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Miskito

Misumalpan family · North America

Miskito is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

On Polar Questions, WALS codes Miskito as “Question particle and interrogative verb morphology”, a value held by 15 of the 955 languages coded, Pirahã and Ika among them.

The closest grammar profile to Miskito in the atlas belongs to Kannada, a Dravidian language: the two agree on 29 of the 44 features both have coded.

Miskito: order of head and dependent in 8 constructions← beforeafter →verbsubject80%13%Order of Subject and Verb: Subject precedes verb (SV). Of 1,496 languages coded, 1,192 put the subject before the verb and 194 after it.verbobject47%46%Order of Object and Verb: Object precedes verb (OV). Of 1,518 languages coded, 712 put the object before the verb and 705 after it.adpositionnoun phrase49%43%Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase: Postpositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.noungenitive55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Genitive-noun (GenN). Of 1,249 languages coded, 685 put the genitive before the noun and 468 after it.nounadjective27%64%Order of Adjective and Noun: Modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj). Of 1,367 languages coded, 373 put the adjective before the noun and 879 after it.noundemonstrative45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN). Of 1,225 languages coded, 551 put the demonstrative before the noun and 590 after it.nounnumeral42%53%Order of Numeral and Noun: Numeral precedes noun (NumN). Of 1,154 languages coded, 479 put the numeral before the noun and 608 after it.adjectivedegree word47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj). Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Miskito uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Miskito with Kannada or with any other language

Closest profiles

Languages that share the most coded values with Miskito; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Miskito for 49 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 47 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Miskito shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Fixed Stress LocationsInitial: stress is on the first syllable92 of 502
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsNo weight, or weight factor unknown261 of 500
Weight-Sensitive StressFixed stress (no weight-sensitivity)281 of 500

Word structure 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Locus of Marking in the ClauseP has no marking42 of 236
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun PhrasesPossessor is head-marked78 of 236
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969
Locus of Marking: Whole-language TypologyInconsistent marking or other type121 of 236
Zero Marking of A and P ArgumentsNon-zero marking219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural word170 of 1,066
Indefinite ArticlesNumeral for 'one' is used as indefinite article112 of 534
Indefinite PronounsGeneric-noun-based indefinites85 of 326
Definite ArticlesDefinite word distinct from demonstrative216 of 620
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive suffixes355 of 902
Person Marking on AdpositionsAdpositions without person marking209 of 378
Numeral ClassifiersNumeral classifiers are absent260 of 400
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsNo gender distinctions254 of 378

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Noun Phrase ConjunctionWITH-languages: 'and' and 'with' are identical103 of 234

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131

Word order 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and ClauseFinal subordinator word96 of 659
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at end of sentence314 of 884
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral precedes noun (NumN)479 of 1,154
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)542 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject precedes verb (OV)712 of 1,518
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word precedes adjective (DegAdj)227 of 481
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
Order of Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)879 of 1,367
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases not obligatorily initial615 of 902
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of only the A argument73 of 378
Comparative ConstructionsConjoined Comparative34 of 167
Predicative PossessionHave-Possessive63 of 240
Nominal and Locational PredicationIdentical117 of 386
Negative MorphemesNegative affix395 of 1,157
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding132 of 386
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingNo zero realization of third person S forms181 of 380
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA and P do not or do not both occur on the verb187 of 379
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is impossible211 of 386
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingAccusative alignment212 of 380
Passive ConstructionsThere is no passive construction211 of 373

Complex sentences 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
'Want' Complement SubjectsThe complement subject is left implicit144 of 283

Vocabulary 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
N-M PronounsN-M pronouns, paradigmatic25 of 230
M in Second Person Singularm in second person singular78 of 230
Hand and ArmDifferent389 of 617
M in First Person SingularNo m in first person singular177 of 230
M-T PronounsNo M-T pronouns200 of 230
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593