| MISKITO
Phonetics a, e, i, o, u...................................................same as German vowels.English words in f change to p: pine ... fine. |
| General Observations:
The letters 1, m, n, r, t, are sometimes duplicated. poli, polli.....................very The vowel o when short is at times written a. wol, wal..............................with, two Miskito contains many English & Spanish words, some of which have undergone spelling variations.
aras.............. horse
For sake of euphony, vowels are sometimes added
or omitted.
Letters such as kw and qu; x and ks; y and i, which have the same sound, are sometimes used indiscriminately:
sixa, siksa.......................banana;
Two or more words are frequently united in order to express the exact meaning with greater clarity: aisi kaikaia... to read ... to see, talking. |
| Accentuation:
The accent is usually placed on the first syllable, even if that happens to be a prefix. |
| Sentence Construction:
The general order of words in constructing sentences is:
Subject, adjective, nani, article,
object, adjective, adverb and verb.
THE NOUN
They follow the word they modify.
Note: wainka is used for male animals: Bip wainka ... bull
Number:
They follow the noun and adjective they modify.
But in an unmodified position the words follow this order: Dus ba tara sika................the tree is tallThe plural is formed by inserting nani which always remains unchanged. It is placed after the noun it modifies. upla nani .............. personsHowever, nani precedes the article ba. upla nani ba..........the personsBut if the adjective is present, it takes precedence. tukta yamni nani ba.................................................the good children |
States:
naha...........this;Many ignore this rule, and employ the use of the construct state without grammatical reason.
baha...........that;
ani...........which.
Otherwise a, ka, or, ika, is added.
If the absolute state ends in a vowel,
it must be dropped when adding the suffix ika:tukta
(absolute) luktika (c) ...child
Most English words form the Construct by adding "ka". sin (Absolute) sinka (C.) ... sin
Declension:
ulla..........................house; the Construct is watla.
Nom.
utla ba................... the house
Gen.
waitla................... my house
wamtla................... your house
aiwatla................... his house
Dat.
utlara ba to............ for the house
Acc.
utla .................... the house
Abl.
utlara ba in,......... at the house
For a list of some common nouns in the absolute, construct and three personal states, see appendix.
Class I:
1st person drops final "a" of construct and substitutes "i".
nina............name;
nini............my name
2nd person adds "m" to final "a" of construct.
nina.................... name;
ninam ................ your name
3rd person prefixes "ai" to construct.
nina..................name;
ainina...............his name
Class II:
1st person insets after the first "a".
watla ... house;
waitla ... my house
2nd person inserts "m" after the first "a".
watla...hóuse;
wamtla...your house
3rd person prefixes "ai".
watla...house;
aiwatla...his house
Class III:
The construct of this class of nouns ends in "ka".
The same rules govern the formation of the three personal states
as in class I.
Anriska...........orange;
anriski...........my orange;
anriskam...
.....your orange ;
aianriska....... his orange.
Class IV:
The construct of this class of nouns ends in "ika".
The rules given under class I are likewise applied here.
Damika...grandfather;
damiki...my grandfather;
damikam. .... your grandfather;
aidamika...his grandfather.
| FORMATION | MY | YOUR | HIS |
| 1 | i | am | ai (prefix) |
| 2 | (a)i | a(m) | ai (prefix) |
| 3 | ki | kam | ai (prefix) ka |
| 4 | iki | ikam | ai preix) ika |
Dative:
is formed
by adding the suffix "ra" to the noun or pronoun.
witin utlara wan. .. he went to the house.
yangra marikaia...to show me.
manra smalkaia... to teach you.
Accusative:
is formed by the insertion of witin between the noun and article.
Yang utla witin ha kaikisni ... I see the house.
Note: witin is frequently omitted.
The form of the Acc. is then identical with the Nom
.
Ablative:
is formed in the sane manner as the dative.
Witin utlara katta...He was in the house.
THE VERB
The intricate forms of the verb are used only by the more educated
class;
ordinary Miskito-folk limit themselves to the present, imperfect, perfect
and future tenses.
Observations
Nouns are sometimes used as verbs:
yang bili...my word, discourse. . .1 say, or, said.The future tense is frequently used for the present. .
Transitive verbs are all those
ending in "baia" or, "kaia".
Intransitive verbs end in ."waia".
Verb endings are identical in singular
and plural.
The plural is designated by the
insertion of nani.
yang daukisni...................................I do;
yang nani daukisni............................we do
There is only one conjugation
and one infinitive. The infinitive ends in "aia". y
Besides the auxiliary verb kaia...to
be, balaia, waia, and yaia are slightly irregular.
The "i" and the "a" of the 1st and
3rd persons are often interchanged in the present and imperfect tenses.
