Cahuilla
Uto-Aztecan family · Northern Uto-Aztecan branch · North America
Cahuilla is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
The closest grammar profile to Cahuilla in the atlas belongs to Jaqaru, an Aymaran language: the two agree on 31 of the 45 features both have coded.
On Consonant-Vowel Ratio, 7 of 8 other Uto-Aztecan languages coded have the value “Average”; Cahuilla has “Moderately high”.
On Number of Cases, WALS codes Cahuilla as “5 case categories”, a value held by 12 of the 261 languages coded, Ngiyambaa and Imonda among them.
Contrast Cahuilla with Jaqaru or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Cahuilla, rarest first.
- Utterance Complement ClausesDeranked11 of 143
- Verbal Number and SuppletionSingular-plural pairs, suppletion15 of 193
- Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsCombined: two of the above factors determine weight42 of 500
- Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson-number stem with a nominal plural affix22 of 261
- Uvular ConsonantsUvular stops and continuants48 of 567
- Antipassive ConstructionsAntipassive with patient-like argument left implicit18 of 194
- Other Roles of Applied ObjectsLocative18 of 183
Inside the Uto-Aztecan family
Cahuilla matches the most frequent Uto-Aztecan value on 55 of the 84 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (65%). Among the 11 Uto-Aztecan languages profiled here, that rate ranks fourth from the top.
| Feature | Cahuilla | Most relatives |
|---|---|---|
| Passive Constructions | There is no passive construction | There is a passive construction (7 of 7) |
| Finger and Hand | Identical | Different (9 of 9, Northern Uto-Aztecan branch) |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Small vowel inventory (2-4) | Average vowel inventory (5-6) (4 of 4, Northern Uto-Aztecan branch) |
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Cahuilla; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Cahuilla for 91 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 78 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Cahuilla shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 15
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed Stress Locations | Initial: stress is on the first syllable | 92 of 502 |
| The Velar Nasal | Velar nasal, but not initially | 87 of 469 |
| Syllable Structure | Complex syllable structure | 151 of 486 |
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | No voicing contrast | 182 of 567 |
| Consonant Inventories | Average | 201 of 563 |
| Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems | Other | 242 of 567 |
| Rhythm Types | Trochaic: left-hand syllable in the foot is strong | 153 of 323 |
| Weight-Sensitive Stress | Fixed stress (no weight-sensitivity) | 281 of 500 |
| Tone | No tones | 307 of 527 |
| Lateral Consonants | /l/, no obstruent laterals | 388 of 567 |
| Glottalized Consonants | No glottalized consonants | 409 of 567 |
| Vowel Nasalization | Contrastive nasal vowels absent | 180 of 244 |
| Presence of Uncommon Consonants | None | 449 of 567 |
| Absence of Common Consonants | All present | 503 of 567 |
| Front Rounded Vowels | None | 525 of 562 |
Word structure 6
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Approximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing | 147 of 969 |
| Case Syncretism | Inflectional case marking is never syncretic | 35 of 198 |
| Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking | Subject person/number marking is never syncretic | 81 of 198 |
| Exponence of Selected Inflectional Formatives | Monoexponential case | 71 of 162 |
| Reduplication | Productive full and partial reduplication | 278 of 368 |
| Fusion of Selected Inflectional Formatives | Exclusively concatenative | 125 of 165 |
Nouns and pronouns 14
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinal Numerals | First/one-th, two-th, three-th | 54 of 321 |
| Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes | Possessive prefixes | 255 of 902 |
| Asymmetrical Case-Marking | Symmetrical case-marking | 79 of 261 |
| Distributive Numerals | Marked by reduplication | 85 of 251 |
| Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection | No inclusive/exclusive opposition | 79 of 200 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Case suffixes | 452 of 1,031 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural suffix | 513 of 1,066 |
| Person Marking on Adpositions | Adpositions without person marking | 209 of 378 |
| Number of Genders | None | 145 of 257 |
| Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems | No gender system | 145 of 257 |
| Systems of Gender Assignment | No gender system | 145 of 257 |
| Indefinite Pronouns | Interrogative-based indefinites | 194 of 326 |
| Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns | No inclusive/exclusive opposition | 120 of 200 |
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | No gender distinctions | 254 of 378 |
Noun phrases 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal and Verbal Conjunction | Nominal and verbal conjunction are largely identical | 161 of 301 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 10
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| The Prohibitive | Special imperative + normal negative | 55 of 496 |
| Coding of Evidentiality | Verbal affix or clitic | 131 of 418 |
| Epistemic Possibility | Other | 91 of 240 |
| Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality | Only indirect evidentials | 166 of 418 |
| The Morphological Imperative | Second singular and second plural | 292 of 548 |
| Imperative-Hortative Systems | The language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system | 201 of 375 |
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Tense-aspect suffixes | 667 of 1,131 |
| Suppletion According to Tense and Aspect | No suppletion in tense or aspect | 123 of 193 |
| Suppletion in Imperatives and Hortatives | None (= no suppletive imperatives reported in the reference material) | 153 of 193 |
| The Optative | Inflectional optative absent | 271 of 319 |
Word order 8
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN) | 373 of 1,367 |
| Position of Polar Question Particles | No question particle | 355 of 884 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object precedes verb (OV) | 712 of 1,518 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Postpositions | 577 of 1,184 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Genitive-noun (GenN) | 685 of 1,249 |
| 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 16
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking | Zero realization of all third person singular S forms | 45 of 380 |
| Productivity of the Antipassive Construction | productive | 24 of 186 |
| Order of Person Markers on the Verb | P precedes A | 57 of 379 |
| Polar Questions | Interrogative intonation only | 173 of 955 |
| Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases | Nominative - accusative (standard) | 46 of 190 |
| Reciprocal Constructions | Identical to reflexive | 44 of 175 |
| Predicative Adjectives | Predicative adjectives have mixed encoding | 103 of 386 |
| Applicative Constructions | Benefactive and other; both bases | 49 of 183 |
| Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns | Nominative - accusative (standard) | 61 of 172 |
| Negative Morphemes | Negative particle | 502 of 1,157 |
| Verbal Person Marking | Person marking of both the A and P arguments | 193 of 378 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is impossible | 211 of 386 |
| Alignment of Verbal Person Marking | Accusative alignment | 212 of 380 |
| Expression of Pronominal Subjects | Pronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs | 437 of 711 |
| Nominal and Locational Predication | Different | 269 of 386 |
| Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions | Morphological type but no compound type | 254 of 310 |
Complex sentences 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Relativization on Subjects | Non-reduction | 24 of 166 |
| Reason Clauses | Balanced/deranked | 37 of 169 |
| 'When' Clauses | Balanced | 84 of 174 |
| Purpose Clauses | Deranked | 102 of 170 |
Vocabulary 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Hand and Arm | Identity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm' | 228 of 617 |
| Green and Blue | Green-or-blue ('grue') | 68 of 120 |
| Numeral Bases | Decimal | 125 of 196 |
| Red and Yellow | Red and yellow | 98 of 120 |