Chapter 3 Quiz — Wóuŋsipi: Daily Life & Action Verbs¶
Part A — Multiple Choice (10 questions, 2 points each)¶
1. What does the acronym SOV refer to in Dakota grammar?
Answer
b) Subject-Object-Verb
Dakota is an SOV language: the subject comes first, then the object, and the verb comes last. This contrasts with English SVO order (Subject-Verb-Object). Example: Wiŋyaŋ kiŋ wóyute kiŋ yúta. = "The woman the food eats" (The woman eats the food).
a) Subject-Verb-Object b) Subject-Object-Verb c) Object-Subject-Verb d) Verb-Subject-Object
2. Which suffix is used to form the future tense in Dakota?
Answer
c) -kte
-kte is the future tense suffix in Dakota. It attaches after the verb root (and after -pi if plural). Example: wayúta kte = "I will eat." This differs from Ojibwe, which uses a future prefix rather than a suffix.
a) -šni b) -pi c) -kte d) -la
3. What does the negation suffix -šni do, and where does it appear relative to -kte?
Answer
b) It negates the verb; it appears AFTER -kte in future negative sentences
The suffix -šni negates a verb. In a future negative sentence, the order is: verb + -kte + -šni. Example: wayúta kte šni = "I will not eat." Never place -šni before -kte.
a) It marks plural; it appears before -kte b) It negates the verb; it appears AFTER -kte in future negative sentences c) It negates the verb; it appears BEFORE -kte d) It marks question form; it appears after the verb
4. How do you say 'I eat' in Dakota using the verb yúta?
Answer
a) wayúta
The first-person singular active prefix is wa-, attached to the verb root yúta: wa-yúta = "I eat." Note the wa- prefix is an indefinite-object or first-person active marker.
a) wayúta b) yayúta c) uŋyútapi d) yútapi
5. What is the correct Dakota word order for 'The man reads the book'?
Answer
c) Wičhášta kiŋ wówapi kiŋ wayáwa.
SOV order places the verb last: Subject (Wičhášta kiŋ = the man) + Object (wówapi kiŋ = the book) + Verb (wayáwa = reads/counts). Options a and b use English SVO order; option d incorrectly places kiŋ at the start.
a) Wičhášta kiŋ wayáwa wówapi kiŋ. b) Wayáwa wičhášta kiŋ wówapi kiŋ. c) Wičhášta kiŋ wówapi kiŋ wayáwa. d) Kiŋ wičhášta wówapi wayáwa.
6. What does wayáwa tí mean literally, and what does it refer to?
Answer
b) "Reading/counting house" — it means school
wayáwa = to read/count; tí = dwelling/house. wayáwa tí = "the house where one reads/counts" = school. This compound reveals the history of how Dakota communities encountered formal literacy as an extension of the counting practice they already had.
a) "Story house" — it means library b) "Reading/counting house" — it means school c) "Prayer house" — it means church d) "Eating house" — it means kitchen
7. In Dakota, uŋyútapi means:
Answer
c) We eat (inclusive plural)
uŋ-yúta-pi: the prefix uŋ- marks first-person plural inclusive (we, including the listener); the suffix -pi marks plurality. This form implies "we — you and I and others — eat together." The inclusive/exclusive distinction is grammatically significant in Dakota.
a) You all eat b) They eat c) We eat (inclusive plural) d) I am eating
8. The verb hí means:
Answer
a) to come / to arrive (toward the speaker)
hí means "to come" or "to arrive," specifically with a directional implication of movement toward the speaker's location. Its counterpart yá means "to go" — movement away from the speaker. This directional distinction is common in Dakota verbs of motion.
a) to come / to arrive (toward the speaker) b) to go / to leave (away from speaker) c) to be / to exist d) to stand
9. Which Dakota word means 'morning'?
Answer
b) híŋhaŋna
híŋhaŋna = morning. haŋhépi = night, aŋpétu = day, iyókaptan = afternoon. These time words are frequently used in daily-life sentence construction.
a) haŋhépi b) híŋhaŋna c) aŋpétu d) iyókaptan
10. According to the AIS 112 content in this chapter, what does the word tipi literally mean?
Answer
c) Dwelling / place to live
tipi comes from ti- (to dwell) + -pi (a nominalizing plural suffix). It means "dwelling" or "the place where one lives." The conical buffalo-hide lodge was a sophisticated, portable, climate-responsive architecture — not merely a "tent" as English simplifications suggest.
a) Circle of fire b) Buffalo house c) Dwelling / place to live d) Family gathering place
Part B — Fill in the Blank (3 questions, 5 points each)¶
11. To say 'They will not go' in Dakota, you write: yápi ____ šni.
Answer
kte
Yápi kte šni. = They will not go. The order is always: verb (+ plural -pi) + future -kte + negation -šni. Placing -šni before -kte would be a grammatical error.
