# Mizo grammar

Mizo grammar is the grammar of the Mizo language, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by about a million people in Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Burma and Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. It is a highly inflected language, with fairly complex noun phrase structure and word modifications. Nouns and pronouns are declined, and phrasal nouns also undergo an analogous declension.

## Word order

Mizo declarative word order is Object-subject-verb, as in:
Sava
bird
ka
I
hmu
see
Sava ka hmu
bird I see
I see a bird
Thing
firewood
a
he
pû
carries
Thing a pû
firewood he carries
He carries firewood

## Nouns

There is no grammatical gender in Mizo language, although some animals, birds etc. have names which contain one of the suffixes -nu, which means female, or -pa which means male. Examples include chingpirinu (a type of big owl), kawrnu (a type of cicada), thangfènpa (a nocturnal bird).

### Non-derived nouns

Mizo is an agglutinative language in which it is rare to find morphologically simple, non-derived nouns.$^{:102}$ However, common everyday objects and domestic animals tend to fall in this category, that is, the category of morphologically simple, non-derived nouns. For example,
* vạwk, 'pig'
* ịp, 'bag/sack'
* tláng, 'mountain'
* sǎm, 'hair'
* ár, 'chicken'
* lụi, 'river'

### Derived nouns

The most common form of noun is that of derived, morphologically complex, poly-syllabic nouns. Most abstract nouns belong to this category, and so do wild animals and other less common objects. Examples include
sa
animal
mak
strange
samak
rhinoceros
sa + mak = samak
animal strange rhinoceros
fa
offspring
nu
female
fanu
daughter
fa + nu = fanu
offspring female daughter
sual
wicked
na
-ness
sualna
wickedness
sual + na = sualna
wicked -ness wickedness
mâwl
stupid
na
-ness
mâwlna
stupidity
mâwl + na = mâwlna
stupid -ness stupidity

### Pluralisation

Nouns are pluralised by the addition of one of the suffixes -te, -ho, -teho and -hote. However, a non-pluralised noun can have the sense of a pluralised noun, and common nouns are usually not pluralised, as in:
Sava
bird/s
tam
many
deuh
very
ka
I
hmu
see
Sava tam deuh ka hmu
bird/s many very I see
I see a lot of birds
Here sava is not pluralised to savate or savaho; rather, sava functions as a plural.

### Declension of nouns

Nouns are declined into cases as follows (here we show the tones in accordance with the usage in Mizo Wiktionary, which is an extension of the common usage in Mizo newspapers such as Vanglaini and monthlies such as Lengzem chanchinbu):
| Nominative | Genitive | Accusative | Ergative | Instrumental |
| nụlá the/a girl | nụla the/a girl's | nụlá the/a girl | nụláịn (by) the/a girl | nụláin using/with a girl |
| tǔi water | tǔi | tǔi | tuiịn | tuiin |
| Thangạ (a proper noun) | Thanga | Thangạ | Thangȧ'n | Thangạ-in/Thangạ hmangin |

### Nominalisation

Verbs and adjectives are nominalised by suffixing -na, and adjectives can also be nominalised by suffixing -zia. For example:
| Verb | Adjective | Nominalisation by -na | Nominalisation by -zia' |
| kal | | kạlna | |
| | süal | sùalna | |
| | süal | | sùalzìa |
| vùa | | vûakna | |
When -na is suffixed to a transitive verb then the resulting noun means either the instrument with which the action described by the verb is achieved, or the object/sufferer of the action or the point of action of the verb. For example, vùa means to beat/strike with a stick, and vûakna means a whip, an object with which one can beat, or a point or place where the beating takes place, a point where something is beaten.
When -na is suffixed to an intransitive verb, then the resulting noun means a place etc. through which the action can take place. For example, kal means to go, kalna means where something/someone goes or can go, way, path. For example:
| A kalna kan hre lo | → | We do not know where he went/where he has gone. |
| Hei chu a kalna dik a ni lo tawp mai! | → | This is definitely not the right way. |
When -zia is suffixed to an adjective, the resulting noun means the condition of having the quality described by the adjective. For example, süal means evil, sùalzìa' means sinfulness, evilness.

