‘you love him/her’
The reflexive -įc’i- ‘to act upon onself’ is inserted in each verbs point of insertion. Here
the object markers of Class 4 (as seen in Unit 11), that is, -ma- ‘me, object’ and -ni- ‘you, object’
are required unlike the transitive base verb teȟína. However, the vowels a and i of these markers
are truncated resulting in -m- and -n-.

> te-m-íc’i-ȟina ‘I love myself’
> te-n-íc’i-ȟina ‘you love yourself’
When -įc’i- is added to a stem that starts with y, as with yužáža ‘s/he washes it by
scrubbing’, -įc’i- is truncated to -įk- and the y of the stem changes to n.
-įk- ‘oneself’ + -yužáža ‘s/he washes it by scrubing’ (Class 2)

> m-įk-núžaža ‘I wash myself’ (Class 4)
You will find in the next tables two verbs from Classes 1 and 2 marked with the reflexive
-įc’i-. It is very important to note that when you insert -įc’i- in a Y-stem (Class 2), y becomes n
and c becomes k. Thus wąyága ‘s/he sees him/her/it’ becomes wą’į́ knaga.
teȟína ‘s/he loves him/her/it’ (Class 1) wąyága ‘s/he sees him/her/it’ (Class 2)
temíc’iȟina ‘I love myself’ wąmíknaga ‘I see myself’
teníc’iȟina ‘you love yourself’ wąníknaga ‘you see yourself’
te’íc’iȟina ‘s/he loves him/herself’ wą’íknaga ‘s/he sees him/herself’
te’ų́gįc’iȟinabi ‘we love ourselves’ wą’ų́gįknagabi ‘we see ourselves’
teníc’iȟinabi ‘you love yourself’ wąníknagabi ‘you see yourselves’
te’íc’iȟinabi ‘they love themselves’ wą’íknagabi ‘they see themselves’
Ex: Iyuhána dąyą́ wódabi, nína ‘They all ate well, and sated themselves.’
įpí’įc’íyabi.
Ašónmįc’iyįkte no! ‘I’ll smudge myself!’
Waȟpé ų́s a’í knaȟpabi. ‘They covered themselves using leaves.’
Mnihé įc’íya ‘She has courage in herself.’
Waną́gaš minékši įc’íkte. ‘Long ago my uncle (father’s brother) killed
himself.’
POSSESSIVE -GI- / -K- ‘ONE’S OWN’
In English the following sentences can be very ambiguous especially when taken out of context:
 178
He is keeping his cat.

He is hitting his dog.
He does like his car.
The last one can either mean that a man is hitting his own dog, or another person’s dog.
Nakoda avoids such ambiguities by using a prefix -gi- (or its short form -k-) called the
“possessive”. These verbs are labelled VPOS in the lexicon. When added onto a verb -gi-/-k-
means that an action is done to someone’s own thing. There are two important things to
remember here: i) Class 2 verbs change their y to n when preceded by k-; ii) the derived verb
belongs to Class 1.
GI- ‘one’s own’ + ec’ų́ ‘s/he does it’ (Class 3)

> gic’ų́ ‘s/he wears his/her own thing’ (lit. s/he does his/her own thing) (Irregular verb)
> wéc’ų ‘I wear it’ (with 1st and 2nd persons gi- is deleted and wa- + e yields
we)13
K- ‘one’s own’ + -yuhá ‘s/he has it’ (Class 2)

> knuhá ‘s/he has, keeps his/her own thing’ (Class 1)
> waknúha ‘I keep my own thing’
K- ‘one’s own’ + -yužáža ‘s/he washes it by scrubing’ (Class 2)

> knužáža ‘s/he washes his/her own thing’ (Class 1)
> waknúžaža ‘I wash my own thing’
K- ‘one’s own’ + -bakcá ‘s/he combs it’ (Class 1)

> kpakcá ‘s/he combs his/her own hair’ (Class 1) (b changes to p when preceeded by k)
> wakpákca ‘I comb my own (e.g. hair)’
K- ‘one’s own’ + -ehą́’i ‘s/he/it reaches it’ (Class 1)

> ehą́ki ‘s/he reaches an age, is of a certain age’ (Class 1)
> Waníyedu dóba eháwaki. ‘I am four years-old.’
Ex: Wówaši hayábi wéc’ų. ‘I put on a (my) coveralls.’

Cąšíhąba wéc’ų. ‘I put on (my) rubber boots.’
Wapáha yéc’ų. ‘You put on a (your) hat.’
Céǧa žé waknúha. ‘I have my pail with me.’

Į’íjuna wąží yaknúha he? ‘Do you have your spoon with you?’
Šųkcij́ ana né ųknúha. ‘We (two) kept this puppy of ours.’
Cuwíknąga cóza žecá yaknúhabi ‘Do you all have warm coats with you?’
he?
Nąbíkpa yaknúha he? ‘Do you have your mitts with you?’
13
Note that the noun gisų̨́ ‘Asian person’ follows the same pattern. It is made from the noun sų̨́ ‘braid’ which is
transformed into gisų̨́ ‘s/he braids him/herself’ (lit. s/he braids his/her own). Thus, the 1 st and 2nd persons are wésų ‘I
braid myself’ and yésų ‘you braid yourself’.
 179
Įdé knužáža! ‘Wash your face!’

Cuwíknąga knužáža wo! ‘Wash the (your) shirt!’
Pahá wakpákca. ‘I comb my hair.’
Šų́ga iyéwagiya. ‘I found my own dog.’ (iyéya ‘s/he finds

him/her/it’)
Miciḱ ši wacíwagiya. ‘I depend on my son.’ (wacį́ ya ‘s/he depends on

him/her/it’)
Jane cįhit́ ku pahá knuksá. ‘Jane cut her son’s hair.’
DATIVE -GI- ‘TO, FOR, OF SOMEBODY ELSE’
The dative prefix -gi- indicates that an action is directed to or intended for somebody else. This
prefix can be translated by an English verb + ‘to, for, from, because of’ as in:
He speaks to me.
I killed the moose for him.
I asked her for it.
They stole it from me.
Note that the base verb can be of Class 1 or 2, but the resulting dative verb (labeled VT in
the lexicon) belongs to Class 1.
GI- ‘to, for, of’ + eyá ‘s/he says it’ (irregular verb)
> egíya ‘s/he says it to him/her’ (Class 1)
> ewágiya ‘I say it to him/her’
GI- ‘to, for, of’ + bazó ‘s/he shows it’ (Class 1)

> gibázo ‘s/he shows it to him/her’ (Class 1)
> wagíbazo ‘I show it to him/her’
GI- ‘to, for, of’ + yawá ‘s/he counts, reads’ (Class 2)

> giyáwa ‘s/he reads it to him/her’ (Class 1)
> wagíyawa ‘I read it to him/her’
GI- ‘to, for, of’ + apé ‘he is waiting’ (Class 1)

agípe ‘s/he waits for him’ (Class 1)
> iyágipe ‘s/he waits for him/her to come’ (Class 1) (probably a contraction of ya
> iyáwagipe ‘I wait for him/her to come’ ‘go’+agipe)
GI- ‘to, for, of’ + wašténa ‘s/he likes him/her/it’ (Class 1)

> waštégina ‘s/he is pleased with him/her/it’ (Class 1)
 180
> waštéwagina ‘I am pleased with him/her/it’
Ex: John nécen emágiya, “Yatkéšį wo!” ‘This is what John told me, “Don’t drink!”’
Kelly emágiyabi. ‘They call me Kelly. (i.e. Kelly is my name)’
Nitúgaši gibázo! ‘Show it to your grandfather!’
Iyúhaȟ wįcágibazobi. ‘They showed every single one of them.’
Nén iyáwagipe. ‘I wait for him here.’
Iyúhana nén iyágipebi. ‘Everybody waited here for him/her.’
Owá! Iyámagipe! ‘Everyone! Wait for me!’
Ya’úbi hą́dahą waštéwagina jé. ‘Whenever you all come, I always like it.’
Cądé ksuwágiya. ‘I am heartbroken because of her.’ (< ksuyá ‘s/he/it
hurts him/her/it’)
BENEFACTIVE -GIJI- ‘FOR THE BENEFIT OF SOMEBODY ELSE’
Benefactive verbs indicate that an action is undertaken for the “benefit” or honor of somebody
else. These verbs have two objects, a direct object (a thing1) and an indirect object (the
beneficiary2) as can be seen in the following English examples:
I picked it1 up from the ground for him2.

She sang (a song1) in his2 honor.
I bought you2 a coat1.
Nakoda has a prefix -giji- indicating that an action is intended for or done for somebody
else. This prefix is different from the postposition gicí although they sound alike. The
benefactive -giji- attracts accent on its first syllable gi and undergoes the following changes
which makes the resulting verb irregular:
i) wa- ‘1sg., subject’ + -giji- ‘benefactive’ → weji-

ya- ‘2sg., subject’ + -giji- ‘benefactive’ → yeji-
ii) ma- ‘1sg., object’ + -giji- ‘benefactive’ → miji-

ni- ‘2sg., object’ + -giji- ‘benefactive’ → niji-
In the verbs owį́ cawejimnaga ‘I told it on their behalf’ (stem oyága) and opégįjitų ‘she
bought it for him’ (stem opétų) the subject and object positions are the same as in a simple
transitive verb. The only difference is that -giji- (or simply -ji-) is added after the subject prefix.
There is no marker or slot for the direct object in these verbs. Here is the prefix order for this
type of verb. It is the same for the dative verb.
STEM + INDIRECT OBJECT + SUBJECT + BENEFACTIVE + VERB STEM

o wįca we ji mnaga
them I
 181
STEM + INDIRECT OBJECT + SUBJECT + BENEFACTIVE + VERB STEM

opé Ø Ø giji tų
him she
Here are the conjugation tables for the benefactive verb gíjinową ‘s/he sings for him/her,
in his/her honor’. They contain the forms for both the subject and object markers of the 1st and
2nd persons.
gíjinową ‘s/he sings for him/her,

in his/her honor’ (Class 1)
wejínową ‘I sing for him/her’ mijínową ‘s/he sing for me’
yejínową ‘you sing for him/her’ nijínową ‘s/he sing for you’
gíjinową ‘s/he sings for him/her’
ųgíjinowąbi ‘we sing for him/her’
OR ‘s/he sing for us’
yejínowąbi ‘you all sing for him/her’ mijínową ‘s/he sang for me’
wįcágijinową ‘s/he sings for them’ gíjinowąbi ‘they sing for him/her’
cijínową ‘I sing for you’ mayéjinową ‘you sing for me’
Here are more benefactive verbs along with the intransitive verbs they are derived from.
Note that the benefactive verbs are of Class 1.
-GIJI- ‘for the benefit of’ + nową́ ‘s/he sings’ (Class 1)

> gíjinową ‘s/he sings for him/her, in his/her honor’ (Class 1)
> mijínową ‘s/he sang for me’
-GIJI- ‘for the benefit of’ + yawá ‘s/he counts, reads’ (Class 2)
> gíjiyawa ‘s/he reads for him/her’ (Class 1)
> nij́ iyawa ‘s/he reads it to you’
-GIJI- ‘for the benefit of’ + iyéska ‘s/he converses, translates’ (Class 2)
> iyégijiska ‘s/he translates for him/her’
> iyéwįcagijiska ‘s/he translates for them’
-GIJI- ‘for the benefit of’ + įyų́ǧa ‘s/he asks him/her’ (Class 3)
> įgíjiyųǧa ‘s/he asks him/her for him/her’ (Class 1)
> įmíjiyųǧa ‘s/he asks me for him’
-GIJI- ‘for the benefit of’ + gáǧa ‘s/he makes it’ (Class 1)
> gijáǧa ‘s/he makes it for him/her’ (contraction of gíjigaǧa > gíjaǧa) (Class 1)
> wéjaga ‘I make it for him/her’
 182
Ex: Mikúši gíjinową. ‘She sang in my grandmother’s honor.’

