The listing of words and phrases here are offered as an example only, a very small insight, into the language of the Lakota. But even within this group spellings, because of the different dialects, are sometimes different. We have concentrated on the Lakota spellings, but will give examples of Dakota and some Nakota. If you see something that you think is wrong, or that which you question, then please bring it to our attention. All care has been made when creating this list, but mistakes can happen, and remember there probably is more than one way to spell any given word.
 

When speaking Lakota it is important to remember the sounds of the vowels.

A as the sound of AH like the a in father.
E has the sound of EH or EY like the e in led, or the a in fate.
I has the sound of EE, like the i in machine.
O has the sound of OH like the o in rote.
U has the sound of OO like the oo in moon.

All s's and c's are pronounced sh and ch, but no h in the spellin. (Where an h does appear in our listing it is so that the beginner can see the actual way the word should be pronounced.)

Also the Lakota dialect only contains 20 letters that make up their words when spelt. The letters that do not appear are d, f, q, r, x, and v.