Mískito
Conjugate VerbsFacts
- Language: Mískito
- Alternate names: Marquito, Mískitu, Mísquito, Mosquito
- Language code: miq
- Language family: Misumalpan
- Number of speakers: 183400
- Vulnerability: risk [Read more...]
- Script:
More information:
Introduction
Miskíto is spoken by the Miskito people in northeastern Nicaragua, especially in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region, and in eastern Honduras.
In addition to many elements borrowed from other Misumalpan languages, Miskíto has a large number of loanwords from English via Creole. Even though Spanish is the official language of Nicaragua and Honduras, its influence on Miskito is much more recent and hence more superficial.
The verb
- Present absolute expresses that an action is happening or about to happen at the time of speaking.
- Present indefinite is a general present, indistinctly progressive or habitual.
- Past absolute is a perfect.
- As the nucleus of a main clause Past indefinite is a simple aorist past. Connected to a following verb in a past or present tense within a switch reference chain, it functions as the different-subject participle.
- Future absolute expresses that an event is imminent.
- Future indefinite is a general future. It is also used as an irrealis in subordinate clauses.
Sample verb: pulaia
Present absolute
| sg.1 | yang puluna |
| sg.2 | man puluma |
| sg.3 | witin puluya |
| pl.1 (exclusive) | yang nani puluna |
| pl.1 (inclusive) | yawan puluni |
| pl.2 | man nani puluma |
| pl.3 | witin nani puluya |
Present indefinite
| sg.1 | yang pulisna |
| sg.2 | man pulisma |
| sg.3 | witin pulisa |
| pl.1 (exclusive) | yang nani pulisna |
| pl.1 (inclusive) | yawan pulisni |
| pl.2 | man nani pulisma |
| pl.3 | witin nani pulisa |
Past absolute
| sg.1 | yang pulatna |
| sg.2 | man pulatma |
| sg.3 | witin pulata |
| pl.1 (exclusive) | yang nani pulatna |
| pl.1 (inclusive) | yawan pulatni |
| pl.2 | man nani pulatma |
| pl.3 | witin nani pulata |
Past indefinite
| sg.1 | yang pulri |
| sg.2 | man pulram |
| sg.3 | witin pulan |
| pl.1 (exclusive) | yang nani pulri |
| pl.1 (inclusive) | yawan pulri |
| pl.2 | man nani pulram |
| pl.3 | witin nani pulan |
Future absolute
| sg.1 | yang pulaisna |
| sg.2 | man pulaisma |
| sg.3 | witin pulaisa |
| pl.1 (exclusive) | yang nani pulaisna |
| pl.1 (inclusive) | yawan pulaisni |
| pl.2 | man nani pulaisma |
| pl.3 | witin nani pulaisa |
Future indefinite
| sg.1 | yang pulamna |
| sg.2 | man pulma |
| sg.3 | witin pulbia |
| pl.1 (exclusive) | yang nani pulamna |
| pl.1 (inclusive) | yawan pulamni |
| pl.2 | man nani pulma |
| pl.3 | witin nani pulbia |
Conexive imperative
| sg.1 | yang pulrika |
| sg.2 | man pulrika |
| sg.3 | witin pulka |
| pl.1 (exclusive) | yang nani pulpi |
| pl.1 (inclusive) | yawan pulpi |
| pl.2 | man nani puls |