Word Order Facts
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Goajiro

Arawakan family · Guajiro-Paraujano branch · South America

Goajiro 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.

The closest grammar profile to Goajiro in the atlas belongs to Indonesian, an Austronesian language: the two agree on 25 of the 42 features both have coded.

On Ordinal Numerals, WALS codes Goajiro as “First, two, three”, a value held by 12 of the 321 languages coded, Tukang Besi and Lango among them.

Goajiro: 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 follows verb (VO). 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: Prepositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.noungenitive55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Noun-genitive (NGen). 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 follows noun (NAdj). 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 precedes noun (NumN). Of 1,154 languages coded, 479 put the numeral before the noun and 608 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 Goajiro uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Goajiro with Indonesian or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Arawakan family

Goajiro matches the most frequent Arawakan value on 22 of the 36 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (61%). Among the 5 Arawakan languages profiled here, that rate ranks fourth from the top.

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Goajiro for 43 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 40 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Goajiro shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant InventoriesSmall89 of 563
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesNo voicing contrast182 of 567
Consonant-Vowel RatioAverage234 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 of 567
Vowel Quality InventoriesAverage vowel inventory (5-6)287 of 564
Glottalized ConsonantsNo glottalized consonants409 of 567
Presence of Uncommon ConsonantsNone449 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Absence of Common ConsonantsAll present503 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Word structure 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyModerate preference for suffixing123 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Definite ArticlesDemonstrative word used as marker of definiteness69 of 620
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive prefixes255 of 902
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Indefinite PronounsInterrogative-based indefinites194 of 326
Comitatives and InstrumentalsDifferentiation213 of 322

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Noun Phrase ConjunctionWITH-languages: 'and' and 'with' are identical103 of 234

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

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

Word order 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Subject and VerbSubject follows verb (VS)194 of 1,496
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at beginning of sentence129 of 884
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases obligatorily initial264 of 902
Order of Genitive and NounNoun-genitive (NGen)468 of 1,249
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word follows adjective (AdjDeg)192 of 481
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral precedes noun (NumN)479 of 1,154
Order of Object, Oblique, and VerbVerb-object-oblique (VOX)210 of 500
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePrepositions511 of 1,184
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word follows noun (NDem)562 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject follows verb (VO)705 of 1,518
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)879 of 1,367

Simple clauses 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Comparative ConstructionsParticle Comparative22 of 167
Predicative PossessionConjunctional Possessive59 of 240
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have verbal encoding151 of 386
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is possible175 of 386
Reciprocal ConstructionsDistinct from reflexive99 of 175
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Nominal and Locational PredicationDifferent269 of 386

Vocabulary 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Hand and ArmDifferent389 of 617
Numeral BasesDecimal125 of 196
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593