Introduction

This chapter presents two basic goals. First, it provides an explicit and coherent analysis of a variety of phonological and morphological processes within the grammars of a number of different dialects of Dakota. Second the chapter investigates the relevance of certain aspects of the proposed analysis to particular tenets of the general theory of transformational generative phonology and of recent proposals regarding the role of morphology within a generative framework. Dakota is a member of the Mississippi Valley sub-family of Siouan and is itself generally considered to be subdivided into four dialect groups. These groups are alternatively characterized as Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota on the basis of an l:d:n correspondence for the reflex of Proto-Siouan. A different pattern of pronominal inflection is shown by verbs with stem-initial ya- or yu- This inflectional pattern extends throughout all the dialects.