Arabic (Gulf)
Afro-Asiatic family · Semitic branch · Eurasia
Arabic (Gulf) is an SVO language, like 488 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
On Coding of Evidentiality, 7 of 8 other Afro-Asiatic languages coded have the value “No grammatical evidentials”; Arabic (Gulf) has “Verbal affix or clitic”.
Of its word-order pairings, the one Arabic (Gulf) shares with the fewest languages is Order of Demonstrative and Noun: “Two or more of above types with none dominant”, the value of 67 of the 1,225 languages coded.
The least common value coded for Arabic (Gulf) is “Morphological plural with no method primary” on Coding of Nominal Plurality, held by 60 of the 1,066 languages coded.
Its closest grammar profile in the atlas is that of Arabic (Egyptian): the two agree on 29 of the 41 features both have coded.
Contrast Arabic (Gulf) with Arabic (Egyptian) or with any other language
Inside the Afro-Asiatic family
Arabic (Gulf) matches the most frequent Afro-Asiatic value on 29 of the 47 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (62%). Among the 24 Afro-Asiatic languages profiled here, that rate ranks 16th from the top.
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Arabic (Gulf); the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Arabic (Gulf) for 47 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 43 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Arabic (Gulf) shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 3
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Weight-Sensitive Stress | Right-edge: Stress on ultimate or penultimate syllable | 65 of 500 |
| Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress Systems | Long vowel: long vowels are heavy for stress | 65 of 500 |
| Fixed Stress Locations | No fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress) | 220 of 502 |
Word structure 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Moderate preference for suffixing | 123 of 969 |
Nouns and pronouns 12
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Definite Articles | Definite affix on noun | 92 of 620 |
| Indefinite Articles | No indefinite article but definite article | 98 of 534 |
| Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives | Different stems | 37 of 201 |
| Number of Genders | Two | 50 of 257 |
| Systems of Gender Assignment | Semantic and formal assignment | 59 of 257 |
| Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems | Sex-based gender system | 84 of 257 |
| Ordinal Numerals | First, two-th, three-th | 110 of 321 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Neither case affixes nor adpositional clitics | 379 of 1,031 |
| Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes | Possessive suffixes | 355 of 902 |
| Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives | Two-way contrast | 126 of 234 |
| Intensifiers and Reflexive Pronouns | Intensifiers and reflexive pronouns are formally identical | 94 of 168 |
| Comitatives and Instrumentals | Differentiation | 213 of 322 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 7
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Combination of tense-aspect strategies with none primary | 146 of 1,131 |
| Epistemic Possibility | Verbal constructions | 65 of 240 |
| Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking | Overlap for either possibility or necessity | 66 of 207 |
| The Prohibitive | Normal imperative + special negative | 182 of 496 |
| Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality | Only indirect evidentials | 166 of 418 |
| The Morphological Imperative | Second singular and second plural | 292 of 548 |
| Situational Possibility | Verbal constructions | 158 of 234 |
Word order 12
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Noun-genitive (NGen) | 468 of 1,249 |
| Position of Polar Question Particles | No question particle | 355 of 884 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 479 of 1,154 |
| Order of Object, Oblique, and Verb | Verb-object-oblique (VOX) | 210 of 500 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Prepositions | 511 of 1,184 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object follows verb (VO) | 705 of 1,518 |
| Order of Degree Word and Adjective | Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj) | 227 of 481 |
| Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause | Initial subordinator word | 398 of 659 |
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj) | 879 of 1,367 |
| Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions | Interrogative phrases not obligatorily initial | 615 of 902 |
| Order of Relative Clause and Noun | Relative clause follows noun (NRel) | 579 of 824 |
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 1,192 of 1,496 |
Simple clauses 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Polar Questions | Interrogative intonation only | 173 of 955 |
| Negative Morphemes | Negative particle | 502 of 1,157 |
| Comparative Constructions | Locational Comparative | 78 of 167 |
| Expression of Pronominal Subjects | Pronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs | 437 of 711 |
Complex sentences 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Utterance Complement Clauses | Balanced/deranked | 18 of 143 |
| Purpose Clauses | Balanced/deranked | 30 of 170 |
| Reason Clauses | Balanced/deranked | 37 of 169 |
| 'When' Clauses | Balanced/deranked | 39 of 174 |