The Dravidian languages
Language family · Eurasia
WALS includes 23 Dravidian languages in 1 branch; all of them are in Eurasia.
All 11 members coded for basic word order are subject-object-verb (SOV).
The most solid shared trait: all 11 members coded for Order of Subject, Object and Verb have subject-object-verb (SOV).
Of these, 5 have a full page on this site.
Word order against the world
Members with at least 30 coded features, compared with every language WALS codes for each pairing.
dependent before the headboth or otherafter the head
- Subject and verbDravidian100% · none of 6All WALS80% · 13% of 1,496
- Object and verbDravidian100% · none of 6All WALS47% · 46% of 1,518
- Noun phrase and adpositionDravidian100% · none of 5All WALS49% · 43% of 1,184
- Genitive and nounDravidian100% · none of 6All WALS55% · 37% of 1,249
- Adjective and nounDravidian100% · none of 7All WALS27% · 64% of 1,367
- Demonstrative and nounDravidian100% · none of 7All WALS45% · 48% of 1,225
- Numeral and nounDravidian100% · none of 6All WALS42% · 53% of 1,154
- Relative clause and nounDravidian71% · 14% of 7All WALS17% · 70% of 824
Shared and split traits
| Feature | Most frequent value | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Subject, Object and Verb | Subject-object-verb (SOV) | 11 of 11 |
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 11 of 11 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object precedes verb (OV) | 11 of 11 |
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN) | 11 of 11 |
| Order of Demonstrative and Noun | Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN) | 11 of 11 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural suffix | 10 of 10 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Case suffixes | 10 of 10 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 10 of 10 |
| Feature | Largest group | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Occurrence of Nominal Plurality | Plural in all nouns, always obligatory | 4 of 8 |
| Situational Possibility | Verbal constructions | 5 of 8 |
| Comitatives and Instrumentals | Differentiation | 6 of 8 |
| Order of Relative Clause and Noun | Relative clause precedes noun (RelN) | 6 of 8 |
| Negative Morphemes | Negative affix | 9 of 10 |
Members
| Language | Branch | Basic order | Features coded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brahui | Dravidian | not coded | 98 |
| Gondi | Dravidian | not coded | 21 |
| Kannada | Dravidian | SOV | 130 |
| Kolami | Dravidian | SOV | 33 |
| Koya | Dravidian | SOV | 34 |
| Kuvi | Dravidian | not coded | 22 |
| Malayalam | Dravidian | SOV | 55 |
| Tamil | Dravidian | SOV | 69 |
| Telugu | Dravidian | SOV | 50 |
| Tulu | Dravidian | not coded | 27 |
Not listed: 13 further Dravidian languages with fewer than 20 coded features.