Carib
Cariban family · South America
Carib is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
On Weight-Sensitive Stress, WALS codes Carib as “Combined: Both Right-edge and unbounded”, a value held by 8 of the 500 languages coded, Alamblak and Iraqw among them.
The closest grammar profile to Carib in the atlas belongs to Telugu, a Dravidian language: the two agree on 32 of the 40 features both have coded.
On Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection, WALS codes Carib as “Only inclusive differentiated”, a value held by 9 of the 200 languages coded, Mixtec (Chalcatongo) and Canela among them.
Contrast Carib with Telugu or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Carib, rarest first.
- Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingErgative alignment19 of 380
- Order of Person Markers on the VerbA and P are fused20 of 379
- Coding of EvidentialityPart of the tense system24 of 418
- Person Marking on AdpositionsPerson marking for pronouns and nouns23 of 378
- Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsLong vowel + Coda: long vowels or closed syllables35 of 500
Inside the Cariban family
Carib matches the most frequent Cariban value on 34 of the 49 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (69%). Among the 4 Cariban languages profiled here, that rate ranks second from the top.
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Carib; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Carib for 79 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 71 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Carib shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 16
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Lateral Consonants | No laterals | 95 of 567 |
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | Moderately low | 101 of 564 |
| Consonant Inventories | Moderately small | 122 of 563 |
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | Voicing contrast in plosives alone | 189 of 567 |
| Fixed Stress Locations | No fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress) | 220 of 502 |
| Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems | /p t k b d g/ | 255 of 567 |
| The Velar Nasal | No velar nasal | 235 of 469 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Average vowel inventory (5-6) | 287 of 564 |
| Syllable Structure | Moderately complex syllable structure | 274 of 486 |
| Tone | No tones | 307 of 527 |
| 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 |
| 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 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Reduplication | No productive reduplication | 55 of 368 |
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Approximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing | 147 of 969 |
| Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking | Subject person/number marking is syncretic | 60 of 198 |
| Case Syncretism | Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal | 123 of 198 |
Nouns and pronouns 13
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | 3rd person only, but also non-singular | 42 of 378 |
| Ordinal Numerals | One-th, two-th, three-th | 41 of 321 |
| Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes | Possessive prefixes | 255 of 902 |
| Asymmetrical Case-Marking | No morphological case-marking | 81 of 261 |
| Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns | Inclusive and exclusive differentiated | 63 of 200 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Neither case affixes nor adpositional clitics | 379 of 1,031 |
| Number of Cases | No morphological case-marking | 100 of 261 |
| Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns | Person-number stem | 114 of 261 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural suffix | 513 of 1,066 |
| 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 |
| Comitatives and Instrumentals | Differentiation | 213 of 322 |
Noun phrases 2
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Action Nominal Constructions | Ergative-Possessive | 21 of 168 |
| Noun Phrase Conjunction | WITH-languages: 'and' and 'with' are identical | 103 of 234 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 8
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Suppletion in Imperatives and Hortatives | Imperative | 29 of 193 |
| Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality | Both direct and indirect evidentials | 71 of 418 |
| Suppletion According to Tense and Aspect | Suppletion according to tense | 36 of 193 |
| 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 |
| Verbal Number and Suppletion | No singular-(dual)-plural pairs/triples | 159 of 193 |
| The Optative | Inflectional optative absent | 271 of 319 |
Word order 10
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause | Final subordinator word | 96 of 659 |
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN) | 373 of 1,367 |
| Order of Degree Word and Adjective | Degree word follows adjective (AdjDeg) | 192 of 481 |
| 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 Demonstrative and Noun | Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN) | 542 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 Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 1,192 of 1,496 |
Simple clauses 15
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard Negation | In finiteness: Subtype A/Fin | 40 of 297 |
| Polar Questions | Interrogative verb morphology | 164 of 955 |
| Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation | Asymmetric standard negation only: Type Asy | 53 of 297 |
| Predicative Possession | Conjunctional Possessive | 59 of 240 |
| Nominal and Locational Predication | Identical | 117 of 386 |
| Negative Morphemes | Negative affix | 395 of 1,157 |
| Predicative Adjectives | Predicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding | 132 of 386 |
| Passive Constructions | There is a passive construction | 162 of 373 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is possible | 175 of 386 |
| Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns | Neutral | 79 of 172 |
| Comparative Constructions | Locational Comparative | 78 of 167 |
| Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking | No zero realization of third person S forms | 181 of 380 |
| Verbal Person Marking | Person marking of both the A and P arguments | 193 of 378 |
| Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases | Neutral | 98 of 190 |
| Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions | Morphological type but no compound type | 254 of 310 |
Vocabulary 3
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Numeral Bases | Pure vigesimal | 20 of 196 |
| Hand and Arm | Identity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm' | 228 of 617 |
| Finger and Hand | Different | 521 of 593 |