Miskito/Lesson 2
Miskitu Aisas! Miskito Language Course | |||
Lesson 1 | 2 | Buk ba tibil ra sa | |
> Next | |||
Contents | The book is on the table | ||
In, on and at
editStudy |
What do they mean?
|
|
Practice | Combine the two nouns to form a sentence, then say what it means. E.g. Mary / rum -> Mary rum ra sa. (Mary is in the room.) |
|
|
Answers
|
The very common word ra is equivalent to several English prepositions, including in, on and at. But it is not placed before but after the word it goes with, e.g. rum ra in the room.
- Because of its position, such a word is not called a preposition but a "postposition".
- Sometimes people write ra attached to the preceding word, e.g. tibil ra or tibilra on the table.
Plural nouns
editStudy |
What do they mean?
|
|
Practice | Translate, then put nani after the word in italics and translate again. |
|
|
Answers
|
Nani placed after a noun makes it plural: buk book, buk nani books.
Other words stay the same as in the singular, e.g. na can mean either "this" or "these" (mairin na this woman, mairin nani na these women) and sa means either "is" or "are" (Buk ba ... sa The book is... vs. Buk nani ba ... sa The books are...).
We, they, these and those
editStudy |
What do they mean?
|
|
Practice | Translate: |
|
|
Answers
|
The only intrinsically plural pronoun in Miskito is yawan meaning we (inclusive), i.e. we in the sense of you and me, we INCLUDING YOU.
- With yawan the verb form stays the same as for the third person, so Yawan ... sa We are....
To say "they", on the other hand, we must put nani after the third person pronoun witin. Other pronouns, such as naha and baha, are also pluralised by postposing nani.
- The use of the definite article ba does not always correspond to that of "the" in English. Thus in Miskito we can say naha ba (literally "the this").
Isn't/aren't
editStudy |
What do they mean?
|
|
Practice | Translate these sentences, then make them negative and translate again. |
|
|
Answers
|
The negative of sa is, are is apia sa is not or isn't, are not or aren't.
Vocabulary and review
edit
Vocabulary
| ||
not
n
door
n
American (from the US)
plural marker
|
post
in, on, at
n
room
n
ground, floor
n
table
|
n
house
n
window
pron
we (inclusive)
|
Say in Miskito
Review
My children are not in the room.
Tuktiki nani (ba) rum ra apia sa. The dog is in the door.
Yul ba dur ra sa. The books are on the floor.
Buk nani ba tasba ra sa. They are not on the table.
Witin nani (ba) tibil ra apia sa. These Americans are in the house.
Miriki nani na utla ra sa. Those are not Americans.
Baha nani miriki nani apia sa. She is not young.
Witin tiara apia sa. We are in the room; they are at the door.
Yawan ba rum ra sa; witin nani ba dur ra sa. |
Lesson 1 | |
> Next | |
Contents |