Miskito ( in the Miskito language) is a Misumalpan language spoken by the

Miskito people The Miskitos are an Afro-Indigenous ethnic group in Central America. Their territory extends from Cabo Camarón, Cape Camarón, Honduras, to Río Grande de Matagalpa, Nicaragua, along the Mosquito Coast, in the Western Caribbean zone. The Miski ...

in northeastern

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, especially in the

North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region The North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region is one of two autonomous regions in Nicaragua. It was created along with the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region by the Autonomy Statute of 7 September 1987 through a division of the former Zela ...

, and in eastern

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. 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 is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

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 Matagalpa () is a city in Nicaragua which is the capital of the department of Matagalpa. The city has a population of 112,697 (2022 estimate), while the population of the department is 606,643. Matagalpa is Nicaragua's seventh largest city, the ...

and Cacaopera. The latter was formerly spoken in parts of eastern

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

. In addition to many elements borrowed from other Misumalpan languages, Miskito has many loanwords from Germanic languages like English,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Dutch. Even though

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

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 The Arawak are a group of Indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. The term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to different Indigenous groups, from the Lokono of South America to the Taíno (Island Arawaks), w ...

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

, 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 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

G. R. Heath wrote on Miskito grammar in ''

American Anthropologist ''American Anthropologist'' is the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Association The American Anthropological Association (AAA) is an American organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 10,000 m ...

'' 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

Old Miskito numbers

Modern Miskito numbers

By Felix Ramsin.

Months of the year

Days of the week

By Felix Ramsin.

References

External links

Miskitu Language Collection of Natalia Bermúdez and Wanda Luz Waldan Peter
– archive of audio and video recordings and text transcriptions of historical narratives from native speakers from AILLA.
Recording of a song in Miskito with an interview in English
– from th
Collection of Miskito, Quechua and Tseltal of June Nash
at AILLA.
Miskito – English – Spanish Dictionary

Notes in Miskito Grammar

Miskito-Spanish Dictionary
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Language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

Misumalpan languages Indigenous languages of Central America Languages of Nicaragua North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region Languages of Honduras