Cįjábi wįcágijaǧa bo! ‘You all make it for the children!’
Wašáša wí štén mi’áde iyécįgayena ‘Next July my father will buy me a car.’
opémįjitųkta.
Waná wejíbasi. ‘I’m driving for her now.’
Iná wó’ųgijišpi. ‘We two pick berries for mother.’
Wíyą žé wįcíjna šųkcíjana wąží ‘That woman bought a puppy for the girl.’
opégijitų.
SUMMARY
Simple Possessive verb Dative verb Benefactive verb

transitive verb -gi-/-k- -gi- -giji-/-ji-
yuhá knuhá ‘s/he has, keeps --- ---
his/her own thing’
ec’ų́ gic’ų́ ‘s/he wears
his/her own thing’
bazó --- gibázo ‘s/he shows it to gíjibazo ‘s/he shows it
him/her’ for him/her’
wašténa --- waštéwagina ‘I am ---
pleased with him/her/it’
onóda --- ogínoda ‘s/he borrows ogíjinoda ‘s/he borrows
it from him/her’ it for him/her’
gáǧa --- --- gíjaǧa ‘s/he made it for
him/her’
 183
EXERCISES
1) Build the causative version of the following words and indicate their meaning.
ahą̨́zi hįkną̨́(gu) įpí piná
dágu įbíǧa iyógipi špą̨́
2) Provide the correct dative, benefactive forms for the following verbs.
bazó wašténa eyá

dative, you>him
dative, we>you,
FUT
dative, you>me
all, NEG
dative, you>us,
FUT
benefactive,
you>him
benefactive,
you>they, FUT
benefactive,
I>you
benefactive,
I>them, FUT,
NEG
 184
3) Here is the final section of a story told by Elder Rose Weasel called Agegena (taken from
Nakoda Stories, Blackbird et al. 2002:24-25). Your task is to provide a translation. The
orthography has been changed to that of Fort Belknap used in this book. Be careful for
reduplication (Unit 16), the diminutive -na on verbs, the nominalizer -na. Here are some words
you did not encountered yet:
-c ‘order, command, singular’ (enclitic) cįjúna ‘his older brother’

otápa ‘s/he follows him/her’ wągán ‘above’
waką̨́kąna ‘s/he has powers’ baǧé ‘together’
Žehą́ga wéksuyešį. Žécen né gáki iyódąga wįcáȟpi né. Akídabi gá tą́kuna žé’e waná sųgágu
giktékta cén otápa. É né Agégena né waką́kąna. Žé c cįjubina owić agijiyaga cén žé tábana é
wągán įšką́yabi. Ž né nécen baǧé yągábi né Wįcáȟpi Agéwąži eyábi. Agégena wįcágiyabi.
Žé wągán gána. Júsisibina. Mitágoža wįcáwejigągąnas’a.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
 185
UNIT 18
Unit Objectives
VOCABULARY
 More specialized nouns and verbs
 More instrumental verbs
GRAMMAR
 Reading, analyzing texts, writing translations
 Searching and analyzing unknown words
In this unit you will find three texts. Your task is to read them outloud, and concentrate on
pronouncing the sounds correctly. Then you’ll have to search all the words you are not familiar
with. Finally, you will have to change the inflections of some of the verbs. Of course to do this
you need to know to which class of verbs a particular verb belongs.
TEXT 1. ADÉ WÓKNAGA

(Story written by Elder Armand McArthur.)
Waną́gaš, mi’áde wįcášta hą́ska, wo’ų́knagabi’ehą́. Wįcáštabi wįcáȟniȟni
yuhábi hą́da, nína yazą́bi jé. Togáhe pá kádabi žé hiḱ na tacą́ osníbi. Waná
ą́ba šagówį yazą́bi hą́da. Waná há ȟniȟníbi jé. Mi’áde žeyá, “Togáhe sihá
ȟniȟníbi, sihá ȟniȟníbi hą́da waná maní ogíhibišį. Maní ogíhibišį hą́da,
waná įwų́gabi jé híkna, waná ešténaȟ t’ábi jé.” Žécen mi’áde wóknaga.
1) Read the text outloud. Concentrate on the accentuation pattern.
2) Write a free translation of this text.
3) Locate all the verbs describing human activities in the 3rd singular and give their ‘2st SG.’
inflections. Thus, a sentence like Tá wąží ktébi ‘They killed a moose’ would become Tá wąží
yakté ‘You killed a moose.’ Of course to do this exercise you will need to check each verb you
are not familiar with using the Nakoda/English lexicon or a dictionary.
4) Read your ‘1st SG.’ version out loud
 186
TEXT 2. WACÉGIYABI
Adé waką́tąga!
Hó namáȟ’ų wo!
NAME emágiyabi!
Adé waką́tąga, mitúgaši, mikúši
Ą́ba wašté né wópina wak’ú no!
Adé waką́tąga!
Midáguyabi iyúhana niyá waste wįcák’uc’ehą, wópina tą́ga wak’ú (no)!
Dágu iyúhana: miní, péda, maȟpíya
íyą, makóce né, cą’óna íš.
Wamą́kaškąbi; tatą́ga, pté, zitkána, hoǧą́ íš.
Wópina tą́ga wak’ú (no)!
Adé waką́tąga!
Hó namáȟ’u (wo)! Ų́ šigiya nawážį
hiḱ na wacéwagiya (no)!
Ų́ šímana (wo)! Pinámayaya (no)!
2) Put all the personal verbs in the ‘1st PL.’ and read your version out loud (e.g. ų̨́šįmana ‘Pity
me!’ would become ų̨́ši’ųnabi ‘Pity us!’)
 187
TEXT 3. WAŠPĄ́YĄBI
The original version of this story was written by Elder Herb Walker (taken from Schrudel,
1999:217). Walker’s orthography has been changed to that of Fort Belknap used in this book.
Note that in Carry-the-Kettle the potential/future -kta is -tka)
Nągáhą né wašpą́yąbi hą́da océti né dohą́ga kádatka žehą́n eknébi, iyécįga
nąkáda.
Dágu špą́yąbi jé hąwí-gaǧabi wįyų́bi žécen iyécįga įną́žį.
(O)aškan iš́ né cą́ ų́s océti kangíyabi.
Océti mą́za káda štén, céǧa okná miní įbíȟyabi, hík waȟpé gáǧabi.
Péda né sní áya hą́da cą́ a’ópeyabi. Aké péda né ną’iḱ tų(ya).
Žéca ų́s cągáksaksa óda timáhen giknágabi.
Mnógedu tí okáda hą́da, tągán wašpą́yąbi.
Cą́ ų́s wašpą́yąbi né iš́ nągáhą mą́za kanyábi ų́s wašpą́yabi né įjítoką.
Cą́ ų́s wašpą́yąbi né jé nína wašté.
Héktac’ehą íyą néca gamímeya eknébi.
Žén cą́ ų́s wašpą́yąbi.
Cą́ įkpá néca gapéstobi hiḱ tanó įcápabi hiḱ péda į’ágam yúza tanó jé
špąyą́bi.
2) Write a free translation of this text.
3) Locate all the verbs describing human activities in the 3rd plural and give their ‘1st SG.’
inflections. Thus, a sentence like Tá wąží ktébi ‘They killed a moose’ would become Tá wąží
wakté ‘I killed a moose.’ Of course to do this exercise you will need to check each verb you are
not familiar with, using the Nakoda/English lexicon or a dictionary.
4) Read your ‘1st SG.’ version out loud.
 188
5) List all the verbs, nouns, adverbs, pronouns, particles, demonstratives, postpostions and
enclitics.
 189
Appendix 1: Kinship Table
In the following tables you will find the kinship terms for the my, your, our and his/her forms. Of
course this list is far from being complete but it will give you a broad idea of the words used
since some local variants have also been included. Many of these terms are seldom used and
oftentimes even fluent speakers have problems remembering them. This is especially true for
relations outside the nuclear family (i.e. mother, father, brother, sister, grandmother and
grandfather), and even more so for in-laws. (The term ego means ‘speaker’ and is the point of
reference for kinship systems. The labels +1, +2 and –1, –2 indicate a generation or two above or
below. The asterisk * is an expected form not provided by the language consultants, while < >
indicate a form written by the language consultants.
MY YOUR OUR HIS/HER

EGO + 2 gen.
grandfather mitúgaši nitúgaši ųgítukąkišitku tugą́šicu
(reference) <mitugášibi> tugą́šitku
ųká (address)
grandmother mikúši nikúši ųgikušitku kuši(gu)
ųjí (address) <mikúšibi> hųgúšitku
EGO + 1 gen. MY YOUR OUR HIS/HER
father adé (address) niyáde miyádebi atkúgu,
miyáde ~ atkúgubi
mi’áde ~
mi’átkugu
(reference)
mother iná (address) nihų́, nihų́gu inábi hųgú(bi)
inábi (address nihų́bi ųgínabi
PL)
mihų́,
mihų́gu
(reference)
father’s brother adéna niyádéna
niyádebi
father’s sister and mitų́wi nitų́wi <tuwįcuyąbi> tųwícu

mother’s brother
wife
mother’s brother minékši ninékši *nekšicu’ųyąpi nekšícu
and father’s sister <nekšijuyąbi>
husband
mother’s sister and inána ni’inána(bi) ųgínanabi
father’s brother’s
wife
 190
mother’s sister’s adéna niyádéna

husband and niyádebi
father’s sister’s
husband
father-in-law mitų́ga nitúgą tugą́gu
mitúgą
mother-in-law mikų́ ~ nikų́ ~ ųgíkųbi kųgú
mik’ų́ nik’ų́
EGO is MALE MY YOUR OUR HIS/HER
older brother and miciń a niciń a cįcų́na
older male parallel
cousin
older sister and mitą́gena nitą́gena ųgítągenabi tąkuna
older female
parallel cousin
younger brother misų́gagu ~ nisų́gagu ~ sųgágu
and younger male misų́ga nisų́ga
parallel cousin
younger sister and mitą́kši nitą́kši tąkšíco
younger female
parallel cousin
female cross-cousin mihą́gaši nihą́gaši mihągašibi hągášico
nihągašibi hągašicobi
male cross-cousin mitą́hąši nitą́hąši mitąhąšibi tahą́ši
nitąhąšibi tąhąšibi
wife mitáwįju nitáwįju <ųgítawįjubi> tawįju
brother-in-law mitą́hą nitą́hą tąhą́

sister-in-law mihą́go nihą́go hągágu
EGO is MY YOUR OUR HIS/HER
FEMALE
older brother mitímno nitímno ųgítimno(gu)bi timnógu
older male and
parallel cousin
older sister and micų́n(a) nicų́n(a) cų́gųna
older female
parallel cousin
and younger male
parallel cousin
younger sister and mitą́ga ~ mitą́ nitą́ tągágu
younger female
parallel cousin
 191
female cross-cousin mišík’eši nišík’eši mišik’esibi šic’éšicu

