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| Miskito | |
|---|---|
| Miskitu | |
| Native to | Honduras,Nicaragua |
| Region | North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, neighbouring areas |
| Ethnicity | Miskito |
Native speakers | 150,000 (2015–2021)[1] |
Misumalpan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | miq |
| Glottolog | misk1235 |
| ELP | Mískito |
 Geographic distribution | |
Miskito (Miskitu in the Miskito language) is aMisumalpan language spoken by theMiskito people in northeasternNicaragua, especially in theNorth Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, and in easternHonduras.
With around 150,000 speakers, Miskito is the most widely spoken of a family of languages of Nicaragua and Honduras that has come to be known as Misumalpan. This name is formed from parts of the names of the family's subgroups: Miskito, Sumo, Matagalpan. The relationship of some aspects of the internal family tree to the family is uncertain. However, it is clear that: (1) Miskito is apart fromSumo andMatagalpan, which seem to share a common lower node, and (2) in the past Miskito was heavily influenced by other languages like English, German and Dutch. Sumo is thought to have been dominant in the area before the period of Miskito ascendancy. Today the relationship has been reversed: many former Sumo speakers have shifted to Miskito, which has in turn heavily influenced the Sumo dialects. Several of these (Panamahka and Tawahka) constitute the Mayangna sub-branch of Sumo, while theUlwa language is in another sub-branch. The Matagalpan branch of Misumalpan contains two languages that are now extinct:Matagalpa andCacaopera. The latter was formerly spoken in parts of easternEl Salvador.
In addition to many elements borrowed from other Misumalpan languages, Miskito has many loanwords from Germanic languages likeEnglish,German andDutch. Even thoughSpanish is the official language of Nicaragua and Honduras, its influence on Miskito is much more recent and hence more superficial. Many other languages appear to have had influence on Miskito vocabulary and grammar, including various Sumi dialects,Arawak,Rama,Carib, and certain Western African languages.
The alphabet for Miskito consists of 19 letters, and includes vowels and consonants.
A (a), B (be), D (de), G (ge), H (ha), I (i), J (je), K (ka), L (el), M (em), N (en), P (pe), Q (ku), R (ar), S (es), T (te), U (u), W (dubilu), Y (yei).
Many of the Miskitos are native American and also mixed with British, Chinese, Dutch, German and African. The Miskito people had a strong relationship with the British and they signed theTreaty of Friendship and Alliance. Eventually, the British began to lose interest in the region, and Britain allowed Nicaragua to have uncontested claim over the Mosquito Coast. A treaty was signed in which a Miskito reserve, a self-governing entity that enjoyed semi-sovereign rights, was given to the Miskito people, but Honduras eventually took over the area.
In the 20th century the Miskito language started to dwindle. Honduras, being a formerSpanish colony, officially used the Spanish language, and this stifled the proliferation of the Miskito language in the 20th century. In schools, children were forbidden from speaking Miskito for most of the 20th century and could only speak Spanish; young generations had less of an opportunity to practice the language.
In the 1990s, many groups lobbied against the rule and promoted bilingual schools to preserve the Miskito language. Twenty such bilingual schools exist.
G. R. Heath wrote on Miskito grammar inAmerican Anthropologist in 1913 and describes its orthography and phonology as follows:
Thevowelsa,e,i,o,u correspond almost exactly to the same sound of those letters inGerman.
Theconsonantsg,j,s,w,y represent the sounds heard in the English words get, jet, set, wet, and yet; and the combinationch stands for the sound heard in the word chest.C by itself will not be used. The other letters have the same power as in English, except that the aspirateh is always to be pronounced, even at the end of a syllable.
The stress accent in Miskito is almost invariably on the first syllable.
When the grave and acute accents occur on the same vowel, will be imaginary accentuated just like English.
Nasalized vowels are sometimes met with: they resemble the ordinary vowels followed by a sound corresponding to the Frenchn inmon. But as this nasal sound seems to be pronounced not after, but simultaneously with, the vowels, it seems better to mark the vowels with the tilde (˜), to indicate that the vowels themselves are nasalized. Such nasalized vowels are always long, thus:ã,ẽ,ĩ,õ,ũ.
