aakir-i "stays" and aaikur-u "stayed", where the short stem vowel copies the vowel of the suffix). Consonants display a degree of sandhi-type alternation, as seen for example in the final consonant of the same stem "stay, be", cf. the imperative "stay!". This latter variant is found both word-final and before a suffix beginning with a consonant (e.g. "if there is"). Grammar In terms of grammatical typology Rama may be considered a fairly "normal" language for the linguistic area within which it is located, despite the lack of close genetic ties with its immediate neighbours. For example, Rama shares some general typological features with Miskito, a dominant contact language, displaying many characteristics typical of SOV languages (even though not all sentences are actually verb-final). A single set of prefixes serves to express both pronominal possessors (e.g. n- "my eye") and subjects (e.g. n- "I went"). Noun phrase relations are indicated by postpositions, tense and subordination by verbal suffixes. Noun phrase Elements of the noun phrase There are no articles. Nouns are frequently undetermined, e.g. "(The) lizard walks on (the) ground" (literally: lizard ground on (s)he-walks), "He/she caught (a) fish with (a) hook" (fish hook with (s)he-caught). Demonstrative determiners precede the noun: "this house", "that dog". Quantifiers follow the noun: "one dog", "two cats", "many houses", "every morning", "all the people", "the other dog, another dog". Most nouns do not change for number, but those denoting humans can take the plural suffix or , as in "men", "women", "children", etc. Attributive adjectives follow the noun they qualify: "(a/the) big fish". Possession Inalienable pronominal possession, found with body parts and characteristics, is expressed by prefixes attached to the possessed noun: "my eye", "his/her strength", "our fingers". In other cases (including kinship relations), a genitive pronoun (formed from the pronominal prefix + ) precedes the possessed noun, e.g. "my cat / house / name / child / father / sister", "your family (lit. your people)", "his/her name", "our Rama language". The forms etc. also function predicatively (as equivalents of English possessive pronouns), as in "That cat is mine". Nominal possession is expressed by two constructions: possessor + possessed (i.e. simple juxtaposition), e.g. "my father's name" (my father name), and possessor + + possessed ( being a genitive postposition), e.g. "Nora's house". Pronouns Personal pronouns have free (independent) and bound (prefix) forms as in the following table. The third person singular bound form is i-