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'

<gl> \gll ula na nmis this na my.sister \trans This is my (older) sister. <\gl>