nišik’ešibi šik’etko
šik’etkobi
male cross-cousin mišícepąši nišícepąši šicépąši
husband mihiḱ na nihiḱ na ųgíhįknągubi hįkną́gu
co-wife mitéya
brother-in-law mišíc’e nišíc’e šic’étku
sister-in-law mišíjepą nišíjepą šijépągu
EGO -1 gen. MY YOUR OUR HIS/HER
son miciḱ ši niciḱ ši <ųgícįkši> cih́ įtgu
daughter micú kši nicú kši ųgícųkši cų́wįtku
nephew mitų́ška nitų́ška tųšká
niece (male mitų́žą nitų́žą tųžą́co
speaker)
EGO -2 gen. MY YOUR OUR HIS/HER
grandchild mitákoža nitákoža ųgítakožabi takóžakpagu
ųgítagožakpagu
OTHER TERMS MY YOUR OUR HIS/HER
child micij́ ena nicij́ ena micįjabi cįjena
male friend of a mitákona nitákona takónagu
man
female friend of a nįší šįtkúya
man
 192
Appendix 2: Glossary of Grammatical Terms
Ablaut = process whereby the final vowel of a stem changes its value. Usually it is an additional
element which provokes the ablauting process. In the following examples, the suffix -kta
‘future, potential’ provokes the ablaut of a preceding /a/ into a nasal /į/, or /i/ into /į/. The
outcome of ablauting is often a nasal vowel.
wóda+kta > wódįkta ‘s/he will eat’
wací+kta > wacíkta ‘s/he will dance’
NB: In some Nakoda dictionaries or linguistic literature the vowel that becomes ablauted is
indicated with an uppercase. Thus, wóda ‘s/he eats’ would be written wódA. The uppercase
indicates that if the suffix -kta ‘potential, future’ (or any other ablauting suffix) follows, the A
changes for a nasal /į/.
Active/Stative = refers to the distinction between actions like to think, live, take it and states like
to be nice, black, sad.
Agent = is the person doing the action of a transitive verb (i.e. an action verb which implies a
transfer of force (I called them, you kicked him, she fed me).
Benefactive = indicates that an action is undertaken for the “benefit” or honor of somebody else.
Conjugation = refers to the set of persons (6 in total), number (2, singular and plural) and mood
inflections that can be found on a verb.
Dative = indicates that an action is directed to or intended for somebody else.
Derivation, to derive = refers to a word formation process whereby some elements are added on
a root to specify its meaning, like in race > racer ‘the one who races’ or do it > redo it.
Discontinuous stem = refers to stems that are split into two parts; usually a small one at the
beginning and another one towards the end; e.g. the verb maní ‘s/he walks’ splits in two and
an infix is inserted as in ma-wá-ni ‘I walk’, ma-yá-ni ‘you walk’.
Enclitics = are elements that attach rather loosely at the end of verb and nouns, like -s’a
‘habitual’ as in wódes’a ‘an eater’, or -kta ‘future/potential’ as in wódįkta ‘s/he will eat’.
Inflection, to inflect = refers to the addition of elements on the verb that indicate person,
number, tense and mood. In English there are very few inflections left except for the -s in he
reads which indicates 3rd person singular, indicative mood.
Interjection = refers to short words (Hey! Watch out! Ouch!) that are used to call out or warn
people. They keep the channel of communication open.
Lexicon = the sum of all words and morphemes in a language. It is sometimes equated with
dictionary or glossary.
 193
Morpheme = is the smallest unit of meaning (e.g. in cat-s you can separate -s and it means
‘more than one’ thus we will say that -s is a morpheme and cat- a stem; in the Nakoda noun
búzabi ‘cats’ the part -bi is a morpheme which means ‘more than one’).
Object = the person or thing upon whom or which an action is done (he kicked me, she killed the
ducks).
Patient = person affected by the agent of a transitive verb (i.e. an action verb which implies a
transfer of force (I called them, you kicked him, she fed me).
Possessive = applies to verb morphology and means that an action is done to someone’s own
thing. On a noun it refers to the possessor markers.
Reduplication = is the doubling of one syllable of a verb usually to express plurality (šá ‘it is
red’ becomes šašá ‘they are red’).
Reflexive = indicates that the subject of the verb is acting upon him or herself. Thus, the subject
is both the agent and the patient of an action. In English the reflexive is expressed by the
pronouns + -self, -selves.
Stem = is the base of a word that expresses a lexical idea like ‘sleep, eat, run, man, dog’, etc. In
Nakoda the 3rd person singular, like wóda ‘s/he/it eats’ is used as the citation form of a verb
and also expresses an order ‘Eat!’
Subject = is the person doing the action in an intransitive verb (I sleep, they are running); in a
transitive verb the subject is the agent (he kicked the ball).
Transitive/Intransitive = a distinction that applies to verbs: a) intransitive verbs have only a

subject (I am sleeping, I ran) while transitive verbs imply a transfer of force between an
agent/subject and a patient/object (I shot the puck, you dunked the ball).
 194
 195
Appendix 3: Verb Classes

Class 1 Class 2
Regular stems wa-ya- Y-stems mn-n-
(delete the y = point of insertion)
MAKE IT WALK DRINK SIT DOWN
prefix infix prefix infix
I wagáǧa mawáni mnatką́ imnódąga
you yagáǧa mayáni natką́ inódąga
s/he gáǧa maní yatką́ iyódąga
we ųgáǧabi ma’ų́nibi ųyátkąbi ųgíyodągabi
bakcá ‘comb it’ a_gú ‘bring it’ yá ‘go there’ eyágu ‘take
bazó ‘show it’ a_hópa ‘respect yawá ‘count it’
cįgá ‘want it’ it’ it’ iyáya ‘depart’
hí ‘arrive here’ a_pá ‘hit it’ yúda ‘eat it’ wayáwa
hiyú ‘depart a_ktága ‘run’ yuhá ‘has it’ ‘read’
from there’ awášpą_ya ‘cook’ yužáža ‘scrub wąyága ‘see
í ‘arrive there’ ehą́_ki ‘reach it’ it’ it’
kní ‘return home’ e_gíya ‘call it’ wayúpi ‘be
knuhá ‘has one’s iyé_ska ‘converse, skilled’
own’ translate’ wa’áyaza
kté ‘kill it’ iyáksam_kiya ‘bead’
k’ú ‘give it’ ‘train it’
néža ‘urinate’ iyáme_kiya ‘hunt’
nową́ ‘sing’ iyé_ya ‘find it’
opétų ‘buy it’ i_’á ‘talk (to),
snóhą ‘crawl’ speak (to)’
šką́ ‘try, do, feel’ ná_žį ‘stand’
tí ‘live (in a o_gíhi ‘be able’
place)’ ó_kma ‘write it’
ú ‘come here’ o_né ‘look for it’
ų́ ‘be, stay’ opé_tų ‘buy it’
snoh_yá ‘know it’
ši_kna ‘be angry’
te_ȟína ‘love it’
wacé_giya ‘pray’
wadó_pa ‘paddle’
wa_cí ‘dance’
wó_da ‘eat’
wo_k’ú ‘feed it’
ACTIVE VERBS
 196
Class 3 Class 4
Nasal markers m-n- Nasal+Vowel markers ma-ni-
(delete the y or w = point of
insertion)
WEAR DO IT BE TIRED BE FULL
prefix infix prefix infix
mų́ ecámų mastústa ímapi I
nų́ ecánų nistústa ínipi you
ų́ ecų́ stustá iṕ i s/he
ų’ų́bi ecųgų́bi ųstústabi ųgípibi we
įknúžaža ‘wash įwų́ga ‘go cesní ‘be á_ya ‘becoming,
oneself’ to bed’ pooping’ continuing’
įštíma ‘sleep’ įwų́ǧa ‘ask’ dąyą́ ‘be well’ cądé_sija ‘be sad’
yągá ‘sit on’ dóka’_ų ‘do gána ‘be old’ cądé_wašte ‘be
agą́n-yągá ‘ride what’ hą́ska ‘be tall’ kind’
a horse’ káda ‘be iyó_gipi ‘be
feverish, hot’ pleased’
júsina ‘be Na_kóda ‘be
small’ Nakoda’
šįtų́ ‘be fat’ ų_spé ‘be
tą́ga ‘be big’ learning by
téjana ‘be oneself’
young, new’ wa_ką́ ‘be holy’
yazą́ ‘be sick’ wa_šíju ‘be
White’
žé_ca ‘be of a
kind’
ACTIVE VERBS STATIVE VERBS

“to be” verbs
(also direct object of transitive verbs
such as:
mak’ú ‘s/he gives it to me’
nik’ú ‘s/he gives it to you’
 197
Nakóda/English A
abá (QUANT) some (used with count nouns)
abáȟnan sąksája (N) silk dress
Lexicon abápsų (VT) to sprinkle, water it
acóga (N) armpit
adé (N) father (term of address)
The following Nakóda/English lexicon is a adéna (N) my uncle (father’s brother)
fraction only of the totality of Nakoda agáȟpa (VT) to cover him/her/it (e.g. with a
words. It contains all the words presented in blanket)
this document as well as those gathered agána (VT) to fill, sprinkle it
during the fieldwork sessions. The agásampadahą (ADV) from yonder to here
abreviations used are the following: (mniwą̨́ja agásampadahą ‘from across the
ocean’)
ADV = adverb agą́n (POST) on top of something
ART = article agá n-yągá (VT-N) to ride a horse
CONJ = conjunction agé (ADV) on top (used with teen numbers)
DEM = demonstrative agé wąží ‘eleven’
ENCL = enclitic agé nųbá ~ agé nų́m ‘twelve’
INTERJ = interjection agé yámni ‘thirteen’
-IRR = irregular verb agé dóba ‘fourteen’
N = noun agé záptą ‘fifteen’
-N = nasal conjugation (Class 3) agé šákpe ‘sixteen’
NUM = number agé šagówį ‘seventeen’
PART = particle agé šaknóǧą ‘eighteen’
PL = plural agé napjúwąga ‘nineteen’
POST = postposition agícida (N) uniform, soldier
PRO = pronoun agícida įtą́ca (N) policeman
QUANT = quantifier agípe (VI) to wait
SG = singular agú (VT) to bring something
SUF = suffix aǧóbas’a (N) snorer
VI = intransitive verb (Class 1) aǧúyabi (N) flour, bread
VIMP = impersonal verb aǧúyabi-skuya (N) cake, cookie (lit.
VPOS = possessive verb sweet bread)
VR = reflexive verb aǧúyabi-saga (N) toast (lit. dry bread)
VS = stative verb (Class 4) aǧúyabi šnoyábi (N) fried bannock
VT = transitive verb (Classes 1, 2, 3) aǧúyabisu (N) wheat kernel
-Y = Y-stem conjugation (Class 2) ahą́zi (VIMP) to be dusk, dark
~ = indicates local or dialectal variants of a ahą́zi’áya (VIMP) to become dusk
word ahą́ziga (VIMP) to be kind of dark
ahą́zikiya (VT) to darken it
Take note that oral vowels (a, e, i, o, u) ahé (INTERJ) expression of humility used at
come before nasals ones (ą, į, ų), and that the beginning of prayers or songs
ejective consonants like k’ come after other ahí (VT, VI) 1) to bring him/her here; 2) to
consonants like k. Finally, compounds come come here as a group
after single words. ahídųwą (VT) to look on
 198
aȟíkboǧa (N) sweet pine, Indian perfume, a’ókpaza’áya (VIMP) to become dark
cedar a’ópeya (VT) to add on it
ahógipa (VT) to respect, honor him/her a’óta (VT) to shoot with a gun
ahópa (VT) to respect, honor, revere it a’óžaža yuhą́’ųbi (N) lantern
aké ~ agé (ADV) again a’ó’azą (VIMP) to clear up after a storm
akída (VT) to watch, look at it a’ú (VT) to bring him/her/it here
akną́g (POST) along (contraction of
aknąkna) Ą
akní () to bring him/her/it home á ba (N) day
ak’í (N) saddle ąbáhotuna ~ ąbáhotų (N) rooster
ak’íha (N) saddle bag ąbáyabi (N) a wake after a death
ak’ímaheda (N) saddle blanket ą́bawaką (N) Sunday
ak’ípasu (N) saddlehorn ą́bawaką gicúni (N) Monday
amáȟpiya (VIMP, N) to be cloudy, cloud ą́bawaką tą́ga (N) Christmas
amáȟpiyato (VS) to be a blue sky ą́ba įdóba (N) Thursday
amíknaga wacíbi (N) crow belt dance ą́ba įnúba (N) Tuesday
amnéza (VT) to look at ą́ba įyámni (N) Wednesday
amų́giya ~ amų́giye (N) car (archaic) ą́ba įzáptą (N) Friday
anádą (VT) to raid an enemy ą́ba né ~ ą́ba nén (ADV) today
anówą (VI) to sing for or over someone ą́ba yužáža (N) Saturday
anówąbi (N) quarterly singing ą́ba ú (VIMP) to be dawn
apá (VT) to hit, knock him/her/it ąbá ú wįcáȟpi (N) morning star
asą́bi (N) milk ąbédu (N) day
asą́bi wíkni (N) butter ąbéyas’a (ADV) all throughtout the day, all
asą́bi súda (N) cheese day long
asníya (VS) to heal ąbé’įštima (VI) to sleep during day time
astústaga (VS) to be rather tired ąmhą́ska wí (N) February (contraction of
aškán (ADV) recently, lately ą̨́ba hą̨́ska wí)
ašón’įc’iya (VR) to smudge oneself ąm’ósni (VIMP) to be a cold day (contraction
awací (VI) to feel like, to have it on the mind of ą̨́ba osní)
awácįyą (ADV) for the sake of it, in a
contemplative manner B
awánųka (ADV) accidentally
babnáya (VT) to iron it
awášpąya (VI) to cook a feast
baǧé (ADV) together, to push together
awą́yaga (VT-Y) to look after him/her/it
bahá (N) hill
awą́yages’a (N) guard, bodyguard
bahótų (VT) to make a loud sound by
awódabi (N) table
pushing, rubbing
áya (VS) to become
baȟnéja (VT) to puncture it (e.g. with a
ayúštą (VT-Y) to lose it
sharp tool)
azé (N) breast of a female
baȟnóga (VT) to make a hole with a sharp
azíȟya ~ azínya (VT) to smudge her/him/it
tool, to pierce
á’ana (N) crow
bakcá (VT) to comb him/her/it
a’í (VT) to take it/him/her there
baksá (VT) to break it with an instrument
a’íknaȟpa (VR) to cover oneself
(e.g. with a chainsaw)
a’ógadą (VT) to nail it
bapsų́ (VT) to pour out, spill a liquid
a’óhązi (VIMP) to be cloudy, overcast
basí (VI) to drive
 199
basnóhą (VT) to push it cągáksaksa (VT) to chop wood into kindling