Yang sni, or, yang sna.............I am;
witin sa, or, si........................he is.
Lika, sika, and, mika are three words frequently used
with,
or in place of the forms of kaia......to be.
Yang lika...I am; yang lika sni..-.I -am.
Verb roots ending in "i" drop the initial "a" of the future ending. ~,
Briaia........to have;
brimni.......I will have.
Verb roots ending in "w" frequently change to "u"
in the future, imperfect and perfect tenses.
waia..................to sit
man iuma.........you will seat
witin iuan........he sat
The
regular verb:
Dukaia.........to do, make
Present:
yang (nani) daukisni...............I (we) do.
man "
daukisma.............you (you) do.
witin " daukisa................he
does (they do)
Imperfect:
yang " daukatni..............I
(we) did
man "
daukatma...........you (you) did
witin " daukattá............he
(they) did
Perfect:
yang " daukri................I
(we) did
man "
daukram............you (you) did
witin " daukan..............he
(they) did
Future:
yang " daukamni...........I
(we) will do
man " daukma..............you
(you) will do
witin " daukbia.............he
(they) will do
Participle:
present.........dauki
past...............daukan
negative........daukras
Imperative:
2nd. person.....................dauks; daukram; dauka
2nd person negative.......daukpara; daukprama
1st person plural.............daukpi
1st person plural negative..... daukpi apia
infinitive: daukaia......to do
The irregular verbs:
Balaia....to
come | Waia...to
go | Yaia...to
give
PRESENT
aulna
aunia
yakisna
Aulma
auma
yakisino
Aula
auya
yakiso
IMPERFECT
balatni
watni
isatni
Balatma
watma
isatma
Balata
watta
isatta
PERFECT
balri
wari
yari
Balram
waram
yaram
Balan
wan
yan
FUTURE
balamna
wamna
yamni
Balma
wama
yama
Balbia
wabia
yabia
IMPERATIVES
2°d person
bal
was
yas
balram
waram
yaram
balka
warka
yarka
2nd person negative
balpara
wapara
yapara
1st. person plural
balpi
wapi
yapi
1st. person plural negative
balpi apia
wapi apia yapi
apia
PARTICIPLES
PRESENT
bal
wi
I
PAST
balan
wan
yan
Negative
balras
waras
yaras
INFINITIVE kaia .................to be
The passive voice:
The passive voice is formed by
using the third person of the verb with the accusative form of the pronoun;
the tense being indicated by the verb.
sunaia... to lift up
ai sunisa..............I am lifted up. (It lifts me)
mai sunisa...........you are lifted up
witin ba sunisa....he, it is lifted up
yang nani ai sunatta.......we were lifted up
walpa nani ba sunan ..... the stones were lifted up
Many verbs adopt a passive meaning,
merely by changing the final "b" or "k" of the' root to " ".
|
baikaia...to split bangkaia ... to fill blakbaia...to entangle dakbaia ... to take off daskaia...to extinguish dringbaia... to break down kabaia...to put on karbaia...to roll klakaia...to cut kraukaia...to bore krikaia...to break lakaia...to dry laikaia...to pour out langkaia...to untie pakaia...to rear piakaia...to cook prakaia...to close quakaia...to open rakaia...to heal slingbaia... to take down tikaia...to lose |
baiwaia ... to be parted bangwaia... to be filled blakwaia...to be entangled dakwaia...to be removed daswaia....to be extinguished dringwaia...to be broken down kawaia...to be put on karwaia ... to be rolled klakwaia...to be cut krauwaia... to be bored kriwaia...to be broken lawaia...to be dried laiwaia...to be poured out langwaia... to be untied pawaia...to grow piawaia...to be cooked prawaia...to be closed quawaia...to be opened rawaia...to be cured slingwaia...to be taken down tiwaia... to be lost |
The second person has three
forms:
The imperative proper which is
formed by adding "s" to the stem.
sunaia...to hoist;
Suns ... hoist!
The form in "ram" is considered
formal and polite.
sunram ... you may hoist
The form "ka" expresses more a suggestion
than a command.
sunka...hoisting might be done
Verbs whose root ends in two consonants, drop the last consonant and add "s".
Verbs whose root ends in two consonants,
and the first is "s",
form the imperative by dropping the second consonant.
Verbs whose root ends in a consonant drop it and add "s".
Some verb roots are the imperative.
The negative imperative is formed
by adding " para.", or, "prama" to
the stem of the verb for the second person, and
"pi
apia" for the first person plural.
diaia... to drink
dipara...don't drink
dipi ápia...let us
not drink
The infinitive:
There is only one infinitive; it
has a variety of uses: Its most frequent use is that of subject.
The infinitive also expresses intention, duty or task.
Tenses are determined by the use of the various forms of kaia.
