Lakota letters and sounds

Letter Description Lakota word example Listen Meaning
like a in father
like e in bed
like i in sit
like o in soft
like u in put
like o in money, nasalized
almost like i in mink
like oo in moon, nasalized
like g in got
like the northern French r
like h in hat
close to Spanish x in Mexico
almost like ch in rich
like ch h in much haste
like but followed by a glottal stop
like k in skip, but not like k in kip
like k h in back home
connect and (no equivalent in English)
like but followed by a glottal stop
like p in spin, but not like p in pin
like p h in steep hill
connect and (no equivalent in English)
like but followed by a glottal stop
like t in still, but not like t in till
like t h in sit here
connect and (no equivalent in English)
like but followed by a glottal stop
like s in so
like sh in shop
like z in zero
like s in pleasure
like b in boy
like l in lamp
like m in map
like n in nap
like w in was
like y in yes
catch in the throat; like the pause between the syllables in "uh-oh" (glottal stop) - - -


Copyright by Lakota Language Consortium, 2004 (C)

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