The Hokan languages
Language family · North America
WALS includes 26 Hokan languages in 12 branches; all of them are in North America.
Basic word order: SOV in 8 of the 13 members coded, then no dominant order in 3, SVO in 2.
The most solid shared trait: all 8 members coded for Front Rounded Vowels have none.
Of these, 6 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 verbHokan90% · 10% of 10All WALS80% · 13% of 1,496
- Object and verbHokan70% · 20% of 10All WALS47% · 46% of 1,518
- Noun phrase and adpositionHokan78% · 22% of 9All WALS49% · 43% of 1,184
- Genitive and nounHokan89% · 11% of 9All WALS55% · 37% of 1,249
- Adjective and nounHokannone · 43% of 7All WALS27% · 64% of 1,367
- Demonstrative and nounHokan38% · 50% of 8All WALS45% · 48% of 1,225
- Numeral and nounHokan43% · 57% of 7All WALS42% · 53% of 1,154
- Relative clause and nounHokannone · none of 5All WALS17% · 70% of 824
Shared and split traits
| Feature | Most frequent value | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Front Rounded Vowels | None | 8 of 8 |
| M-T Pronouns | No M-T pronouns | 8 of 8 |
| M in First Person Singular | No m in first person singular | 8 of 8 |
| M in Second Person Singular | m in second person singular | 8 of 8 |
| Absence of Common Consonants | All present | 8 of 8 |
| Expression of Pronominal Subjects | Pronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs | 7 of 8 |
| Presence of Uncommon Consonants | None | 7 of 8 |
| Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes | Possessive prefixes | 9 of 11 |
| Feature | Largest group | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Negative Morphemes | Double negation | 4 of 13 |
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Approximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing | 4 of 12 |
| Order of Demonstrative and Noun | Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN) | 4 of 11 |
| Weight-Sensitive Stress | Unbounded: Stress can be anywhere in the word | 3 of 8 |
| Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress Systems | No weight, or weight factor unknown | 3 of 8 |
Members
| Language | Branch | Basic order | Features coded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Achumawi | Achumawi | SVO | 36 |
| Chimariko | Chimariko | not coded | 34 |
| Cocopa | Yuman | not coded | 36 |
| Diegueño (Mesa Grande) | Yuman | SOV | 60 |
| Hualapai | Yuman | not coded | 21 |
| Karok | Karok | no dominant order | 102 |
| Maricopa | Yuman | SOV | 117 |
| Pomo (Eastern) | Pomoan | SOV | 32 |
| Pomo (Southeastern) | Pomoan | SOV | 73 |
| Salinan | Salinan | SVO | 40 |
| Seri | Seri | SOV | 34 |
| Shasta | Shasta | not coded | 25 |
| Tiipay (Jamul) | Yuman | SOV | 43 |
Not listed: 13 further Hokan languages with fewer than 20 coded features.