Word Order Facts
Menu

Choctaw

Muskogean family · North America

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

On Order of Adjective and Noun, WALS codes Choctaw as “Only internally-headed relative clauses”, a value held by 5 of the 1,367 languages coded, Kutenai and Diegueño (Mesa Grande) among them.

On Productivity of the Antipassive Construction, WALS codes Choctaw as “not productive”, a value held by 2 of the 186 languages coded, the other being Lavukaleve.

The closest grammar profile to Choctaw in the atlas belongs to Abkhaz, a Northwest Caucasian language: the two agree on 27 of the 41 features both have coded.

Choctaw: order of head and dependent in 9 constructions← beforeafter →verbsubject80%13%Order of Subject and Verb: Subject precedes verb (SV). Of 1,496 languages coded, 1,192 put the subject before the verb and 194 after it.verbobject47%46%Order of Object and Verb: Object precedes verb (OV). Of 1,518 languages coded, 712 put the object before the verb and 705 after it.adpositionnoun phrase49%43%Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase: Postpositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.noungenitive55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Genitive-noun (GenN). Of 1,249 languages coded, 685 put the genitive before the noun and 468 after it.nounOnly internally-headed relative clauses27%64%Order of Adjective and Noun: Only internally-headed relative clauses. Of 1,367 languages coded, 373 put the adjective before the noun and 879 after it.noundemonstrative45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Demonstrative word follows noun (NDem). Of 1,225 languages coded, 551 put the demonstrative before the noun and 590 after it.nounnumeral42%53%Order of Numeral and Noun: Numeral follows noun (NNum). Of 1,154 languages coded, 479 put the numeral before the noun and 608 after it.nounInternally headed17%70%Order of Relative Clause and Noun: Internally-headed relative clause. Of 824 languages coded, 141 put the relative clause before the noun and 579 after it.adjectivedegree word47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Degree word follows adjective (AdjDeg). Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Choctaw uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Choctaw with Abkhaz or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Muskogean family

Choctaw matches the most frequent Muskogean value on 8 of the 10 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (80%).

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Choctaw for 42 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 33 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Choctaw shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Weight-Sensitive StressUnbounded: Stress can be anywhere in the word54 of 500
Fixed Stress LocationsNo fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress)220 of 502
The Velar NasalNo velar nasal235 of 469

Word structure 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyApproximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing147 of 969
ReduplicationProductive full and partial reduplication278 of 368

Nouns and pronouns 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Case AffixesPostpositional clitics123 of 1,031
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive prefixes255 of 902
Numeral ClassifiersNumeral classifiers are absent260 of 400

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Noun Phrase ConjunctionAND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical131 of 234

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Coding of EvidentialityVerbal affix or clitic131 of 418
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityOnly indirect evidentials166 of 418
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131

Word order 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at end of sentence314 of 884
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word follows adjective (AdjDeg)192 of 481
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word follows noun (NDem)562 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject precedes verb (OV)712 of 1,518
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral follows noun (NNum)608 of 1,154
Order of Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases not obligatorily initial615 of 902
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Antipassive ConstructionsOblique patient30 of 194
Predicative PossessionTopic Possessive48 of 240
Negative MorphemesNegative affix395 of 1,157
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have verbal encoding151 of 386
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'Indirect-object construction189 of 378
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is impossible211 of 386
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs437 of 711
Nominal and Locational PredicationDifferent269 of 386
Nonperiphrastic Causative ConstructionsMorphological type but no compound type254 of 310

Vocabulary 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Hand and ArmDifferent389 of 617
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593