### Agentiviser

The suffix -tu in Mizo ṭawng is equivalent to the suffix -er or -or in English, as in:$^{:137}$
püan " ṭhui
to sew a cloth
püanṭhuitu
tailor
{püan " ṭhui} → püanṭhuitu
{to sew a cloth} tailor
véng
to protect
véngtû
protector
véng → véngtû
{to protect} protector

## Pronouns
### Forms

All Mizo pronouns occur in two forms, namely in free form and clitic form and are declined into cases.
Mizo pronouns :
| | nominative | genitive | accusative | ergative |
| clitic forms | ka, 'I' | ka, 'my, mine' | mi, min, 'me' | keima'n, 'by me' |
| clitic forms | kan, 'we' | kan, 'our, ours' | min, 'us' | keimahnin, 'by us' |
| clitic forms | i, 'you (singular)' | i, 'your, yours' | che, 'you' | nangma'n, 'by you' |
| clitic forms | in, 'you (plural)' | in, 'your, yours' | che u, 'you' | nangmahnin, 'by you' |
| clitic forms | a, 'he, she, it' | a, 'his, hers, its' | amah, 'him, her, it' | ama'n, 'by him, by her, by it' |
| clitic forms | an, 'they' | an, 'their, theirs' | anmahni, 'them' | anmahni'n, 'by them' |
| free forms | kei, 'I' | keima, 'my, mine' | keimah, 'me' | keima'n, 'by me' |
| free forms | keimah, 'we' | keima, 'our, ours' | keimah, keimah min, 'us' | keima'n, 'by us' |
| free forms | keini, 'you (singular)' | keini, 'your, yours' | keini min, 'you' | keini'n, 'by you' |
| free forms | keimahni, 'you (plural)' | keimahni, 'your, yours' | keimahni min, 'you' | keimahni'n, 'by you' |
| free forms | anni, 'he, she, it' | anni, 'his, hers, its' | anni, 'him, her, it' | anni'n, 'by him, by her, by it' |
| free forms | anmahni, 'they' | anmahni, 'their, theirs' | anmahni, 'them' | anmahni'n, 'by them' |
The free form is mostly used for emphasis, and has to be used in conjunction with either the clitic form or an appropriate pronominal particle, as shown in the following examples:
* Kei (=I free form) ka (=I clitic form)lo tel ve kher a ngai em?. This is a somewhat emphatic way of saying Ka lo tel ve kher a ngai em?
* Nangni (=you pl., free form) in (you pl., clitic form) zo tawh em? This is a somewhat emphatic way of saying Nangni in zo tawh em?
* Ani (he/she) a (s/he) kal ve chuan a ṭha lo vang.
The clitic form is also used as a genitive form of the pronoun.

## Adjectives
### Attributive

Mizo adjectives (Mizo: hrilhfiahna), when used attributively, follow the nouns they describe, as follows:
naupang
child
fel
good
naupang fel
child good
a good child
lehkhabu
book
chhiartlâk
readable
lehkhabu chhiartlâk
book readable
a readable book
hmasawnna
development
chhenfâkawm
sustainable
hmasawnna chhenfâkawm
development sustainable
sustainable development
artui
egg
pum ruk
six
artui {pum ruk}
egg six
six eggs

### Predicative

When used predicatively, Mizo adjectives are syntactically verbs,$^{:107}$ being usually preceded by the subject pronoun clitics, as in:
A
fel
A fel
S/he or it is good
A
ṭha
A ṭha
it is good
In these two sentences, a is the subject pronoun clitic, and the adjectives fel and ṭha function as verbs (syntactically).

### Adjective sequences

When adjectives follow each other, the preferred order is the following:
* color
* quality or opinion
* size
* shape
as in
    Puan sen (color) mawi (quality) hlai (size) bial (shape) deuh.

### Quantifiers

The most common quantifiers in Mizo ṭawng are zawng zawng (all/each and every), ṭhenkhat (some [of a whole]), väi (all/every), zà (all/every).$^{:111}$ Some examples are given below:
varak
duck
zawng zawng
all
varak {zawng zawng}
duck all
All the ducks
kan
we
zà
all
kan zà
we all
All of us

## Verbs
### Occurrence

Verbs (Mizo: thiltih) and verb phrases occur last in a sentence. Since adjectives can function as verbs, it is common in sentences to have no true verb, as in:
    A fel vek mai ang
    A dik vêl vek!
In these two sentences, the adjectives fel and dik function syntactically as verbs, and there are no other verbs in either of them.

### Tense

Mizo verbs are not conjugated by changing the desinence. The tense is clarified by the aspect and the addition of conjugating particles, such as
* ang (for forming simple future),
* tawh (for forming simple past and past perfect),
* mék (for forming progressive tenses, present and past),
* dáwn (for forming simple future),
* dáwn mék (for forming near future),
etc.

## Adverbs
### Occurrence

Adverbs usually follow the verbs or adjectives they describe.