12. The first-person singular prefix for most active Dakota verbs is: ____
Answer
wa-
The prefix wa- marks the first person singular as the active subject for most transitive verbs. Example: wa-yúta (I eat), wa-yáwa (I read/count). Some common verbs like yá (to go) use irregular contracted forms (blé for "I go").
13. The word wayáwa originally meant ____ before it expanded to include the meaning 'to read.'
Answer
to count / to reckon
wayáwa originally meant "to count" or "to reckon numbers." The semantic expansion to "to read" reflects Dakota communities' encounter with written text — reading was understood as a kind of counting or reckoning of symbols.
Part C — Short Answer (3 questions, 10 points each)¶
14. Construct three complete Dakota sentences using SOV word order. One must be in future tense, one must be negative, and one must be a question. Label each and provide English translations.
Rubric / Sample Answer
Full credit (10 pts): All three sentences are grammatically correct, exhibit SOV order, and clearly demonstrate future -kte, negation -šni, and question particle he?. English translations are accurate.
Partial credit (5–7 pts): Two of the three sentences are correct; third has a minor error (e.g., wrong word order, missing particle).
Sample answers:
Future: Wiŋyaŋ kiŋ wóyute kiŋ wayúta kte. — The woman will eat the food.
Negative: Čhiŋkší kiŋ wayáwa šni. — The child does not read.
Question: Wičhášta kiŋ hí he? — Did the man come? / Is the man arriving?
15. Explain the inclusive/exclusive 'we' distinction in Dakota verb conjugation. Why is this distinction linguistically and culturally significant? Give an example.
Rubric / Sample Answer
Full credit (10 pts): Student accurately explains that Dakota distinguishes between "we including the listener" (inclusive) and "we not including the listener" (exclusive) through different verb prefixes. Student provides a culturally grounded reflection (e.g., the value of wóčhekiye/relatedness means that whether you include or exclude someone from a group action matters) and gives a grammatically correct example.
Partial credit (5–7 pts): Student explains the linguistic distinction correctly but does not connect it to cultural values, or vice versa.
Sample answer: "Dakota grammar distinguishes whether 'we' includes the person being spoken to (inclusive: uŋ-...-pi) or excludes them (exclusive: a different form). In English, 'we' is ambiguous — it might or might not include you. In Dakota, this ambiguity is unacceptable. The language forces the speaker to be precise about who is included in collective action. This reflects the Dakota value of wóčhekiye — relatedness — and the communal structure of the tiyóšpaye, where knowing exactly who shares in an action is socially and practically important. Example: Uŋyútapi means 'we eat' in a way that includes the listener — all of us together eat."
16. What is the cultural and historical significance of the fact that the Dakota word wayáwa expanded from 'to count' to include 'to read'? What does this tell us about how Dakota communities encountered literacy?
Rubric / Sample Answer
Full credit (10 pts): Student explains that wayáwa preserves a historical moment — the encounter with written text — within the language itself. Student reflects on what it means for a community to map a new practice onto an existing cognitive category (counting → reading), and may connect this to broader themes of indigenous language adaptation and resilience.
Partial credit (5–7 pts): Student identifies the historical fact but does not reflect on its deeper implications for language, history, or cultural adaptation.
Sample answer: "The expansion of wayáwa from 'to count' to 'to read' is a linguistic fossil — it preserves the exact moment when Dakota-speaking communities first encountered written text and tried to make sense of it. Rather than borrowing a foreign word for 'read,' Dakota speakers understood the new practice through an existing cognitive frame: reckoning symbols, as one reckons numbers. This is an act of cultural translation embedded in the language itself. It also tells us that Dakota was a living, adaptive language — not frozen in pre-contact form but actively incorporating new realities while maintaining its own conceptual categories. The compound wayáwa tí (school) extends this further, showing how the language kept growing through contact without losing its structural identity."