The Cariban languages
Language family · South America
WALS includes 20 Cariban languages in 1 branch; all of them are in South America.
Basic word order: OVS in 3 of the 8 members coded, then no dominant order in 3, SOV in 2.
The most solid shared trait: all 8 members coded for Order of Object and Verb have object precedes verb (OV).
Of these, 3 have a full page on this site.
Shared and split traits
| Feature | Most frequent value | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Object and Verb | Object precedes verb (OV) | 8 of 8 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Postpositions | 8 of 8 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Genitive-noun (GenN) | 8 of 8 |
| Order of Subject, Object and Verb | Object-verb-subject (OVS) | 3 of 8 |
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 3 of 8 |
| Feature | Largest group | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Subject, Object and Verb | Object-verb-subject (OVS) | 3 of 8 |
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 3 of 8 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object precedes verb (OV) | 8 of 8 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Postpositions | 8 of 8 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Genitive-noun (GenN) | 8 of 8 |
Members
| Language | Branch | Basic order | Features coded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apalaí | Cariban | no dominant order | 41 |
| Carib | Cariban | SOV | 79 |
| Hixkaryana | Cariban | OVS | 128 |
| Macushi | Cariban | no dominant order | 64 |
| Tiriyo | Cariban | not coded | 25 |
Not listed: 15 further Cariban languages with fewer than 20 coded features.