bašpé (VT) to open it with a sharp tool cągámubi (N) log drum
bat’á (VT) to crush someone to death cągúsam (N) across the border
bazó (VT) to show it cągúsampadahą (N) from across the border
Bigána (N) Piegan cąǧáȟtųbi (N) beaver dam, bridge
bisbízena (N) mouse cą́hąba (N) shoes
bistą́ga (N) prairie dog cą́hąba hą́ske (N) cowboy boots
bíško (N) nighthawk cą́hąba įsámye (N) shoe polish
bizéna (N) gopher cąkáhuknekneǧana (N) chipmunk
bo (ENCL) male imperative plural cąm’úzįtka (N) wild onion
bó (VI) to swell cąní (N) tobacco
boȟnóga (VT) to make a hole by pressing on cąníska (N) cigarette
it cąníya (VI) to pout
boksá (VT) to break it by pushing with an cąnúba (N, VI) 1) pipe; 2) to smoke
instrument (e.g. with a truck) cąnúba waką́ (N) sacred pipe
bošpá (VT) to knock it open with force, cąnúba wapą́ (N) pipestem
pressure cąnúba oȟpáǧa ecų́bi (N) pipe ceremony
busyá (VT) to dry it cąpá (N) chokecherries
bušcíjana (N) kitten cąpá-hą́ (N) chokecherry tree
bušpá (VT) to pry it (e.g. with a bar) cąpásaba wí (N) August
búza (N) cat cąpásusuna (N) pepper
cąpómya wí (N) November
C cąská (N) white poplar
c (ENCL) gender neutral declarative cąšíhąba (N) rubber boots
cába (N) beaver cąšáša ~ cąšášana (N) red willow
cá (PART) it is the case, at that very moment, cąšká (N) hawk, chicken hawk
such a person, such a kind (used in formal cąšmúyabi (N) sugar
statement) cąšmúyabi pšųkáka (N) candy
cá (PART) maybe cątkúša (N) robin
caȟnísaba (N) black gunpowder cą́waką (N) sun dance center pole, cross
caná (N) crotch (genital area) cąwámnuška (N) wood tick
cabáȟmikma (N) wagon cąwóhą, cą’óhą (ADV) in a wooden area
capų́ga (N) mosquito cą’íyušnohą (N) sleigh
Capų́ga-Matópa-Hústaga (N) cą́ gahómni (N) stick used in a round
Mosquito/Bear Head/Leanman dance
catká (VS) to be left-handed cą’ą́gan (N) chair
catkána (ADV) left side cą’óhą (ADV) in the forest
cažé (N) name cą’ótina (N) tree dweller, dwarf
cą́ (N) tree, wood cą’ówįža (N) floor
cąbáhotuna yucéya (N) guitar cé (N) penis
cą́ceǧa (N) wooden pail cehú (N) jaw
cą́ceǧa ąwą́yągą (N) drum keeper cekpá (N) navel
cądé (N) heart céǧa (N) kettle, pail, pot
cądéwašte (VS) to be kind, good hearted Céǧa K’ína (N) Carry-the-Kettle reservation
cądé skúya (N) sweetheart, girlfriend céǧa tą́ga (N) pail
cągáȟąge (N) trailer of a war bonnet cén (CONJ) then, so, thus
 200
cesní (VI, N) 1) to defecate; 2) feces, dung

ceškámaza (N) 1) police; 2) council, D
alliance dágeyešį (INTERJ) Shh! Shut up! Don’t talk!
cetápą (N) man genitalia dágu (N, PRO, QUANT) 1) thing, something;
céya (VI) to cry 2) what; 3) any, none
céyaga (PART) obligation, should, must, dágucén (ADV) why
ought to dáguni (PRO) none, nothing (objects)
ceyágadaga ~ cayágadaga (N) wild mint, dáguniȟ (ADV) nothing at all
peppermint dágunišį (PRO, N) 1) nothing; 2) zero
céyagįšį (PART) negative obligation, should dáguškina (N) baby, infant, child
not dagúya (VT) to have someone as a relative
ceyés’a (N) cry baby dagúye (N) relative
céya’í (VI) to arrive there crying dąyá (VS, ADV) 1) to be well; 2) well, fine
ceží (N) 1) tongue; 2) gun trigger dąyą́gen (ADV) in a careful manner,
cįcų́na (N) his older brother; carefully
miciń a ‘my older brother’ dóba ~ dom (NUM) four
niciń a ‘your older brother’ dóbagiya (ADV) four by four
cįgá (VT) to want dóhąc’ehą (ADV) when in the past
cįjá (N) child dóhąda ~ dóhą(n) (ADV) when (potential
cįhítku (N) his/her son event)
miciḱ ši ‘my son’ dóhągeja (ADV) at what time
nicíkši ‘your son’ dóhąni (ADV) never
cogą́du (ADV) in the middle, center dókaš (ADV) maybe
cogą́n(a) (ADV) in the center dóka’ų (VI-N) to do what? (Dágu dókanų
cokną́ga (N) breech cloth he? What are you doing?)
cogánwida (N) island in the middle of a lake dókeja (VI) to be a matter
coníca (N) dry meat dóken (ADV) how
cos’íc’iya (VR) to warm oneself dóki (ADV) where, to where
cótąga (N) gun dókiyadahą ~ dókidahą (ADV) where from
cóza (VS) to be warm (e.g. coat) dóna (ADV) some, how many
co’ú ba (VT) to roast, to fry it duká (CONJ) 1) but; 2) supposedly,
cuȟéwąǧa (VIMP) to be a hoar frost should
cuna (ENCL) repetition dukté (PRO) what, which
cuwída (VS) to be cold, chilly (animate duktén (ADV) where
referent) duwé (PRO) who
cuwíknąga (N) coat, shirt duwéȟ (PRO) whoever specifically
cuwíknąga hą́ska (N) long coat, shirt duwéni (PRO) nobody, no one
cuwíknąga šašábi (N) Royal Canadian
Mounted Police E
cų́gųna (N) her older sister
é (VS) to be
micų́na ‘my older sister’
ecá (VI) to be thus, to be of that kind
nicų́na ‘your older sister’
ecágen (ADV) constantly, always
cųwítku (N) his/her daughter
ecákiya (VI) to think it
micú kši ‘my daughter’
ecén (ADV) it was this way, then
nicú kši ‘your daughter’
ecí (VI) to wonder about it
-c’ehą ~ -’ehą (ADV) in the past, just then
ec’ų́ ~ ecá’ų (VT-N) to do it
 201
edáhą (ADV) some of that (mass noun) gamímeya (ADV) in a circle

éduwą (VT) to look at it gamnéza (VIMP) to be dawn
eháš (ADV) many gamúbi (N) drum
eháši (ADV) too much, exceedingly ganú (VT) to fan it
ehą́ki (VI) to reach or arrive at a certain gán (ADV) over there
point; to be a certain age ganá (DEM) those over there
ehą́’i (VI) to reach or arrive at a certain point gána (VI) to be old
egíya ~ ejíya (VT) to tell someone, to call gapésto (VT) to shave, sharpen a point
someone gapsída (VT) to whip something
ejé’ena (ADV) or just, alone gasní (VT) to put out with water, extinguish
éknaga (VT) to put it, place it down a fire by smothering, to cool it off (e.g. by
ektá (ADV) at, to shaking it)
ektášį (ADV) wrongly gaškópa (VT) to bend it (e.g. permanently)
én (ADV) here, in it gašná (VT) to cut it with a tool (e.g. scissors)
epcá ~ gepcá ~ gepcám (PART) I think, it gašpábi (N) quarter (coin)
seems to me, apparently gašpábi okíse (N) dime (half a quarter)
éstena (ADV) early, soon, right away gašpé (VT) to open with an ax, tool
eštá (CONJ) or, either gat’á (VT) to kill someone by striking (e.g.
eyá (VI-IRR) to say it (epá, ehá) as with a club)
éyabaha (N) hilltop announcer gayá (PART) they say that (contraction of
eyágu (VT-Y) to take it ga+eya)
éyaš (CONJ) but, only, well, then, enough gazógic’ų (VI-IRR) to skate (gazówec’ų,
eyés’a (N) chatterbox, a blabbermouthed gazóyec’ų)
person gazógic’ų skáda (VI) to play hockey
gažúžu (VT) to pay it off, pay for it (e.g.
G cheques, bills)
gá (DEM) that one over there gibázo (VT) to show it to someone
gaca (ENCL) as if gicí (POST) with another person or thing
gacén (ADV) about, approximately gicíza (VI) to fight each other
gáǧa (VT) to make it gicíkna’įškadabi (VI) to tease each other
gaǧéǧe (VT) to sew it gicíksuyabi (VI) to remember each other
gahą́geȟi (ADV) that far, not so far off gicó (VT-IRR) to invite, call him/her (wéco,
gahómni (VT) to do a round dance yéco)
gahómni wacíbi (N) 49, round or owl dance gicúni (VT) to quit an activity
gaȟnéja (VT) to tear it by pressure, to rip gic’ų́ (VPOS) to wear one’s own thing
open with its weight (wec’ų̨́, yec’ų̨́)
gaȟnóga (VT) to make a hole by striking gídąȟ (ADV) finally
with an instrument gíjaǧa (VT) to make it for someone
gaksá (VT) to cut it with a tool gíjinową (VT) to sing for someone
gakí (ADV) way over there, in a distant area gikmą́ (VT) to resemble someone
gakná (ADV) beside gikną́ga (VR) to save one’s own, to cache
gakní (VT) to bring back to someone for oneself
gaksá (VT) to chop it off with a tool (e.g. gikšúya (VT-IRR) to remember him/her/it
hatchet) (wekšúya, yekšúya)
gaksáksa (VT) to chop it in splints (e.g. giktá (VI-IRR) to get up (wektá, yektá)
wood) gimą́mąna ~ gimą́miną (N) butterfly, moth
 202
gisníya (VT) to save or cure him/her from an hąhébi wódabi (N) supper
illness hąhéyas’a (ADV) throughout the night, all
gisníwįcayabi ecų́bi (N) healing ceremony night’
Gisų́na (N) Asian person hąkpáza (VIMP) it is evening twilight
gitána (ADV) a little bit, barely hąmáni (VI) to walk at night
gitų́ (VT) to wear over the shoulders hąnúni (VI) to get lost at night
gíza (VT) to fight him/her/it hą́ska (VS) to be long, tall
giyáwa (VT) to read to someone hąwácibi (N) women dance, night dance
giyą́ (VI) to fly hąwí (N) moon, sun, month
gįkná (VI) to leave home hąwísaba (N) lunar eclipse
gįyékiyapi (N) airplane, car (archaic) hąwíyąba (N) moonlight
góza (VI) to wave hąwígaǧabi (N) clock, timer
gú (VI) to come back home hąwí cogądu (N) half moon
gugúša (N) pig hąwí hįną́pa (N) sunrise
gugúša šį (N) bacon hąwí iyáya sába (N) eclipse (lit. sun turns
black)
Ğ hąwí okíse (N) half moon
ǧí (VS) to be light yellow hąwí ozúna (N) full moon
ǧuyá (VT) to brown, scorch it hąwí togáhe oyášpe (N) quarter moon
hąwí úšį (VIMP) to be a night without a
H moon coming
hąwí waȟcá (N) sunflower
há (N) skin, bag, any type of container (e.g.
hąyáke (ADV) late morning (8-9 am)
pouch, box)
hąyákeji (ADV) tomorrow
haȟníša (N) cry baby
hąyákena (ADV) morning
haská(na) (N) Whiteman
hąyákenaȟ (ADV) early morning
háu (INTERJ) hello (used by male speaker)
hąyákena cogą́du (ADV) mid-morning
hayábi (N) clothes
hąyákena wódabi (N) breakfast
hayábi owópetų (N) clothing store
hąyákes’ą (ADV) throughout the morning,
hą́ (INTERJ ,VS) 1) yes, hello; 2) to stand, to
all morning
remain
hą’éyas’ą (ADV) throughout the night, all
hą́ba (N) moccasin
night
hą́ba ecų́bi (N) moccasin game
he (ENCL) male interrogative
hąbí (N) juice
hé (N) horn
hą́cogądu (ADV) midnight, middle of the
heȟága ~ heȟáge (N) elk
night
hékiška (N) mountain sheep, mountain goat
hą́da (ADV) when (single occurrence)
hékta (ADV) back then
hą́dahą (ADV) whenever (multiple
héktam(na) (ADV) behind
occurrences)
heyúką (VI) to have horns
hągágo (N) his sister-in-law
hí (VI, N) 1) to arrive here; 2) tooth
mihą́go ‘my sister-in-law’
hímaza (N) gold tooth
nihą́go ‘your sister-in-law’
hiną́ga (INTERJ) Wait!
hągé (N) half
hí įcáǧa (VS) to be teething
hąhébi (N) night
hiyá (INTERJ) no
hąhébic’ehą (ADV) last night
hiyú (VI) to come over here
hąhébi wanáǧi wówįcak’ubi (N) feed the
hįcą́ (N) cattail
night spirits ceremony
 203
hįcą́hu (N) cattail stalk hųgágebi (N) parents

