Verbs in Dakota can appropriate, through agglutination and synthesis, many of the pronominal, prepositional, and adverbial or modal affixes of the language.

There are two forms of tense in the language, the aorist (as verbs, adjectives, and other nouns,[2] sometimes called the indefinite) and the future.

For example, the Dakota word akáȟpekičičhiyA, means "to cover up something for one; to pass by a matter, forgive, or cancel".

In the case of Dakota language, some affixes can function as both a prefix and an infix, depending on the specific instance of the word.

Similarly, the affix -uŋ- which can mean "you and I" (1d), and is shared with -uŋ-...-pi "we all, us all" (1p), can be found in both positions of prefix and infix, depending on the verb in use.

Unlike other types of affixes, duplifixes can emphasize or intensify the meaning of the word rather than change its grammatical function, or can be used to indicate plurality or repetition, or to modify adjectives or verbs for emphasis.

Natural class pronouns express possession that cannot be alienated, and when prefixed to a noun, signifies the different parts of one's self.

For example, the possessive natural article pronoun mi-, which means "my," can be added to nouns such as "eye," in miíšta, or "words," in mióie; for inalienable objects such as one's body or intellectual property, and in some cases for possessive form of relative terms such as "my little brother," misúŋ, or "my daughter," mičhúŋkši.

For example, the artificial pronoun tha-, which may become thi-, and tho-, is equivalent to the verb tháwa, "his or hers," can be prefixed onto nouns such as "bow," in thinázipe, and "friend," in thakhódaku.

For a comparative table of the various writing systems conceived over time for the Dakota languages, cf.

This significantly impacts word forms, especially in fast speech and it is another reason why Yankton-Yanktonai has better mutual intelligibility with Lakota than with Santee-Sisseton.

In 1966 a small group petitioned the University's administration to "establish links between the University and Minnesota's eleven federally-recognized tribes to develop recruitment and retention efforts for American Indian students, and to create courses on issues of importance to American Indian communities".

[12] These books and materials are hand crafted with the hard work and dedication of elder speakers of the Lake Traverse reservation community, with regular weekly meetings to create curriculum or work with learners; President Azure at the time said, "Many of our graduates are now out in the community and k-12 schools teaching what they learned and how they learned it, and are continuing to succeed in language revitalization".

[15] The Fort Peck Culture Department create the Yanktonai Dakota Vocab Builder in the same year.

[16] In 2018, the Lower Sioux Indian Community launched their Dakota immersion Head Start[17][18] and also maintains online language classes to support the learning of their children and their families.

[19] The Dakota Wicohan program on Lower Sioux works with older youth to immerse them in the language and culture.

The University of North Dakota has an Indigenous Language Education program up through a Bachelor of Science degree.

[21] Sitting Bull College, which serves the Standing Rock Indian Reservation maintains a dual Dakota/Lakota program, offering an Associate of Science degree in Dakhótiyapi.

[22] The Cankdeska Cikana Community College on the Spirit Lake reservation offers a Dakota Language Certification.

[25] Dakota Prisoner of War Letters is a great historic resource as it highlights fluently written Dakota language letters from the time of the Camp Kearney prison camp located in Davenport, IA, in 1863–1866.

In 2023, the group released a free Dakota language app called, Dakhód Iápi Wičhóie Wówapi, containing more than 28,000 words and 40,000 audio files to aid in pronunciation.

[28] This is different from other works in the field, as it solely relies on Indigenous oral tradition as primary sources and gives prominence to Dakota language in the text.

[30][31] Further, the director of Wíyouŋkihipi Productions has more resources on their personal artist site including Dakota land maps with audio pronunciations.