Word Order Facts
Menu

Cubeo

Tucanoan family · South America

Cubeo puts its words in object-verb-subject order (OVS), one of only 11 with that basic order among the 1,376 languages WALS codes for this feature.

On Absence of Common Consonants, WALS codes Cubeo as “No nasals”, a value held by 10 of the 567 languages coded, Pirahã and Epena Pedee among them.

The closest grammar profile to Cubeo in the atlas belongs to Kannada, a Dravidian language: the two agree on 25 of the 44 features both have coded.

Cubeo: order of head and dependent in 8 constructions← beforeafter →verbsubject80%13%Order of Subject and Verb: Subject follows verb (VS). 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.nounadjective27%64%Order of Adjective and Noun: Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN). Of 1,367 languages coded, 373 put the adjective before the noun and 879 after it.nounnumeral42%53%Order of Numeral and Noun: Numeral precedes noun (NumN). Of 1,154 languages coded, 479 put the numeral before the noun and 608 after it.nounrelative clause17%70%Order of Relative Clause and Noun: Relative clause follows noun (NRel). Of 824 languages coded, 141 put the relative clause before the noun and 579 after it.adjectivedegree worddegree wordno dominant order47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Both orders occur with neither order dominant. Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Cubeo uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Cubeo with Kannada or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Tucanoan family

Cubeo matches the most frequent Tucanoan value on 15 of the 17 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (88%).

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Cubeo for 48 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 43 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Cubeo shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 13

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant-Vowel RatioLow58 of 564
Weight-Sensitive StressUnbounded: Stress can be anywhere in the word54 of 500
Syllable StructureSimple syllable structure61 of 486
Consonant InventoriesSmall89 of 563
Lateral ConsonantsNo laterals95 of 567
ToneSimple tone system132 of 527
Rhythm TypesAbsent: no rhythmic stress98 of 323
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in plosives alone189 of 567
Fixed Stress LocationsNo fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress)220 of 502
Vowel Quality InventoriesAverage vowel inventory (5-6)287 of 564
Glottalized ConsonantsNo glottalized consonants409 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Word structure 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsGender distinctions in 3rd person singular only61 of 378
Third Person Pronouns and DemonstrativesRelated for all demonstratives52 of 225
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesNo possessive affixes260 of 902
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Intensifiers and Reflexive PronounsIntensifiers and reflexive pronouns are formally differentiated74 of 168
Distance Contrasts in DemonstrativesTwo-way contrast126 of 234
Person Marking on AdpositionsAdpositions without person marking209 of 378
Pronominal and Adnominal DemonstrativesSame forms143 of 201

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131

Word order 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveBoth orders occur with neither order dominant62 of 481
Order of Subject and VerbSubject follows verb (VS)194 of 1,496
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)373 of 1,367
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases obligatorily initial264 of 902
Position of Polar Question ParticlesNo question particle355 of 884
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral precedes noun (NumN)479 of 1,154
Order of Object and VerbObject precedes verb (OV)712 of 1,518
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
Order of Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause follows noun (NRel)579 of 824

Simple clauses 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Polar QuestionsInterrogative verb morphology164 of 955
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of only the A argument73 of 378
Negative MorphemesNegative affix395 of 1,157
Passive ConstructionsThere is a passive construction162 of 373
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingNo zero realization of third person S forms181 of 380
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA and P do not or do not both occur on the verb187 of 379
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingAccusative alignment212 of 380
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs437 of 711

Vocabulary 2

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