hįhą́ (VIMP) to fall, come down hųgášicu (N) his/her female cousin
hįȟpáya (VI) to fall mihų́gaši(na) ‘my female cousin’
híí (INTERJ) Oh my! (women’s expression of nihų́gaši(na) ‘your female cousin’
surprise) hųgawį (N) queen
híkna ~ hík (CONJ) and then hú gu (N) his/her mother (reference)
hįkną́gu (N) her husband mihų́ ‘my mother’
mihiḱ na ‘my husband’ nihų́ ‘your mother’
nihíkna ‘your husband’ hų́n (ENCL) I wonder
hįknátų (VT) to have a husband hųská (N) pants, leggings
hįknátųbi (N) marriage hųskána (N) stockings
hįknáya (VT) to marry someone hųskáto (N) jeans, denims
hįníga (VS) to be mean hųštá (PART) quotative, they say
hįšmą́ (VS) to be thick haired
hó (N, VS) 1) voice; 2) to howl Ȟ
hoǧą́ (N) fish -ȟ (SUF) intensifier
hoǧą́ǧąna (N) minnow -ȟtįya (SUF) intensifier ‘want, desire’
hók (INTERJ) yes (male speaker) ȟaȟátųwą (N) Gros Ventres, Atsina
hokníkne (VIMP) to be a thunder clap ȟaȟų́da (N) thread, rope
hokšíyuha (VI-Y) to give birth ȟeȟágana ~ ȟeȟágagana (N) spider
hokšína (N) boy Ȟewáȟtųkta (N) Hidatsa
hokún (ADV) down, below ȟeyám (ADV) in the back of something
hókun įjámna (VIMP) to be a ground ȟóda (VS) to be gray
blizzard ȟóga (N) badger
hokún dahą́ (ADV) from below ȟtániȟą (ADV) yesterday
hokúwa (VI) to fish ȟtayédu (ADV) evening
hoȟpá (VI) to cough ȟubá wagíkna kagána (N) bat
homnáska (N) gold-eye fish ȟubáhu (N) wing
honáǧina ~ honáǧi (N) fly ȟuȟnáȟya (VS) to burn, scorch
honáǧinatotobi (N) blue fly ȟuȟnáȟyabi (N) coffee
hopépe (N) perch, pike ȟuȟnáȟyabi céǧa (N) coffee pot
hopútįhį yuką́ (N) catfish
hotų́ (VI) to make a distinctive cry (e.g. any I
animal, coyote, bison, etc.)
í (N, VI) 1) mouth; 2) to arrive there
hú (N) leg, stem, stalk, wheel
iná (N) mother (term of address) (also
húde (N) bottom of an object, basement,
mi’ína)
root
inána (N) my aunt (mother’s sister)
huhú (N) bone, bones
iná maká (N) Mother Earth
Huhúžubina (N) Regina
inína (ADV) quietly
hukwáá (INTERJ) male interjection for
iyágipe (VT) to wait for somebody
surprise (e.g. For heaven’s sake!; Oh my
iyáksamkiya (VT) to train it (e.g. horse)
God!)
iyáme í (VI) to go hunting
hústaga (VS) to be lean, skinny
iyámegiyaya ~ iyáme iyáya (VI) to go
hutką́ (N) root
hunting
hú mįmámina (N) wheel
iyáya (VS) to gradually become
hųgá (N) chief, king
iyáya (VI-Y) to set to go (around departure
 204
time) įdóba (NUM) fourth

iyážo (N) whistle, eagle bone whistle įdómni (VS) to be dizzy
iyážok’íbi (N) whistle carrier įdú (ADV) only, just, simply
iyécįga (ADV) on its own įdúka (VS) to be hungry
iyécįgayena ~ iyécįga(na) ~ iyécįgena (N) įdú wiǧá hąwí (N) May
car įhágapa (VS) to be younger than
iyégijiska (VT) to translate for someone Įhą́ktųwąna (N) Sioux (Dakota)
iyégiya (VPOS) to find one’s own íhokun (ADV) underneath something
iyéȟa (PRO) he himself, her herself įȟá (VT, VI) to laugh at, to laugh
iyéȟabi (PRO) they themselves įȟpéya (VT) to throw it away; to divorce
iyéska (VI) to interpret, converse from somebody; to leave him/her/it
iyéska, iyéskabi (N) interpreter, announcer behind, alone
iyéya (VT) to find it įją́ȟtąge (N) tattooing, vaccination needle
iyódąga (VI-Y) to sit down įjánu (N) fan
iyógapte ~ ogápte (N) plate, dish, shell, įjáše (N) button
dipper įjášna (N) scissors
iyógapte škobá (N) bowl įjítoką (ADV) different when compared to
iyógapte timáhen (N) cupboard įjú (VI) to smoke
iyógaptopi (N) cupboard įką́ (N) reins
iyógipiya (VT) to make someone happy įkcé (ADV) common
iyók’įba (N) cradle board įkcé ȟiȟą́ (N) magpie
iyópsija (VI) to jump įkcé wįcášta (N) Indigenous person
iyúhana (ADV) all of them, everybody įkíya (VT) to make him/her wear it on the
iyúkcą (VI-Y) to think about him/her/it shoulders
i’á ~ iyá (VI, VT) to talk, speak; to talk, įkmų́ (N) lynx
speak to someone įkmų́na (N) bobcat
I’ášijana ~ I’ášija (N) Chippewa, įkmų́tąga (N) mountain lion
Saulteaux, German, Ukrainian, French įkníya (VT) to come to observe, to
investigate it
Į įknúhana (ADV) suddenly
įknúkcą (VT) to think of one’s own
í (VT) to wear it on the shoulder
įknúžaža ~ knužáža (VR) to wash oneself,
įbáhį (N) pillow
or one’s own thing
įbásise (N) needle
įkpá (N) tip, point
įbíǧa (VI) to boil
íkšukšuna (N) bean
įbíȟya (VT) to boil it
įktómi (VS, N) 1) to be a liar; 2) trickster
įcáǧa (VS) to grow
įk’ú (N) chin
įcápa (VT) to pierce, stab it
įk’úhį (N) hair under the chin of a buffalo
įcápe (N) fork
įk’ú hą́ska (N) mountain goat (lit. long
įcą́yukse (N) saw
chin)
įcéte (N) rim
íkusana (N) mink
įc’íknaya (VR) to fool oneself
įją́ȟabe (N) whip
įc’íyųǧa (VR) to ask for oneself
įjáȟabe wįcá (N) whipman
įdáziba (N) bow
įjámna (VIMP) to be a blizzard
įdé (N) face
įjáška (VT) to tie with, to tie a knot
įdéȟnuga (N) pumpkin
įjída (ADV) above
įdé’įbakįda (N) towel
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įjínažį (VI) to stand above įyą́ga (VI-Y) to run

įjíšaknoǧą (NUM) eighth įyą́ȟe ~ įyáȟe (N) mountain, hill
įmoȟtage (N) bumper íyą oyáde (N) Stone nation
įnázam ~ nazám (ADV) in the back of it įyúkcą (VI-Y) to think
įnázapadahą (ADV) from the back, from įyúšpe (N) key
behind įyúžaža (N) soap
įnážį (VI) to stop įyúžažamno (N) laundry soap
įní (VI) to do, go into a sweat lodge įyų́ga ~ įwų́ga (VT-N) to go to bed
įníbi (N) sweat lodge, sweat bath įyų́ǧa ~ įwų́ǧa (VT-N) to ask someone
įpáȟte (N) bridle į’ágam (ADV) over it
įpí (VS) to be full, sated į’áke-záptą (NUM) fifteenth
įpíya (VT) to sate, fill him/her/it į’áni (VT, N) 1) to climb on it; 2) ladder
įpíyaga (N) belt į’íjuna (N) cup
įpíyaga įją́šeye (N) belt buckle
įpí’įcíya (VR) to sate oneself J
įspá (N) elbow jé (PART) always, habitually
įstó (N) arm je (PART) agency, continuous action
íš (PRO) he/her/it/they too, it is jónana (QUANT) a small portion, a little
he/her/it/they; also júsina (VS) to be small
įštá (N) eye
įštáhį (N) eyelash K
įštásaba (VS, N) 1) s/he has a black eye; 2)
ká (VT) to mean it
raccoon
kac’á (ENCL) as if
įštáyabi (N) eyeglasses
káda (VS) to be hot, feverish
įštáyabi sába (N) sunglasses
kadódona (VT) to peck the ground
įští (N) lower lip
kangíya (VR) to heat up one’s own
įštípaȟte (N) Indian bridle
Kąǧí Tóga (N) Crow
įštíma (VI-N) to be asleep
kąyéna (ADV) close
įtą́ca (N) leader
keyá (N) snapping turtle
įté (N) forehead
kiškána (N) spoon
įtó (INTERJ) maybe, I guess
kiškána tą́ga (N) ladle
įtúgašą (N) weasel
kišné (N) lover
įtų́šį (VI) to lie, not to tell the truth
kišnéya (VT) to love someone
įwábabnaya (N) iron (i.e. for clothes)
kní (VI) to return, to go home
įwą́knage (N) window, mirror
knuhá (VPOS) to keep, have one’s own
įwátape (N) horse used in buffalo hunting
knuksá (VPOS) to cut one’s hair
įwátapebi (N) buffalo chasers
knušnóga (VPOS) to take off one’s own
įwátokšu ~ otókšu ~ tokšú (N) truck
knuštą́ (VPOS) to finish one’s own; to finish
įwą́žikte (N) first kill ceremony
it
įwą́yage (N) gunsight
kó ~ nakó (CONJ) also, and
įwikcémna šákpe (ORD.NUM) sixtieth
kogípa (VT) to fear him/her/it
įwócape (N) long fork stick used to fork up
kókįkna (VT) to make a clinging sound
puppy meat in the kettle dance
košká (N, VS) adolescent boy, to be a boy
įwų́ga ~ įyų́ga (VT-N) to go to bed
kpakcá (VPOS) to comb one’s hair
įwų́ǧa ~ įyų́ǧa (VT-N) to ask someone
ksugíya (VT) to hurt because of him/her/it
íyą (N) stone
ksuyá (VT) to hurt him/her/it
 206
kté (VT) to kill him/her/it maštá (VIMP) to be a hot day

kudé (VT) to shoot it maštíja (N) rabbit
kún (ADV) down maštíjatąga (N) jackrabbit
kušícu (N) (his/her) grandmother maštíja oyáde (N) Cree tribe
mikúši ‘my grandmother’ mató (N) black bear
nikúši ‘your grandmother’ Matóska (N) White Bear
kušícu tą́ga (N) his/her great-grandmother mayáwašiju (N) little people (mythic being)
kuwá (VT) to chase, to go after máza ~ mą́za (N) iron
k’í (VT) to carry it mázagiyą (N) airplane
k’ú (VT) to give it to him/her mázaką (N) gun (borrowed from Dakota)
mázakada (N) hot metal
L mázaska (N) money
lakóta (N) Lakota mázaska hągé (N) fifty cents
mázaska tíbi (N) bank
M mázasni (N) cold metal
mázaša (N) penny
makóce (N) land, ground
mázawada (N) train
magá (N) skunk
máza’i (N) gun muzzle
maǧážu (VIMP, N) to be raining; rain
máza’ocągu (N) train track
maǧážu kmų́ga (N) rainbow
mąkíyutabi (N) mile
maǧážu waką́ (VIMP) to be a hot summer
mąká ~ maká (N) earth, soil
drizzling
mąkáži (N) sand
mahén (POST) in, into, inside
mąkóȟnoga ~ makóȟnoga (N) cave
mahén hųskána (N) underclothes
mąkóškąšką (N) earthquake (short form for
maȟpíya (N) 1) sky, cloud; 2) heaven
mąkócoškąšką)
maȟpíyato (VIMP, N) 1) to be a blue sky; 2)
mąs’ípaȟte (N) bite
blue sky; 3) Arapaho
mína (N) knife
maȟpíya agícida (N) airforce soldier
minátkes’a (N) drunkard (short form for
maȟ’ú (VT) to peel it
miníyatkes’a)
maká ~ mąká (N) earth, soil
miní (N) water
makahasaba (N) coal
minískuya (N) soda pop (lit. sweet water)
makámahen (N) basement
miníšaša (N) wine
makóce agícida (N) ground soldier
minítąga (N) lake
maksá (VT) to cut off something with a
miníwaką (N) whiskey
knife or a something sharp
miní’įbiǧa ~ miníbiǧa (N) beer
makú (N) chest
miní agícida (N) navy soldier
makúša (N) robin
miyáde ~ mi’áde (N) my father
makú įyúskice (N) brassiere
miyé (PRO) myself, it is I, I do
maní (VS) to walk
miyéȟ (PRO) myself specifically
manų́ (VT) to steal it
miyéšį ~ miyéšni (PRO) it is not I
mas’ápa (N) telephone
mnihé įc’íya (VR) to have courage in
mas’ápabi (N) telegraph
oneself
mas’íyapa (N) hammer
mįméya (ADV) round
mas’íyapa tą́ga (N) sledge hammer
mįméya wacíbi (N) round dance
maswícak’ubi (N) treaty
míš (PRO) me too
maswícak’ubi ą́ba (N) Treaty Day
mnaská (VS) to be flat
maškída (VT) to cut it
 207
mnícaǧa (N) frozen water nážį (VI) to stand up