The combinationng is a single sound: the double sound in the English word "longer" will be represented byngg.[2]
There is still much controversy about Miskito orthography and it cannot be considered settled, even with printed Miskito grammars, Bible translations, and other texts.
| Miskito | English |
|---|---|
| yul | dog |
| matis | rat |
| pus | cat |
| dildil | butterfly |
| tairi | mosquito |
| tuisa | tongue |
| maya waitna | husband |
| maya mairin | wife |
| Number | Miskito |
|---|---|
| 0 | apu, nul, zero |
| 1 | kumi |
| 2 | wal |
| 3 | yumhpa |
| 4 | walhwalh (2+2) |
| 5 | matsip |
| 6 | Matlalkahbi |
| 7 | matlalkahbipurakum (6+1) |
| 8 | matlalkahbipurawal (6+2) |
| 9 | matlalkahbipurayumhpa (6+3) |
| 10 | matawalsip |
| 11 | matawalsippurakumi (10+1) |
| 12 | matawalsippurawal (10+2) |
| 20 | yawanaiska |
| 21 | yawanaiskapurakum |
| 30 | yawanaiskapuramatawalsip |
| 40 | yawanaiska wal |
| 100 | dusa kum |
| 200 | dusa wal |
| 1,000 | lal kum |
| 1,000,000 | slilma kum |
| Number | Miskito |
|---|---|
| 0 | zero |
| 1 | wan |
| 2 | tu |
| 3 | tri |
| 4 | for |
| 5 | faip |
| 6 | siks |
| 7 | sem |
| 8 | et |
| 9 | nain |
| 10 | ten |
| 11 | lem |
| 12 | tuelp |
| 13 | tartin |
| 14 | futin |
| 15 | fiftin |
| 16 | sikstin |
| 17 | semtin |
| 18 | itin |
| 19 | naintin |
| 20 | tuinhti |
| 21 | tuinhtiwan |
| 22 | tuinhtitu |
| 23 | tuinhtitri |
| 24 | tuinhtifor |
| 25 | tuinhtifaip |
| 26 | tuinhtisiks |
| 27 | tuinhtisem |
| 28 | tuinhtiet |
| 29 | tuinhtinain |
| 30 | tarti |
| 40 | fati |
| 50 | fifti |
| 60 | siksti |
| 70 | semti |
| 80 | iti |
| 90 | nainti |
| 100 | andat or wan handat |
| 101 | wan handatwan |
| 102 | wan handattu |
| 200 | tu handat |
| 300 | tri handat |
| 400 | for handat |
| 500 | faip handat |
| 600 | siks handat |
| 700 | sem handat |
| 800 | et handat |
| 900 | nain handat |
| 1,000 | wan tausin o tausin |
| 1,001 | wan tausinwan |
| 2,000 | tu tausin |
| 3,000 | tri tausin |
| 4,000 | for tausin |
| 5,000 | faip tausin |
| 6,000 | siks tausin |
| 7,000 | sem tausin |
| 8,000 | et tausi |
| 9,000 | nain tausin |
| 10,000 | ten tausin |
| 100,000 | wan handat tausin |
| 200,000 | tu handat tausin |
| 300,000 | tri handat tausin |
| 400,000 | for handat tausin |
| 500,000 | faip handat tausin |
| 600,000 | siks handat tausin |
| 700,000 | sem handat tausin |
| 800,000 | et handat tausin |
| 900,000 | nain handat tausin |
| 1,000,000 | wan milian |
| 10,000,000 | ten milian |
| 100,000,000 | wan handat milian |
| 500,000,000 | faip handat milian |
| 1,000,000,000 | wan bilian |
By Felix Ramsin.[citation needed]
| English | Miskito |
|---|---|
| January | Siakua kati |
| February | Kuswa kati |
| March | Kakamuk kati |
| April | Lihwainhka kati |
| May | Lihmairin kati |
| June | Li kati |
| July | Pastara kati |
| August | Sikla kati |
| September | Wis kati |
| October | Waupasa kati |
| November | Yahbra kati |
| December | Trisu kati, Krismis kati |
| English | Miskito |
|---|---|
| Monday | Mundi |
| Tuesday | Tusdi |
| Wednesday | Winsdi |
| Thursday | Tausdi |
| Friday | Praidi |
| Saturday | Satadi |
| Sunday | Sandi |
By Felix Ramsin.[citation needed]
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