Syntax Verb - Argument Order Miluk verbs have a tendency to be clause-initial.
Arguments that are expressed with overt noun phrases usually follow the verb, while pronominal arguments expressed are encoded in
clitics that attach to the verb. Absolutive and ergative arguments can be interchangeable. The following example shows the ergative argument before the absolutive argument. However, in the next example, the absolutive argument precedes the ergative argument.
Order Variation in Presentational Constructions Miluk often uses a
presentational construction when telling stories or recounting an event to bring attention to the subject of the story. As a result of this, the affected noun phrase is fronted in the sentence and often appears clause-initially. The following examples are of the presentational construction, with the presented construction bolded.
Possessive Order In Miluk, the possessive noun phrase precedes what is possessed. The possessed noun takes no article but instead is marked with the oblique [tə].
Morphology There are two articles in Miluk, kʷə and ʎə. ʎə is used with nouns that are closer to the speaker, while kʷə is used for nouns which are more distant. These articles do not reflect a gender of a noun and both articles have been found in use for the same noun in discourse. Verbs have intransitive, imperfect, and perfect marker. Verbs which are intransitive take the -u suffix, while the imperfect tense takes the -ʔi suffix and the perfect tense takes the -t suffix.
Morphosyntactic Alignment Miluk has an
ergative–absolutive distinction, expressed
morphologically; the suffix
-x denotes the ergative case in Miluk, and the absolutive case is unmarked. In the following examples, the ergative argument comes before the absolutive argument. Miluk allows for the opposite to occur, as we see the absolutive argument precede the ergative argument.
Gender, Number, Person Miluk does not have a masculine/feminine gender distinction, but it does have reflexives of an old gender system. The language reflects this old system in two instances: with a suffix that follows articles (-č) and in lexical items for male and female people throughout life. The suffix -č has been seen to be optional but occurs in three instances: • following a feminine noun, • referring to a young person, and (the most common) • referring to elders. The second place where Miluk holds on to an older gender system is when referring to males or females. Words for males often begin with /t/, while the female words often begin with /hu/ and /w/. Miluk has no marked third person clitic on verbs. This is flouted as presentational fronting occurs whenever a new argument is introduced, which are the sentences most likely to have two third-person arguments, and sentences uttered after this argument has been introduced that have two third-person arguments will only express the defocused one through an overt noun phrase, while the other is understood through context within the discourse rather than through a co-indexed clitic. Miluk has an inclusive and exclusive distinction when it comes to the dual possessive. In the first person dual inclusive, the words receive the circumfix s=nə-, while the first person dual exclusive receives the prefix nə-.
Space, Time, Modality There are two morphemes which can be added to a verb to mark tense. The morpheme
han indicates the prospective tense, which describes that an event is going to occur. The other morpheme that can be added to a verb is
hanƛ, which marks the future tense. The future tense is distinguished from the prospective tense and has appeared irrealis marker a ̆x. The order in which the morphemes appear are the pronominal clitics, followed by mood, tense and then aspect. In the following examples, "han" indicates that an event is going to occur. {{interlinear|lang=iml|indent=3|glossing3=yes|italics2=yes {{interlinear|lang=iml|indent=3|glossing3=yes|italics2=yes
Obliques The morpheme tə marks an oblique or possessive, which occurs throughout the Salish language family. The following two example reveals -tə acting as the oblique marker. {{interlinear|lang=iml|indent=3|glossing3=yes|italics2=yes {{interlinear|lang=iml|indent=3|glossing3=yes|italics2=yes == Status ==