mníjahomni (N) windmill nąbát’a (VS) to have a numb hand
mníkada (N) hot water nąbáwąge įjínųba (N) middle finger
mnísni (N) cold water nąbáwąge įjíyamni (N) ring finger
mniwą́ja (N) sea, ocean nąbáwąge įjíwažį (N) index finger
mnéza (VS) to be a clear sky nąbáwąhųge tą́ga (N) thumb
mnóga (N) male buffalo nąbé (N) hand
mnógedu (N) summer nąbé catkána (N) left hand
Mnógedu Maǧážu Waką́ Wíyą (N) Holy nąbé gamúbi (N) hand drum
Summer Rain Woman (personal name) nąbé škádabi (N) hand game
mnogés’ą (ADV) throughout the summer, all nąbíkpa (N) gloves
summer nąbó’ųšna (N) thimble
mnową́ga (N) water monster, said to create nąšpé (VT) to open up forcefully with the
landslides (short form of mniwáwąga) foot
modą́ (VT) to bump against someone nągáhą ~ nahą́ (ADV) now
nągáhąȟ ~ nągaȟ (ADV) right now, right
N away
naȟą́ȟ (ADV) still, yet nąpsíhu (N) finger
naȟnóga (VT) to make a hole by kicking nąpsíhušage (N) fingernail
naȟ’ú (VT) 1) to hear, listen to him/her; 2) to nąpsíhu hąwí akída (N) clock
obey him/her ną’ítkųya (VS) to start a fire, to light it up
nąkáda (VI) to become hot (i.e. by itself, (manually)
internal force) né (DEM) this
nakó ~ kó (CONJ) and, also néca (VS) to be this kind
Nakóda (N, VS) 1) Nakoda; 2) to be nécedu (ADV) it is this way
Nakoda nécen (ADV) in this way
nakónįc’ina (VR) to behave like a Nakoda néci (ADV) around here
nakón-iyábi (N) Nakoda language néhą (ADV) at this time, now
nakón-wįcó’i’e (N) Nakoda language nehą́kta (ADV) to be happening
nakón-wįcoȟ’ąge (N) Nakoda custom nekšíco (N) his/her uncle (mother’s brother)
naksá (VT) to break it forcefully (e.g. with minékši ‘my uncle’
the foot or by pressure) ninékši ‘your uncle’
napá (VI) to run away in fear nén (ADV) here
napcá (VI) to swallow nená (DEM) these here
napcó (N) upper arm néža (VI) to urinate
napéšį (N) No Retreat Society ní (VI) to live
napjúwąga (NUM) nine niǧá ~ niǧé (N) tripe, stomach
napsíja (VT) to kick something nína (ADV) really, very
nap’í (VT) to wear it on the neck niskó (ADV) this much
natága (VT) to close it; a force closes it (e.g. niyá (VI) to breathe
wind) niyáwašte (VI) to be in good health
naȟtága (VT) to kick him/her/it, to kick it to niyé (PRO) youself, it is you
death niyéȟ (PRO) you yourself
nat’á (VT) to kick, to trample him/her/it to niyéšį (PRO) it is not you, not you
death níš (PRO) you too
nazúda (VT) to wear it down no (ENCL) male declarative
 208
nodé (N) throat oká (ADV) even though

nodít’a (VS) to be hungry, to starve okáda (VIMP) to be hot inside
nówa (PRO) all these okíse (N) half
nowá (VI) to sing okmá (VT) to write, draw, paint it
nową́s’a (N) singer okná (ADV) through, in
núda (N) red, scarlet (used in names only) okną́ga (VT) to put it away, in it
núǧe (N) ear ókšą (ADV) around
nuní (VI) to be lost omá (PRO) the other one
nų́ba ~ nųm (NUM) two Omáha wacíbi (N) Omaha dance
nų́babi (N) twins omáka (N) year
nų́bagiya (ADV) two by two omákateja (N) New Year’s Day
nųbáȟ basísa (VT) to double stitch it omáka’es’ą (ADV) throughout the year, all
nųpí (PRO) both year
nų́ške (INTERJ) euh! (hesitation marker) ománi (VI) to go for a walk
nųwą́ (VI) to swim ómna (VT, N) 1) to smell it; 2) a smell
oná (N) prairie fire
O oné (VT) to look for it (specific)
obásisa (VT) to sew it on onóda (VT) to borrow it
obáwįǧe (NUM) hundred onówą (N) song
ocą́gu (N) road, path, street opétų (VT) to buy, purchase it
ocą́guȟe (N) gravel road opí’įc’iya (VR) to behave
ocą́gusaba (N) paved road osní (VIMP) to be cold weather
océti (N) fireplace, hearth, stove, oven osnóhya (VT) to understand it
océti awą́yaga (N) firekeeper ošíjeja (VI) to be a storm
océti waką́ (N) microwave oškáda (N) playground
óda (VS) to be many otí (N) dwelling
ogáȟci (N) fringe otígadodo (N) broom
ogáȟniǧa (VT) to understand her/him/it otíga ~ otí’įga (PART) it seems, apparently
ogíciya (VI) to help each other ot’í apá (VIMP) to be thundering
ogíhi (VT) to be able to do it owá (QUANT) all
ogíjinoda (VT) to borrow it for someone else owácegiye (N) church
ogíjiyaga (VT) to tell it for someone else owácegiye tíbi (N) church
ogínoda (VT) to borrow it from someone owáštena (ADV) slowly, carefully
ogípi (VS) to be happy owáyawa (N) school
ógiya (VT) to help him/her owáyáwa otókšo (N) school bus
ógiyabi (N) helper owáyužažabi (N) laundry
ogíyaga (VT) to tell it to him/her owá’okma (N) pencil
ógiyes’a (N) servant ową́hįkna (VIMP, N) 1) to be lightning; 2)
oǧų́ǧa (VS) to be awake, waking up electricity
óhą (ADV) in the middle, in it owícanebi (N) hunter
ohą́ (VT) 1) to wear footwear; 2) to cook by owíža (N) quilt
boiling Owíža Wįcáȟpi (N) Starblanket (personal
ohíya (VT) to win a game, a contest name)
ohóna (VT) to respect, honor him/her’ owóde tíbi (N) restaurant
oȟnóga (N) hole owókšubi (N) garden, planted area
oȟnóȟnoga (VS) to be full of holes owópetų (N) store
 209
owų́ga ~ ową́go (N) bed pigíciya (VI) to make one’s bed

oyáde ~ oyádebi (N) tribe, people, nation píȟpiǧana (N) carrot
oyága (VT-Y) to announce, tell piȟyá (VI) to be a loud sound
oyák’ų (N) socks, stockings pináya (VT) to give thanks, to please
ožúna (VI) to be full, satiated him/her
o’énažį (N) town piyá (VT) 1) to bury him/her; 2) to make a
o’í (N) beads bed
o’į́́knužaža (N) bathroom pi’écų (VI-N) to fix it
póǧe (N) nose
P psí (N) rice, wild rice
pá (N) head ptą́ (N) otter
paǧų́da (N) duck ptąyédu (N) fall
pahá (N) hair ptąyés’ą (ADV) throughout the fall, all fall
pahásapsàba (VS) to have black hair pté (N) buffalo cow, herd
paháskaskàna ~ paháska (VS) to have ptecíjana (N) calf
white hair ptecónica (N) dry buffalo meat
pahá éyagu (VT) to scalp somebody ptéjena (VS) to be short
pahá gašnábi (N) hair cut ptehá (N) buffalo hide
pahá wamnúška (N) louse ptewánu (N) cattle, domestic cow
pahí (N) porcupine ptewíyena (N) cow
paȟní (N) snot, mucous pudé (N) upper lip
paȟtá (VT) to tie up
panána (N) Arikara, Pawnee S
pá oȟnóȟnoga (VI) to be crazy (lit. to have a są́ (VS) to be beige, faded
head full of holes) sába (VS) to be black
Pásaba (N) Blackhead (personal name) sága (VS) to be dry
pasú (N) beak sakím (ADV) together
pasú agástaga (N) turkey sakná (N) Metis, Frenchman
Pasú Oȟnóga (N) Nez Perce sakyábi (VT) to dry it
pašéja (N) skull that has stayed outside sakyé (N) cane
pat’á (N) stupid person (lit. dead head) sám ~ są́m (POST) beyond, over (reduction
patkášina (N) slough turtle of są̨́pa)
payážą (VI) to have a headache sąksája (N) dress
pąǧí (N) potato sihá (N) foot
pé (N) top of the head Sihásaba (N) Blackfoot
péda (N) fire sihú (N) bone of the lower leg
pedížaža (N) oil lantern sijá (VS) to be bad
péna (VS) to be sharp sijáya (ADV) badly
pestóstona (VIMP) to be pointed siką́ (N) ankle
peží (N) hay sipá (N) toes
pežíȟoda (N) sage sipášage (N) toenail
pežíto (VI) to be grass green sipátąga (N) big toe
pežúta eyágu ecų́bi (N) medicine sit’át’a (VS) to be have numb foot
ceremony sįdé (N) tail
pežúta tíbi (N) hospital, clinic sįdésaba (N) blacktail deer
pežúta wįcášta (N) doctor sįdégoskoza (N) mule deer
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skána (VS) to be white nišíjepąši ‘your female cousin’

skúya (VS) to be sweet šikná (VI) to be mad, angry
snągíya (VI) to grease, to oint šiná (N) blanket
sní (VS) to be cold šinágaȟci (N) shawl
snohéna (N) snake šinásaba wįcáwaką (N) priest
Snohéna Wįcášta (N) Shoshone -šį (ENCL) negation
snóhya ~ snókya (VT) to know him/her/it šįtų́ (VS) to be fat
stéya (ENCL) it seems like škáda (VI) to play
sú (N) seed, bullet, pellet šką́ (VI) to do, try, move (by extension to
súda (VS) to be hard feel)
susméja (N) dragonfly škąšką́ (VS) to move by inner force, to shake
sųgágu (N) his/her younger brother škóbena (VS) to be slightly crooked
misų́ga ‘my younger brother’ škokpá (VS) to be hollowed out
nisų́ga ‘your younger brother’ škoškóbena (N) banana
sųkpé (N) muskrat šogá (VS) to be thick
-s’a (ENCL) habitual šošéna (N) waterfall
špąyá (VS) to brand a horse, cow
Š špąyą́ (VT) to cook, bake it
šá (VI) to be red Špe’óna (N) Mexican, Spaniard
šagé (N) nail, hoof, claw štén (CONJ) if, when
Šahíya (N) Cree štuštá (VS) to be salty, to have a salty flavor
Šahíyena (N) Cheyenne štušténa (N) salt
Šahíyeskąbi (N) Piapot Cree šubé (N) guts, intestines
Šahíya wašíju (N) Gros Ventres šų́ ~ wíyaga šų́ (N) longest feathers on the
šaȟíyą (N) vagina wing
šaknóǧą (NUM) eight šų́ga (N) dog
šákpe (NUM) six šųgána (N) old horse
šakpéȟ (ADV) six times šų́gatąga (N) horse
šašá (VS) to be fat šų́gawį (N) female dog, bitch (vulgar)
šašána (VS) to be orange šų́ga káda (N) hot-dog
šašté (N) little finger šųȟpéna (N) colt
ša’ímna (VI) to be pink šųkáyacįjana (N) lamb
šéja (VS) to be dried šųkcúk’ana (N) coyote
šic’étku (N) her brother-in-law šųkhéyuke (N) sheep
mišíc’e ‘my brother-in-law’ šųkhíša (N) bay horse, red horse
nišíc’e ‘your brother-in-law’ šųkhíto (N) blue horse
šic’éšicu (N) her male cousin šųkhítokneška (N) straight-eyed horse, blue
mišíc’eši ‘my male cousin’ roan horse
nišíc’eši ‘your female cousin’ šųkknékeǧa (N) pinto, spotted horse
šiȟ’ą́ (N) beast šųkmánų (VI) to steal horses
šijéją (N) otter šųkmnóga (N) stallion
šijépągu (N) her sister-in-law šųknídeska (N) appaloosa
mišíjepą ‘my sister-in-law’ šųksába (N) black horse
nišíjepą ‘your sister-in-law’ šųksíhamaza (N) horseshoe
šijépąšicu (N) her female cousin šųkskósko (N) mangy horse
mišíjepąši ‘my female cousin’ šųkšána (N) red fox
 211
šųkšídeksa (N) bobtail horse taȟą́gena (N) kneecap

