WikiLang/Mi'kmaq Grammar

WikiLang pages Note: all the words in the below tables are in Francis-Smith orthography, for more details, see Mi'kmaq Orthographies. Word types Like other Algonquian languages, Mi'kmaq language has three types of words: nouns, verbs and particles. The particles' type includes the pronouns. Nouns Mi'kmaq language has two genders for nouns which is called "animacy" for Algonquian languages. Those are "animate" and "inanimate". Animate nouns include persons, animals, spirits and large trees as well as some objects. While it is straightforward for persons and animals, it is not the case for all words. For example, in Mi'kmaq, the calf of the leg is an animate noun while the thigh is inanimate and a raspberry is animate while a strawberry is inanimate. + Examples of animate nouns Mi'kmaq word English translation aqam snowshoe awa'qi'kn crooked knife klitaw raspberry mg'sn shoe snawei maple tree tmaqan smoking pipe + Examples of inanimate nouns Mi'kmaq word English translation a's'tuo'kuom church ki'k your house klpisun anchor lasup soup pe'skewey gun sismo'qon sugar Verbs In Mi'kmaq verbs are either transitive or intransitive and both can be animate or inanimate. The animacy of intransitive verbs depends on the animacy of the subject they refer to. For example, the Mi'kmaq verb "she moves fast" is intransitive animate while the verb "it moves fast" is intransitive inanimate. For transitive verbs, it is the animacy of the object that determines the animacy of the verb. For example, the verb "I pull him" is transitive animate while the verb "I pull it" is transitive inanimate. Note that we assume here that "it" is an inanimate Mi'kmaq word, but remember that some objects are also animate words. + Examples of verbs Mi'kmaq word English translation Type Alasumteket He/she walks through snow Intransitive animate Ekuma'toq He/she anchors it (inanimate object) Transitive inanimate Etlatalk He/she is eating Intransitive animate Malqutk He/she eats it (inanimate food) Transitive inanimate Malqomatl He/she eats it (animate food) Transitive animate Meni'kwet He/she strips off birch bark Intransitive animate Particles Particles is the third word type in Algonquian languages, including Mi'kmaq. Since pronouns in Mi'kmaq are not inflected, they are considered as the same word type as particles. + Examples of particles Mi'kmaq word English translation aqq and ala' that ki'l you nankmiw immediately ni'n I ula' this Portal WikiLang/Mi'kmaq Portal Grammar Mikmaq