Tue Jul 15 13:49:19 2008 Pacific Time
RAPID CITY, S.D., July 15 (AScribe Newswire) -- Lakota Language Consortium announces the publication of the New Lakota Dictionary. This highly anticipated reference text is expected to be one of the most important works ever published in the language. It goes on sale Friday, July 18, through the Lakota Language Consortium.
The 1,112-page volume is the most up-to-date and comprehensive dictionary to emerge in the last 75 years and is designed to serve as a foundation for modern Lakota and Dakota in the 21st century. The dictionary is the product of 25 years of linguistic work with over 300 fluent speakers from across all the dialect areas. It represents the Lakota language and its dialects with complete historical and contemporary accuracy from the Sioux reservations of Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Pine Ridge, Rosebud, as well as the eastern Yankton and Santee-Sisseton communities.
The launch of the New Lakota Dictionary marks a fresh chapter in the history of language. Because of its reliability and practical features, the dictionary is expected to instill a new confidence in the language. It offers unsurpassed accuracy for all of the 20,000 head-words. Each entry was checked by at least three independent sources and thousands of mistakes were corrected from previous sources. In addition, the new dictionary boasts dozens of user-friendly features, many of which are found only in dictionaries of more commonly spoken languages. As a resource, it is a virtual "Swiss-army knife" of the language - geared for both advanced language users and beginning students. It allows a reader to know exactly how any word is pronounced, spelled, used in context, conjugated, or categorized. All together, the New Lakota Dictionary provides over 40,000 example sentences, usage notes, and collocations, while containing more than 6,000 words that do not appear in any previous dictionary.
The dictionary's focus on functionality and dependability makes it a central component of the language revitalization movement on the different reservations. Lakota Language teachers from four reservations were trained with advance copies of the dictionary. Commenting on their experiences with it, one teacher from Eagle Butte, South Dakota stated, "The dictionary holds much wisdom recorded from our elders. I am anxious to use the dictionary in my classes. There is so much wealth of information in the dictionary to learn about and to teach to the students." Another teacher from Fort Yates, North Dakota declared that, "I believe that this Lakota dictionary is important for revitalization and it strengthens the nation's self-identity and through language our people. Our younger generation will know who they are and where they come from."
Already some tribes are planning to incorporate the dictionary into the official business of the tribe. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, for one, will be outfitting all of its high school students with the dictionary. Moreover, the tribe will also provide training, font software, and dictionaries to all of its departments as part of its strategy to make the language more a part of the everyday operations of the tribe.
The academic and linguistic community is also eager for the new dictionary. William Powers, author of "Sacred Language," notes, "The New Lakota Dictionary is a breakthrough in contemporary Native American language studies - revolutionizes what we understand about the historical development of Lakota and Dakota dialect." In addition, noted linguist Willem de Reuse, remarks that, "this is the Lakota dictionary linguists and educators have been waiting for - a monumental work - by far the best Lakota dictionary available, in terms of ease of use for 21st century learners, as well as in terms of lexicographical coverage and grammatical accuracy."
The volume forms the basis upon which students, teachers, and community members can move forward with certainty in restoring the living language.
The initial public release event is Friday, July 18th at 3:00 PM (MST) in Rapid City, South Dakota at the Prairie Edge Bookstore. It is also available online at http://www.languagepress.com or it can be ordered through any national book retailer.
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