šųkšíjana (N) puppy táȟca (N) deer
šųkšíjana wohą́bi ecų́bi (N) puppy taȟcíjana (N) herd of deer
ceremony Taȟé (N) Moose Mountain
šųkšká (N) white horse takónagu (N) his friend
šųkšóšona ~ šųkšóšo ~ šúšubina ~ šųkšúšu mitákona ‘my friend’
(N) mule, donkey nitákona ‘your friend’
šųkšpą́ya (N) horse brand takóžakpagu (N) his/her grandchild
šųktáwap’i (N) horse collard mitákoža ‘my grandchild’
šųktí (N) barn, stable nitákoža ‘your grandchild’
šųktógeja (N) wolf tąníjana (N) gnat, sand fly
šųktúske (N) stunted horse tanó (N) meat, flesh
šųkwáci (N) horse dance tanóyukpąbi (N) ground beef, hamburger
šųkwágįc’į (N) pack animal tanó yúdabišį (N) Friday
šųkwícaȟtįyaną (N) old stallion tapų́ ~ tapó (N) cheek
šųkwíyena (N) mare taspą́hu (N) hawthorn brush
šųkzí (N) buckskin horse tasíde (N) ruminant tail
šųk’ápeskana (N) palomino horse taspá (N) apple
šųk’íjapšįde (N) horse whip taspą́ cogądu co’ų́babi (N) apple pie
šųkíkiya (VT) to gallop a horse taspą́ ǧí (N) orange
šųk’ókuwasije (N) bronc taspą́ ǧí hįšmą (N) peach
taspą́ ǧí tóta (VI) lemon
T taspą́ pestóstona (N) pear
tá (N) ruminant, moose tašáge (N) ruminant hooves
tába (N) ball tašnáheja (N) stripped gopher
tábapabi (N) baseball bat tašnáheja agída wí (N) October
tabéda (N) animal’s back tatą́ga (N) buffalo
tabéȟ’a tawí (N) April tatą́gabina (N) buffalo herd
tabéȟ’a ~ tabáȟ’a (N) frog tatą́gašina (N) buffalo robe
tacą́ (N) body tatą́ga cągáha (N) buffalo corral, fence
tacą́kiyutabi (N) foot (unit of measurement) tatą́ga oȟpáye (N) buffalo jump
tacúba (N) marrow tatógana (N) antelope
tacúba á ba (N) Friday tatók’ana (N) butterfly
tadé (N) wind táwa ~ itáwa (VS) to be one’s, to own
tadéyąba ~ tadé’ąba (VIMP) to be a windy tawíju (N) his wife
day mitáwįju ~ mitáwį ‘my wife’
tadé omní tą́ga (N) whirlwind nitáwįju ~ nitáwį ‘your wife’
tagúšaša (N) buffalo berries tawíjutų (VT) to have a wife
tahą́cu (N) his/her brother-in-law tawóyude (N) animal food
tahą́šicu (N) his/her male cousin tažúškatąga (N) horsefly
mitą́hąši ‘my male cousin’ tągán (ADV) outside
nitą́hąši ‘your male cousin’ tą́ga (VS) to be big, large
tahíšpajuk’ána (N) sewing needle tągágu (N) her sister
tahósoga (N) neck mitą́ga ‘my younger sister’
tahú (N) neck, nape of the neck nitą́ga ‘your younger sister’
taȟą́ge (N) knee tąkšícu (N) his younger sister
 212
mitą́kši ‘my younger sister’ tįpšínašaša (N) beet, beets

nitą́kši ‘your younger sister’ tó (VS) to be blue, green
tąkúna (N) his older sister tóga (N) enemy
mitą́kena ‘my older sister’ togádu ~ togáda (ADV) in the future
nitą́kena ‘your younger sister’ togáhe (ADV) in the first place, the first
tą’í (VS) to be visible togáheȟ (ADV) the very first one
tą’íši (VS) to be lost togáȟtani (ADV) early evening
tehą́dahą (ADV) far from over there togápa (N) first born child
téhąn (ADV) far away tokána (N) gray fox
Téhąn Nakóda (N) Stoney Nakoda toką́ (ADV) differently
tehą́da (ADV) far, long time toką́ȟtįyą (ADV) quite differently
teȟíga (VI) to be difficult tokšú (VT) to haul it
teȟína (VT) to love someone tóȟtįya (VS) to be purple
teȟíya k’ú (VT) to give someone a hard time totóna (VS) to be light blue
teȟpí (N) buckskin tósaba (VS) to be dark blue, navy blue
teȟpíhąba (N) hide moccassins tosą́ (VS) to be light blue
teȟpí sąksája (N) buckskin dress tošá (VS) to be purple
-teja (POST) new tóta (VI) to be sour
téjana (VS) to be young, new tų́bi (VS) to be born
temní (VS) to sweat tugígina (N) snail
tí (VI) to live, dwell tugą́šicu (N) his/her grandfather
tíbi ~ tí (N) house, dwelling mitúgaši ‘my grandfather’
tída kní (VI) to return home nitúgaši ‘your grandfather’
timáhen (ADV) inside tugášicu-tą́ga (N) his/her great-grandfather
timáhentahą (ADV) from indoors, from the tuȟmá ǧa (N) bee
inside tuȟmą́ǧatąga (N) bumble bee
timáni (VI) to visit tuȟmá ǧa cesní (N) honey (lit. bee shit)
timnógu (N) her older brother tušú (N) tipi pole
mitímno ‘my older brother’ tų́ (VT) to wear it, put it on
nitímno ‘my older brother’ tų́ (VT) to give birth to
tín (ADV) inside a dwelling (often tų́bi (VS) to be born
pronounced cín) tųškácu (N) his/her nephew
tiyám (ADV) towards home mitų́ška ‘my nephew’
tiyóba (N) door nitų́ška ‘your nephew’
tiyóbaska (N) police (lit. white door car) tųwícu (N) his/her aunt (father’s sister)
tiyóba įyúšpena (N) doorknob mitų́wi ‘my sister’, nitų́wi ‘your aunt’
tizí (N) belly tųžą́co (N) his niece (male speaker)
ti’ą́gam (N) roof mitų́žą ‘my niece’
ti’óda (N) town, village nitų́žą ‘your niece’
ti’ódatąga (N) city t’á (VS) to die, be dead
ti’ókada (VIMP) to be a hot dwelling t’at’á (VS) to be numb, to be paralyzed
ti’ósni (VIMP) to be a cold dwelling
ti’óšpaye (N) a group of relatives, an U, Ų
extended family ú (VI) to be arriving here, coming here
ti’ų́ma (N) room ú (VI) 1) to be, to be staying
típšina (N) wild turnip ų́ (VT-N) to wear it
 213
ų́ca (VT) to imitate him/her/it wagą́gana (N) old woman, lady

ųgíyeȟabi (PRO) us ourselves wagíyą (N) thunderbird
ųgíyešni (PRO) it is not us wagíyą ȟubáhu máza (N) iron wing
ųjí (N) grandmother (form of address) thunderbird
ųjímąka (N) grandmother earth wagíc’į (VI) to pack things
ųká (N, PART) 1) Grandfather! (form of waǧí (N) grizzly bear
address); 2) counterfactual, supposed to wahíkiyabi (N) 1) yuwipi ceremony, tie
but did not up ceremony; 2) radio
ųkáš (PART) optative, I wish, if only wahíyoknąga (N) bottle, glass
ų́na (VT) to wear it (e.g. as when a baby is wáhįhą (VIMP) to snow
wearing it) wahíkpe (N) arrow, flint
ų́s (CONJ) by using, with it wahų́keza (N) spear
ųspé (VS, N) 1) to learn on one’s own, waȟ’ą́kšija (N) bear
acquire a skill; 2) axe waȟóȟpe (N) nest
ųspékiya (VT) to teach him/her waȟóȟpe agą́n-yągá (VI-N) to nest
ų́š (PART) I wish, if only waȟpé (N) leaf, tea
ų́šiga (VS) to be poor, pitiful waȟpécąni (N) kinnikinnick
ų́šigiya (ADV) pitifully, humbly waȟpéȟpena (N) flower (with leaves)
ú šina (VT) to pity him/her waȟpé-ce’ága (N) peppermint
ųwą́šį (ADV) still waȟpécaǧa ~ waȟpé acáǧa (N) ice tea
ųzéja ~ uzé (N) buttocks waȟpé céǧa (N) tea pot
ųzóȟnoga (N) anus, rectum waȟpé ǧí wí (N) September
ųzóžuha (N) pants waȟpé wóšma wí (N) June
waȟpé tą́ga (N) cabbage
W waką́ (VS) to be holy, mysterious
wá (N) snow waką́k’į (N) battery
wabábmnaya (VI) to iron clothes waką́tąga (N) Great Spirit
wabáȟta (N) sacred bundle wakmúhaza (N) corn
wacą́ǧa (N) sweetgrass wakmų́ha (N) gourd rattle
wacápe (VI) to stab wakmúhazaskuya (N) sweetcorn
wacégiya (VI) to pray wakpá (N) river
wacégiyabi (N) prayer waktá (VI) to watch out, to beware of it
wací (VI) to dance wakté wacíbi (N) scalp or victory dance
wacíbi (N) dance wamą́kašką (N) creature, animal
wacís’a (N) dancer wamą́kamani (N) bear
wací (N) mind, plan, goodwill wamní (N) eagle
wacígiya (VPOS) to depend on one’s own wamní įpíyaga waci (N) eagle belt dance
wacíya (VT) to depend on it wamnúška (N) ant, bug, insect
wacó’ųba (VI) to bake wamnúškaša (N) flea
wáda (N) canoe wamnúška hįšmą́šmą (N) caterpillar
wádagiyą(ya) (N) airplane wamnúška mnaská (N) bed bug
wadópa (VI) to paddle wamnúška pašáša (N) red ant
Wadópena ~ Wadópana (N) Band of wamnúška sapsábina (N) cricket
Nakoda called the ‘Paddlers’ wamnúška-wįyą (N) ladybug (calque from
wągá (INTERJ) as if (it was true), irreality English)
marker waná (ADV) already, now
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waná gaš (ADV) long ago (waną̨́gaš wayáwa (VT-Y) to read it

