The Oto-Manguean languages
Language family · North America
WALS includes 56 Oto-Manguean languages in 12 branches; all of them are in North America.
Basic word order: VSO in 15 of the 20 members coded, then SVO in 2, VOS in 2, no dominant order in 1.
The most solid shared trait: all 21 members coded for Finger and Hand have different.
Of these, 4 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 verbOto-Mangueannone · 100% of 9All WALS80% · 13% of 1,496
- Object and verbOto-Mangueannone · 100% of 9All WALS47% · 46% of 1,518
- Noun phrase and adpositionOto-Mangueannone · 100% of 9All WALS49% · 43% of 1,184
- Genitive and nounOto-Mangueannone · 100% of 9All WALS55% · 37% of 1,249
- Adjective and nounOto-Manguean11% · 89% of 9All WALS27% · 64% of 1,367
- Demonstrative and nounOto-Manguean11% · 78% of 9All WALS45% · 48% of 1,225
- Numeral and nounOto-Manguean100% · none of 9All WALS42% · 53% of 1,154
- Relative clause and nounOto-Mangueannone · 100% of 9All WALS17% · 70% of 824
- Degree word and adjectiveOto-Manguean38% · 25% of 8All WALS47% · 40% of 481
Shared and split traits
| Feature | Most frequent value | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Finger and Hand | Different | 21 of 21 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Prepositions | 20 of 20 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 20 of 20 |
| Order of Relative Clause and Noun | Relative clause follows noun (NRel) | 15 of 15 |
| Absence of Common Consonants | All present | 10 of 10 |
| Uvular Consonants | No uvulars | 10 of 10 |
| Lateral Consonants | /l/, no obstruent laterals | 10 of 10 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object follows verb (VO) | 21 of 22 |
| Feature | Largest group | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | Voicing contrast in plosives alone | 3 of 10 |
| Definite Articles | Neither definite nor indefinite article | 3 of 8 |
| The Morphological Imperative | Second singular and second plural | 3 of 8 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural word | 7 of 17 |
| Ordinal Numerals | First, two-th, three-th | 4 of 9 |
Members
| Language | Branch | Basic order | Features coded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chatino (Sierra Occidental) | Zapotecan | VSO | 37 |
| Chatino (Yaitepec) | Zapotecan | not coded | 20 |
| Chinantec (Comaltepec) | Chinantecan | VSO | 31 |
| Chinantec (Lealao) | Chinantecan | VOS | 92 |
| Chinantec (Palantla) | Chinantecan | not coded | 25 |
| Chinantec (Quiotepec) | Chinantecan | VSO | 33 |
| Mazatec (Chiquihuitlán) | Popolocan | not coded | 27 |
| Mixtec (Chalcatongo) | Mixtec | VSO | 118 |
| Mixtec (Ocotepec) | Mixtec | not coded | 23 |
| Mixtec (Peñoles) | Mixtec | VSO | 32 |
| Ocuilteco | Matlatzincan | not coded | 22 |
| Otomí (Mezquital) | Otomian | VOS | 95 |
| Tlapanec | Subtiaba-Tlapanec | VSO | 40 |
| Trique (Copala) | Trique | VSO | 30 |
| Zapotec (Isthmus) | Zapotecan | not coded | 29 |
| Zapotec (Mitla) | Zapotecan | not coded | 24 |
Not listed: 40 further Oto-Manguean languages with fewer than 20 coded features.