Canela

Macro-Ge family · Je Setentrional branch · South America

Canela is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

On Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns, WALS codes Canela as “None”, a value held by 3 of the 172 languages coded, the others being Wari' and Wichita.

On Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns, WALS codes Canela as “Only inclusive differentiated”, a value held by 5 of the 200 languages coded, Mixtec (Chalcatongo) and Imonda among them.

The closest grammar profile to Canela in the atlas belongs to Urubú-Kaapor, a Tupian language: the two agree on 53 of the 83 features both have coded.

The order Canela uses in 7 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Canela with Urubú-Kaapor or with any other language

Uncommon values

Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Canela, rarest first.

Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsNumber-indifferent pronouns9 of 261
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal InflectionOnly inclusive differentiated9 of 200
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingErgative alignment19 of 380
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of only the P argument24 of 378
Order of Relative Clause and NounMixed types of relative clause with none dominant64 of 824
Verbal Number and SuppletionSingular-plural pairs, suppletion15 of 193
Coding of Nominal PluralityNo plural98 of 1,066
Order of Object, Oblique, and VerbOblique-object-verb (XOV)48 of 500

Inside the Macro-Ge family

Canela matches the most frequent Macro-Ge value on 26 of the 31 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (84%).

Closest profiles

Languages that share the most coded values with Canela; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.

Dumo Skou29 of 45
Kobon Trans-New Guinea59 of 99
Imonda Border58 of 99
Hatam Hatim-Mansim32 of 52

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Canela for 115 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 104 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Canela shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 17

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Fixed Stress Locations	Ultimate: stress is on the ultimate (last) syllable	51 of 502
Consonant-Vowel Ratio	Low	58 of 564
Consonant Inventories	Small	89 of 563
Syllable Structure	Complex syllable structure	151 of 486
The Velar Nasal	Velar nasal, also initially	147 of 469
Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives	No voicing contrast	182 of 567
Vowel Quality Inventories	Large vowel inventory (7-14)	184 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems	Other	242 of 567
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress Systems	No weight, or weight factor unknown	261 of 500
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
Presence of Uncommon Consonants	None	449 of 567
Uvular Consonants	No uvulars	470 of 567
Absence of Common Consonants	All present	503 of 567
Front Rounded Vowels	None	525 of 562

Word structure 12

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology	Little or no inflectional morphology	141 of 969
Locus of Marking in the Clause	P is head-marked	71 of 236
Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking	Subject person/number marking is syncretic	60 of 198
Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb	4-5 categories per word	52 of 145
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun Phrases	Possessor is dependent-marked	98 of 236
Exponence of Selected Inflectional Formatives	No case	75 of 162
Locus of Marking: Whole-language Typology	Inconsistent marking or other type	121 of 236
Case Syncretism	Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal	123 of 198
Reduplication	Productive full and partial reduplication	278 of 368
Fusion of Selected Inflectional Formatives	Exclusively concatenative	125 of 165
Exponence of Tense-Aspect-Mood Inflection	monoexponential TAM	127 of 160
Zero Marking of A and P Arguments	Non-zero marking	219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 19

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Ordinal Numerals	Zero: Ordinal numerals do not exist	33 of 321
Person Marking on Adpositions	Person marking for pronouns only	83 of 378
Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes	Possessive prefixes	255 of 902
Asymmetrical Case-Marking	No morphological case-marking	81 of 261
Definite Articles	Neither definite nor indefinite article	198 of 620
Position of Case Affixes	Neither case affixes nor adpositional clitics	379 of 1,031
Indefinite Articles	Neither indefinite nor definite	198 of 534
Number of Cases	No morphological case-marking	100 of 261
Intensifiers and Reflexive Pronouns	Intensifiers and reflexive pronouns are formally differentiated	74 of 168
Third Person Pronouns and Demonstratives	Unrelated	100 of 225
Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives	Two-way contrast	126 of 234
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
Numeral Classifiers	Numeral classifiers are absent	260 of 400
Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns	Second person pronouns encode no politeness distinction	136 of 207
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns	No gender distinctions	254 of 378
Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives	Same forms	143 of 201

Noun phrases 6

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Action Nominal Constructions	Sentential	25 of 168
Obligatory Possessive Inflection	Obligatorily possessed nouns exist	43 of 244
Nominal and Verbal Conjunction	Nominal and verbal conjunction are different	125 of 301
Noun Phrase Conjunction	WITH-languages: 'and' and 'with' are identical	103 of 234
Possessive Classification	No possessive classification	125 of 243
Number of Possessive Nouns	None reported	233 of 243

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 13

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes	No tense-aspect inflection	152 of 1,131
The Morphological Imperative	Second person number-neutral	89 of 548
The Past Tense	Present, 2-3 remoteness distinctions	38 of 222
The Prohibitive	Normal imperative + normal negative	113 of 496
Epistemic Possibility	Other	91 of 240
Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality	No grammatical evidentials	181 of 418
Coding of Evidentiality	No grammatical evidentials	181 of 418
The Future Tense	No inflectional marking of future/non-future distinction	112 of 222
The Perfect	No perfect	114 of 222
Imperative-Hortative Systems	The language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system	201 of 375
Perfective/Imperfective Aspect	No grammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction	121 of 222
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

Word order 8

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Position of Polar Question Particles	Question particle at beginning of sentence	129 of 884
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions	Interrogative phrases obligatorily initial	264 of 902
Order of Demonstrative and Noun	Demonstrative word follows noun (NDem)	562 of 1,225
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
Order of Adjective and Noun	Modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)	879 of 1,367
Order of Subject and Verb	Subject precedes verb (SV)	1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 17

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Antipassive Constructions	Oblique patient	30 of 194
Predicative Possession	Locational Possessive	48 of 240
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation	Symmetric standard negation only: Type Sym	114 of 297
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard Negation	Non-assignable (no asymmetry found)	114 of 297
Predicative Adjectives	Predicative adjectives have verbal encoding	151 of 386
Negative Morphemes	Negative particle	502 of 1,157
Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals	Zero copula is possible	175 of 386
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking	No zero realization of third person S forms	181 of 380
Order of Person Markers on the Verb	A and P do not or do not both occur on the verb	187 of 379
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'	Indirect-object construction	189 of 378
Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases	Neutral	98 of 190
Applicative Constructions	No applicative construction	100 of 183
Other Roles of Applied Objects	No applicative construction	100 of 183
Passive Constructions	There is no passive construction	211 of 373
Polar Questions	Question particle	585 of 955
Nominal and Locational Predication	Different	269 of 386
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate Negation	Negative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation	170 of 206

Complex sentences 6

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Relativization on Obliques	Non-Reduction Strategy	14 of 112
Relativization on Subjects	Non-reduction	24 of 166
'When' Clauses	Balanced	84 of 174
'Want' Complement Subjects	The complement subject is left implicit	144 of 283
Reason Clauses	Balanced	90 of 169
Utterance Complement Clauses	Balanced	114 of 143

Vocabulary 6

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
M in First Person Singular	m in first person singular	53 of 230
Hand and Arm	Different	389 of 617
M in Second Person Singular	No m in second person singular	152 of 230
N-M Pronouns	No N-M pronouns	194 of 230
M-T Pronouns	No M-T pronouns	200 of 230
Finger and Hand	Different	521 of 593