Miskito and English/Contrastive Grammar

Miq-Eng tests

Object Order

Miskito is an SOV language, so the object phrase always follows the noun phrase and generally precedes the verb phrase (there are some exceptions). In contrast, English is an SVO language.

• (miq) Yang wal wîna kalila piras. → (eng) I do not eat meat and chicken

  (miq) yang<prn><p1> wîna<n> kalila<n> piras<v><p1><neg> → (eng) I<prn><p1> eat<vblex><p1><pres> meat<n> and<cnjcoo> chicken<n>

Adjective Order

In Miskito, adjectives come between the subject and the determiner. This is the reverse in English.

• (miq) aras ba sirpi sa → (eng) The horse is small

  (miq) aras<n> ba<det><def><dst> sirpi<adj> kaia<v><pres><p3> → (eng) The<det> horse <n> be<vbser><pres><p3><sg> small<adj>

Subject Deletion

Unlike English, first person verbs can stand alone to make a grammatically correct sentence.

• (miq) wapri → (eng) I walked

  (miq) wapri<v><past><p1> → (eng) I<prn><p1> walked<vblex><past>

Plurals

In Miskito, plurality is created by adding the word nani after the noun. In contrast, English creates plurals by adding s to the end of nouns.

• (miq) Aras nani ba → (eng) The horses

  (miq) Aras<n> nani<det><pl><def> ba<det><def><dst> → (eng) The<det><def> horses<n><pl>

Possessives

Posession in Miskito modifies the possessed noun with a suffix. Whereas in English, possession is marked on the possessor.

• (miq) man araskam → (eng) Your horse

  (miq) man<prn><p2> araskam<n><px2sg> → (eng) your<det><px2sg> horse<n>