Miskito and English/Lexical selection
From LING073
Contents
Miq → Eng
Case 1
maisa - waistline, food that grows after boiling/cooking (like rice), plentiful
Example sentences: La gente se sujeta la faja en la cintura.
Miskito Sentence | English Translation |
---|---|
Upla ba ai maisara bilk wilkisa. | People fasten their skirts along their waistline. |
Rais pain ba maisa sa. | Good quality rice is highly productive. |
Generalization for determining which translation is correct:
- If the sentence contains foods that grow when cooking or heating, it refers to that. Otherwise, it refers to waistline.
- If the sentence mentions words related to quantity, it refers to plentiful.
Case 2
pâlaia - to fly, to get angry
Example sentences:
Miskito Sentence | English Translation |
---|---|
Daiwan tnawira nani ba wihka pâlaia sip sa. | The birds fly far. |
miq 2 | eng 2 |
Generalization for determining which translation is correct:
- If the sentence mentions an aircraft, translate to 'to fly'. Otherwise, translate to 'to get angry'.
Case 3
ra - in, on, at
Example sentences:
Miskito Sentence | English Translation |
---|---|
John rum ra sa. | John is in the room. |
Buk ba tibil ra sa. | The book is on the table. |
Mairin ba dur ra sa. | The woman is at the door. |
Generalization for determining which translation is correct:
* We can assume ra translates to in except for other edge cases. * If the sentence has has table, translate to on. * If the sentence has door, translate to at.