There is wonderful regularity in the sound changes in passing from Santee to Titon Dak, and so far as I can yet discover great irregularity in passing to the allied languages. Possibly fuller materials and closer study may reduce the changes to system.
Dak proper has but five vowels; a and e represent I E a; i, i; u, u; and o, either u or a. They are weakened as in I E languages, and suffixes which raise I E vowels raise i and u to a. The allied languages have a larger number of vowels, the Minnetaree ten.
VERB STEMS.
The reduplication of roots in Dak as in I E is extremely frequent, in both, as in other languages, developing iteratives which occasionally become intensives. The reduplication of Dak words is like Skt of but one syllable, usually but not always the root.
The suffix a, aya, which formed verb stems of I E roots usually becomes a, e, i in Dak as in old Eu. languages.
Ya seems to be rarely preserved: I E pak cook, Skt papakaya parch; Dak papakhya parch; I E agh say, Lat ajo for aghya say; Dak eya say. The Dak has many relics of the n of suffix na, which worked its way before the final consonant; I E tag touch whence I E tang, Lat tango; Dak tan touch. There seem to be relics of the other methods, which were however so closely akin to methods of forming nominal stems that they need not be discussed here.
Schleicher gives two methods of forming secondary verb stems: by suffix sa forming frequentatives; by suffix ya cause to be, forming transitive verbs from verbs, adjectives and nouns. Both are living suffixes extremely frequent and having the same force in Dak.
NOMINAL STEMS.
As in I E a few Dak roots either single or reduplicated form nomen actionis, etc. This similarity is too widely spread to be of value. It is far otherwise with suffixes, which are in a majority of cases usually representative of one or more of Schleicher's twenty suffixes, and if otherwise at least derived from I E roots, excepting a few of obscure origin.
1. I E -a formed from roots, adjectives, also appellatives, and abstracts, of which the Dak. has many relics: I E stag, Teut stak strike beat; Dak staka beaten, broken; Slav. Teut kak sound; Dak kaka rattling; I E pu stink, rot; Min pua stinking, rotten; Eu sap understand; Lat sapa wise; Dak k-sapa wise.