Miskito Grammar - Syntax - Information Structure

Information Structure

A system of specialized postpositions is used to identify topics and focused constituents:

Lika is a particle that may follow a sentence constituent identifying it as sentence topic.
  • Baku lika yang maipara an man mampara sin aitani kabia. 'That way, it will be good for me and for you too.'
  • Yang nini lika Juan. 'My name is Juan.'
  • Pedro mahka wan, bara María lika takaskan. 'Pedro left, and/but María stayed.'

Sika may be placed after a definite noun phrase to foreground it; its effect is similar to that of focus clefting in English.
  • Naha sika diara nani na dawanka kabia. 'This is who is going to own these things.'
  • Witin sika yaptiki. 'She is my mother.'

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