Miskito language explained

Miskito language should not be confused with Miskito Coast Creole.

Miskito
Nativename:	Miskitu
States:	Honduras, Nicaragua
Region:	North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, neighbouring areas
Ethnicity:	Miskito people
Date:	2015–2021
Ref:	e24
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	Misumalpan
Iso3:	miq
Glotto:	misk1235
Glottorefname:	Miskito
Map:	Miskito language.svg
Mapcaption:	Geographic distribution

Miskito (Miskitu in the Miskito language) is a Misumalpan language spoken by the Miskito people in northeastern Nicaragua, especially in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, and in eastern Honduras.

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 from Sumo and Matagalpan, 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 (Tawahka, Panamahka and Tuahka) constitute the Mayangna sub-branch of Sumo, while the Ulwa language is in another sub-branch. The Matagalpan branch of Misumalpan contains two languages that are now extinct: Matagalpa and Cacaopera. The latter was formerly spoken in parts of eastern El Salvador.

In addition to many elements borrowed from other Misumalpan languages, Miskito has many loanwords from Germanic languages like English, German and Dutch. Even though Spanish 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.

Miskito Alphabet

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).

History

Many of the Miskitos are native American and also mixed with British, Chinese, Dutch, German, North American, Latinos and African. The Miskito people had a strong relationship with the British and they signed the Treaty 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 former Spanish 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.

Orthography and phonology

See main article: Miskito grammar. G. R. Heath wrote on Miskito grammar in American Anthropologist in 1913 and describes its orthography and phonology as follows:

There is still much controversy about Miskito orthography and it cannot be considered settled, even with printed Miskito grammars, Bible translations, and other texts.

Basic words

Miskito	English
yul	dog
matis	rat
pus	cat
dildil	butterfly
tairi	mosquito
tuisa	tongue
maya waitna	husband
maya mairin	wife

^[1]

Old Miskito numbers

!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

Modern Miskito numbers

!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.

Months of the year

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

Days of the week

English	Miskito
Monday	Mundi
Tuesday	Tusdi
Wednesday	Winsdi
Thursday	Tausdi
Friday	Praidi
Saturday	Satadi
Sunday	Sandi