Discourse Particles

This page outlines the commonly used and heard discourse particles in Mi'gmaq. A discourse particle is " is a lexeme or particle which has no direct semantic meaning in the context of a sentence, having rather a pragmatic function: it serves to indicate the speaker's attitude, or to structure their interactions with other participants in a conversation".

na

The discourse particle na is often heard and used. It is very useful. In various instances, it can be translated as a copular verb.

1. ula   na  ji'nm  
   this  na  man    
   'This is a man.'

1. ni'n  na  Piel  
   1     na  Piel  
   'I am Piel'

1. ula   na  nmis       
   this  na  my.sister  
   'This is my (older) sister.'