I can help. It's not obvious, but:

1.) Pretend you are going to send a new text message, or go to an old sent one.
2.) Tap in the text entry box.
3.) Click and HOLD on the emoji (smiley face) key
4.) In the pop-up menu that appears, turn on "Predictive"

Voilá! smile

On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.