midáguyabi ‘my ancestors’) wayáwa tíbi (N) school (lit. reading house)
wanáǧi (N) spirit wayúpi (VT-Y) to be good at it
wanáǧi nų́ba (N) two-spirited person wayúžaža (VT-Y) to wash by scrubbing
(homosexual) Wazíȟeȟ (N) Cypress Hills
wanáǧi wacíbi (N) northern lights (lit. the wazíyam (N) north
spirits are dancing) Wazíyam wįcášta (N) Inuit
wanéyas’ą (ADV) throughout the winter, all wa’ákni (VT) to bring it back home
winter wa’ícaȟye (N) farmer
waníja (VS) to be gone, to be dead wa’ókmabi waką́ (N) email
waníyedu (N) winter wa’óyabi (N) paper, book, letter
wanúȟ (ADV) maybe wa’ų́cana (N) monkey
wapá (VI) to bark wa’ų́šįna (VI) to pity people, to be kind
wapáda (VI) to butcher meat wa’ų́spekiya, wa’ų́spe (N) teacher
wapáha (N) cap, hat, bonnet wa’ų́spewįcakiya (N) male teacher
wasnókya ~ wasnóhya (VI) to be clever, wa’ų́spewįyąkiya (N) female teacher
knowledgeable wa’ų́šina (VI) to pity people, to be kind to
wasnókya įc’ína ~ wasnóhya įc’ína (VR) to people
consider oneself as knowledge wągą́dahą (ADV) from above
wasú (N) hail wągą́duwa (ADV) way above, way up there
wasú hįhą́ (VIMP) to be hailing wągán (ADV) above
wašáša (N) berries wą́ja (ADV) once
wašáša wí (N) July wąží (NUM, ART) 1) one; 2) a, an (topic
Wašíju (N, VS) 1. minor spirit, deity; 2. marker)
Whiteman; 3. to be a white person wągíciknagabi (VI) to see each other
Wašíju Sába (N) Black man, African wąyága (VT-Y) to see him/her/it
Wašíju Sába wíyą (N) Black woman, wąyák’í (VT) to go and check on him/her/it
African wąžíkšina (ADV) one by one
wašíju tíbi (N) framed house (lit. wą’íc’iknaga (VR) to see oneself
whitemen’s dwelling) wé (N) blood
Wašíju Wąží (N) One Spirit (personal wédu (N) spring
name) wéskuya (N) diabetes
wašínįc’ina (VR) to behave like a Whiteman wí (N) sun, moon
wašną́ (N) 1) dried goods, pemmican; 2) fat, wicą́guǧa (N) road builder
grease, lard wída (N) island
wašpá ya (VI) to cook wíhinąpa (N) east
wašpą́’įc’iya (VR) to cook for oneself wikcémna (NUM) ten
wašté (VS) to be good, nice, nice looking wištó ~ įkcé wištó (N) common tent
waštégina (VT) to enjoy it; be pleased with wiyóti ~ wi’óti (N) tipi, dwelling
it wiwí (N) swamp, marsh
wašténa (VT) to like him/her/it wiwína (VI) to be swampy
watápe (VT, N) to hunt buffalo, buffalo wíyaga (N) feather
hunter wíyaga wapáha (N) feather hat
watéjana (VS) to be sort of young wíyaga wapáha sįdé yuké (N) war bonnet
wawá’ųšįgina (VI) to be a kind person with trailer
wayáhoda (N) oats (lit. it provokes gaging) wiyákpa (VS) to be shiny, to shine (e.g.
 215
silver) adolescent girl

wiyóhąbam (N) East wįkta (VI) to become womanly
wiyódahąm (N) south witéȟi wí (N) January
wiyóȟpeyam (N) west wítka (N) egg
wiyódahą (ADV) noon, midday, afternoon wįtkó (VS) to be a contrary; to be crazy
wiyódahąm (N) south wįtkógaǧa (VI) to clown
wiyópeya (VT) to sell it Wįtkógawí (N) Crazy Woman (personal
wiyó’es’a (ADV) throughout the afternoon, name)
all afternoon wįtkógaǧe wacíbi ~ wįtkógaǧa wacíbi (N)
wíbazuką (N) Saskatoon berries clown dance
Wíbazuką wakpá (N) Saskatoon wįtkótkoga (VI) to be somehow crazy
wįcá (VS, N) to be a man; man wįtkótkoga i’á (VI) to talk backwards, as in
wįcákta (VI) to become manly a clown’s dance ceremony
wįcágasoda (VT) to massacre people wįtkótkoyaken (N) in a crazy manner,
wįcáȟniȟni (N) smallpox crazily
wįcáȟpi (N) star wíyą (VS, N) to be a woman; woman
wįcáȟpi éstenaȟ (N) Venus wįyą́ša (N) penny
wįcáȟtįyana ~ wįcáȟtįya (N) old man wįyą́teja (N) 1) new, young woman; 2)
wįcákte (N) killer cranberries
wįcák’ubi (N) give-away Ceremony wįyą́wašóga (N) nickel
wįcánųȟnųgena (N) pumpkin wíyįkta (VI) to turn effeminate
wįcášta(bi) (N) person, man (SG), people wíyų (VT) to use it
(PL) wįyúkcą (VI-Y) to think
wįcášta wįcáȟpi (N) star people wo (ENCL) singular male imperative
wįcáwodes’a (N) cannibal, man eater wócegiye (N) religion
Wįcášta Hą́ska (N) Tall Man (personal wóda (VI) to eat
name) wódabi (N) feast
wįcáteja (N) new, young man wóga ~ wóǧa (N) grasshopper
wįcą́ (N) raccoon wogą́kana (N) pretty woman
wįcíšta yazą́ (N) March wógijišpi (VT) to pick berries for someone
wįcíjana (N) girl wogíksuya wódabi (N) Memorial feast
wįcógądu (ADV) midwinter wohą́ (VT) to cook by boiling
wįcógądu sųgágu wí (N) November wohą́bi ~ wahá bi (N) soup, broth
wįcógądu wí (N) December wohéna (N) cook
wįcóȟ’ąge (N) way of life, custom, tradition wóhįste (N) plume, down feathers
wįcóni (N) spirit, ghost wóknaga (VI-POS) to tell one’s own story, to
wįcó’i’e ~ wįcó’i’abi (N) language, word discuss it
wíc’į (N) leather woknágabi (N) story
wíc’į hųská (N) chaps woksá (VI) to break one’s words, to betray
wíhamna (VI) to seek a vision, to dream wókšu (VT) to plant
wįjáka (VI) to be true wók’u (VT) to feed someone, something
wįjákeya (ADV) truthfully wóne (VT) to look for it (unspecific)
wíkni (N) fat, grease, lard, gas, oil wópetų (VT, N) 1) to buy things; 2)
wíkniskana (N) lard merchant
wíkni pedížąžą (N) oil lantern wópina (VS, N) to be thankful, thanks
wįkóške (N, VS) adolescent girl, to be an wopíyabi (N) burial
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wóšma (VS) to be thick vegetation yuštą́ (VT-Y) to let it go, to loosen it

wóšpi (VT) to pick berries yut’a (VT-Y) to kill by strangulation
wótijaǧa (N) medicine lodge, sun dance yut’íza (VT) to tight it up by stretching
wótijaǧa anówąbi (N) quarterly singing yúza (VT-Y) to hold, shake it
wot’á (VI) to die in a distance yužáža (VT-Y) to wash by scrubbing (e.g.
wówaši (N) job, work clothes)
wówįcak’u (N) rations yužą́ga (VT-Y) to mistreat, pick on
wówįȟ’aga (VS) to be funny him/her/it
wožábi (N) gravy, stew yuží (VI-Y) to squint
wó’ahope (VT) to respect, show respect for
it Z
wo’íye (N) cloth offering záptą (NUM) five
zaptą́ȟ (ADV) five times
Y zí (VS) to be brown, dark yellow
yá (VI-Y) to go away from here (after zibéna (VS) to be thin
departure) zitkána (N) bird
yahóda (VI-Y) to choke, gag on it zitkánato (N) bluebird
yaksá (VT-Y) to bite off zizíbena (N) cloth, ribbon, fabric
yaȟnéja (VT) to tear it with the teeth zizína (N) gold
yámni (NUM) three zuyá (N) soldier
yámnigiya (ADV) three by three zuyábis’a (N) warrior
yapcá (VI-Y) to swallow zuyábis’a tíbi (N) warrior lodge society
yašpé (VT-Y) to brake, crack open with the
teeth (e.g. a peanut) Ž
yatką́ (VT-Y) to drink žé (DEM) that there
yatá ~ yadá (VI-Y) to chew it žéca (VS) to be of a certain kind
yat’á (VT) to kill by biting, to kill by žécen (ADV) in that way, then, so
inhaling or ingesting poison žecéši (ADV) only that
yazą́ (VS) to be sick žéci (ADV) around there, over there
ya’íškada (VT-Y) to tease, play tricks on žéciya (ADV) over there, over that way
him/her žécų (VI) to do that
yągá ~ yįgá (VI-N) to sit on it žedáhą (ADV) from there
yubéhą (VT-Y) to twist it žehą́ ~ ’ehą́ (ADV) just then, at a certain
yucéya (VT-Y) to cause to cry point in the past
yúda (VT-Y) to eat something žehątu (ADV) at that time
yuhá (VT-Y) to have it žehą́tuga (ADV) about that time
yuȟíja (VT-Y) to waken someone žehą́ga (N) end of a story
yuȟnéja (VT-Y) to tear it with the hand žehą́geȟi (ADV) only that far off
yuȟnóga (VT) to make a hole in it with an žehą́naga (CONJ) and so now
instrument, or with the hand žén (ADV) there
yuką́ (VI) to exist žená (DEM) those there
yuksá (VT) to cut off with a tool (e.g. ženą́ga (VS) to be enough
scissors) žeyá (VI) to say that
yušnóhą (VI-Y) to drag, slide something žó (VI) to whistle
yušpé (VT-Y) to open up žubína (N) pile
yušpí (VT-Y) to pick berries
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NAKODA LANGUAGE

Vincent Collette & Armand McArthur

©All rights reserved.

Do not reproduce without the authors’ permission.

Reference to time: past, present and future/potential ................................................................ 46

Locatives a-, o-, į- ................................................................................................................... 155

ALPHABET AND SOUNDS

Hą́ iná, maǧážu? Hello mother, is it raining?

Hą́ adé, maǧážu (he)? Hello father, is it raining?

Iná, timáhen osní (he)? Mother, is it cold inside?

Kinship nouns Weather verbs

Basic greetings Miscellanous

THANKING, FAREWELL AND SELF-INTRODUCTION

Háu, dóken ya’ų́ (he)? ‘Hello, how are you?’

Pinámayaya. ‘I thank you.’

NAKODA ALPHABET AND SOUND SYSTEM

Nakoda English equivalent Nakoda example IPA

Nakoda English equivalent Nakoda example IPA

SYLLABLES AND ACCENT

no as-pen ca-li-ber se-pa-ra-tion

Second syllable accent

First syllable accent

tó ‘to be blue, green’ tá ‘moose, ruminant’

Nouns: Describe a person, place, thing or idea (dog, love, faith).

Verbs: Express an action, a state of being, a condition, an event, or a natural phenomenon.

kuwá ‘to chase, to go after’

sijá ‘to be bad’

waná gaš ‘long ago’

íš ‘he, it, they too; also’

sám ‘over, beyond’

INTERNALIZED SOUNDS SPELLING INTERNALIZED SOUNDS SPELLING

1. waná __________ 2. hą́ __________

3. ą́ba __________ 4. maǧážu __________

5. adé __________ 6. maštá __________

7. pinámaya __________ 8. iná __________

9. miciḱ ši __________ 10. micų́kši __________

1. no __________ 2. thank you __________

3. Mother! __________ 4. my son __________

5. it rains __________ 6. it snows __________

7. this day __________ 8. my daughter __________

9. outside __________ 10. inside __________

micíkši micų́kši hą́ tągán

wáhįhą tadéyąba ą́ba wącímnaga

Wahą́bi yacíga (he)? Do you want soup? (male speaker)

Šų́gatąga gá aktága (he)? Is that horse over there running?

Mary eníjiyabi (he)? Are you called Mary?

Adé, wįcá žé wóda (he)? Father, is that man eating?

Nouns for people

Food and Drinks

WORD ORDER OF NAKODA

first word second word third word

Miciḱ ši wóda. ‘My son is eating; my son eats.’

Waná nína maštá. ‘It is very hot now.’

Wįcij́ ana žé tągán maní. ‘That girl is walking outside.’

DEMONSTRATIVES SPATIAL ADVERBS

Wįcá žé wóda. ‘That man is eating.’

Šų́ga gá aktága. ‘That dog over there is running.’

Wiý ą né nážį. ‘This woman is standing.’

Gugúša šįtų́ žé wóda. ‘The fat pig is eating.’

Búza skána žená aktágabi ‘Those white cats are running.’

CLASS 1: REGULAR STEM VERBS

Person Markers (Regular stem, Class 1)

cįgá ‘s/he wants it’ (regular stem, Class 1)

1. waná 2. hą́

3. ą́ba 4. maǧážu

5. adé 6. maštá

7. pinámaya 8. iná

9. miciḱ ši 10. micų́kši

1. no 2. thank you

3. Mother! 4. my son

5. it rains 6. it snows

7. this day 8. my daughter

9. outside 10. inside

1sg ______ _ _________

2sg ______ _ _________

3sg ______ _ _________

1pl ______ _ _________

2pl ______ _ _________

3pl ______ _ _________

šų́ga žé _______ búzá žé _ wíyą né ________

hoǧą́ gá _ tatą́ga né gugúša gá _