The irregular verb yaia...to give, when used with infinitives of other verbs, means "about to".
A noun, the means by which an action expressed by the verb is done, is formed by inserting "k" into the infinitive ending.
The participle:
The participles are made frequent
use of.
The present participle is formed
by adding "i" to the verb root.
If the verb root ends in "i" it remains unchanged.
The past participle is formed by adding "an" to the root.
The present participle expresses
continued action.
The past participle expresses completed
action.
The past participle is often used
with man...only:
aiwonaia...
to sing.
yang aiwonan man ...all I did was sing.
I only sang.
I did nothing but sing.
The present and past participles
are followed by the noun in the construct: (relative clause in English)
aiwoni uplika ba... the singing
person.
aiwonan uplika ba... the having
sung person; the person who sang.
kwala sipan mairinka... the having
sewn garment woman; the woman who sewed the garment.
The present and past participles
are also combined with ya ba and ya na to express an abstract idea, or
to form an exclamation
aisi ya ba... the being spoken,
that which is being spoken.
aisin ya ba... that which was spoken,
the having been spoken. plapi ya ba!...how it runs!
tukta ini ya na! ... how the child
cries!
The verbal noun:
The verbal noun is closely allied
to the participle; it has different uses and meanings.
With the suffix "ra" added to the
root of the verb, it expresses the action as taking place.
With the suffix "an", or "in", it expresses the action as completed.
With a prefix, varying according
to the following rules, and the suffix "ra", the verbal noun denotes the
agent who performs the act.
The rules for the prefix are:
If the verbal noun begins with
a consonant, redouble the consonant and add 'a' + prefix 'ra`
When the word begins with two consonants, both are reduplicated and "a" is inserted.
Verbal nouns beginning with "wl" or "wr" use the "wl" or "wr" in the first syllable, but drop the "w" in the second.
Verbal nouns beginning with a vowel and having no consonant to duplicate, prefix "a", or "ai". The resulting vowel does not form a diphthong.
Verbal nouns beginning with the diphthong "ai" usually reduplicate the second syllable.
Meanings and uses of daukisa:
The verbal noun in "an" used in
connection. with the third person of the present tense of daukaia...to
do, expresses a wish or a desire.
The person desiring is placed in
the accusative.
The verb daukisa also connotes concrete objects as desired, when used with verbal nouns and nouns, especially in relation to food and drink.
Verbal nouns denoting sickness or sensation follow the same rules as given above, but do not express a wish or desire.
Note. the position of the personal
pronouns in the above examples; also the omission of ba (the sign of the
accusative case) after witin. Verbs whose root ends in "i" form the verbal
noun (same as participles) by adding "n".
THE
ADJECTIVE
The adjective follows the noun
it modifies, but precedes the sign of the plural nani.
takta yamni nani.. -the good children
Whenever the adjective , precedes
the noun, the noun must be placed in the construct state.
upla karna...a strong person;
karna uplika
Any adjective may be used as a noun.
It then denotes an abstract quality and usually forms its construct in
"ka" or "ika"
pini...white; pinka...whiteness
yamni ... good ; yamnika ...
goodness
If the adjective ends in "a" it
is changed to "ira".
karna ... strong; karnira...strength
Nouns may be made into adjectives by adding "ira" or "kirra".
Many nouns are simply used as adjectives.
waikna...man, manly, brave
kyamda...carpenter, skilful
Some adjectives in "ni" drop this ending.
Negative adjectives are formed by adding "s" or "kas" to the noun.
lupya...child; lupyas...childless
bila...speech; bilas...dumb
nakra...eye; nakras...blind
tnata...end; tnatas...endless
aisa...father; aisikas ... fatherless
Comparison of adjectives:
The Miskito tongue does not make
a pronounced distinction between the comparative and superlative.
There are four words that denote
a higher degree.
kanra, and, kan mapa... more.
Both are placed before the adjective.
kanra yamni...better; kanra
tara ... greater
polli...very. It is placed
after the adjective.
Naha tukta tara, -wala lika
kanra tara, sakuna James tara polli sika...
This child is tall, the other
is taller, but James is the tallest.
saura ...very. Tukta
nani saura lilliakirra sa...
The children are very happy.
wol is employed when forming the
comparative; it is placed after the noun with which the comparison is made.
Martha kanra almuk Mary wol. .
Martha is older than Mary.
Diminutives of adjectives:
The word ninara... behind, is
used.
Witin yang ninara tukta...
He is
younger than I...He is a child behind me.
This tree is smaller than that one
...
Naha dus sika baba dus tara ninara.
Ninara is inflected like the construct of the noun.
Exclamation:
An adjective followed by ya ba,
or ya iza, expresses an exclamation.
Pain ya ba!...How beautiful!
Saurka ya na!...How ugly!