Gaelic (Scots)
Indo-European family · Celtic branch · Eurasia
Gaelic (Scots) puts its words in verb-subject-object order (VSO), one of only 95 with that basic order among the 1,376 languages WALS codes for this feature.
On Position of Case Affixes, WALS codes Gaelic (Scots) as “Mixed morphological case strategies with none primary”, a value held by 9 of the 1,031 languages coded, Irish and Swahili among them.
Within the Celtic branch, all 4 other languages coded for Polar Questions have the value “Question particle”; Gaelic (Scots) has “Interrogative verb morphology”.
Contrast Gaelic (Scots) with Spanish or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Gaelic (Scots), rarest first.
- Coding of Nominal PluralityMorphological plural with no method primary60 of 1,066
Inside the Indo-European family
Gaelic (Scots) matches the most frequent Indo-European value on 26 of the 47 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (55%). Among the 39 Indo-European languages profiled here, that rate ranks 37th from the top.
| Feature | Gaelic (Scots) | Most relatives |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Polar Question Particles | No question particle | Question particle at beginning of sentence (4 of 4, Celtic branch) |
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Gaelic (Scots); the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Gaelic (Scots) for 47 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 42 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Gaelic (Scots) shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm Types | Undetermined: no clear foot type | 37 of 323 |
| Fixed Stress Locations | Initial: stress is on the first syllable | 92 of 502 |
| 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 |
Word structure 2
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Moderate preference for suffixing | 123 of 969 |
| Reduplication | No productive reduplication | 55 of 368 |
Nouns and pronouns 7
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Indefinite Articles | No indefinite article but definite article | 98 of 534 |
| Number of Genders | Two | 50 of 257 |
| Systems of Gender Assignment | Semantic and formal assignment | 59 of 257 |
| Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns | Second person pronouns encode a binary politeness distinction | 49 of 207 |
| Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems | Sex-based gender system | 84 of 257 |
| Ordinal Numerals | First, two-th, three-th | 110 of 321 |
| Definite Articles | Definite word distinct from demonstrative | 216 of 620 |
Noun phrases 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Noun Phrase Conjunction | AND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical | 131 of 234 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Combination of tense-aspect strategies with none primary | 146 of 1,131 |
Word order 12
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject follows verb (VS) | 194 of 1,496 |
| Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions | Interrogative phrases obligatorily initial | 264 of 902 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Noun-genitive (NGen) | 468 of 1,249 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 479 of 1,154 |
| Order of Object, Oblique, and Verb | Verb-object-oblique (VOX) | 210 of 500 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Prepositions | 511 of 1,184 |
| Order of Demonstrative and Noun | Demonstrative word follows noun (NDem) | 562 of 1,225 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object follows verb (VO) | 705 of 1,518 |
| Order of Degree Word and Adjective | Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj) | 227 of 481 |
| Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause | Initial subordinator word | 398 of 659 |
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj) | 879 of 1,367 |
| Order of Relative Clause and Noun | Relative clause follows noun (NRel) | 579 of 824 |
Simple clauses 11
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Expression of Pronominal Subjects | Obligatory pronouns in subject position | 82 of 711 |
| Comparative Constructions | Particle Comparative | 22 of 167 |
| Predicative Possession | Locational Possessive | 48 of 240 |
| Predicative Adjectives | Predicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding | 132 of 386 |
| Negative Morphemes | Negative particle | 502 of 1,157 |
| Applicative Constructions | No applicative construction | 100 of 183 |
| Other Roles of Applied Objects | No applicative construction | 100 of 183 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is impossible | 211 of 386 |
| Nominal and Locational Predication | Different | 269 of 386 |
| Antipassive Constructions | No antipassive | 146 of 194 |
| Productivity of the Antipassive Construction | no antipassive | 146 of 186 |
Complex sentences 2
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Relativization on Obliques | Pronoun-Retention Strategy | 20 of 112 |
| Relativization on Subjects | Gap | 125 of 166 |
Vocabulary 2
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Hand and Arm | Different | 389 of 617 |
| Finger and Hand | Different | 521 of 593 |