Word Order Facts
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Hopi

Uto-Aztecan family · Northern Uto-Aztecan branch · North America

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

On Front Rounded Vowels, WALS codes Hopi as “Mid only”, a value held by 6 of the 562 languages coded, Yukaghir (Kolyma) and Lepcha among them.

On Rhythm Types, 6 of 7 other Uto-Aztecan languages coded have the value “Trochaic: left-hand syllable in the foot is strong”; Hopi has “Undetermined: no clear foot type”.

On Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes, WALS codes Hopi as “Prefixes and suffixes”, a value held by 32 of the 902 languages coded, Paumarí and Trumai among them.

Hopi: order of head and dependent in 8 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.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.noundemonstrative45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN). 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 precedes adjective (DegAdj). Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Hopi uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Hopi with Yaqui or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Uto-Aztecan family

Hopi matches the most frequent Uto-Aztecan value on 29 of the 47 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (62%). Among the 11 Uto-Aztecan languages profiled here, that rate ranks sixth from the top.

Where Hopi breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
FeatureHopiMost relatives
Suppletion in Imperatives and HortativesImperativeNone (= no suppletive imperatives reported in the reference material) (6 of 7)
ToneSimple tone systemNo tones (4 of 4, Northern Uto-Aztecan branch)

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Hopi for 47 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 36 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Hopi shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Lateral ConsonantsNo laterals95 of 567
Syllable StructureComplex syllable structure151 of 486
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesNo voicing contrast182 of 567
Consonant InventoriesAverage201 of 563
Consonant-Vowel RatioAverage234 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 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
Presence of Uncommon ConsonantsNone449 of 567
Absence of Common ConsonantsAll present503 of 567

Word structure 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969
ReduplicationProductive full and partial reduplication278 of 368

Nouns and pronouns 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Ordinal NumeralsOne-th, two-th, three-th41 of 321
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Coding of EvidentialitySeparate particle65 of 418
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityOnly indirect evidentials166 of 418
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131
Suppletion According to Tense and AspectNo suppletion in tense or aspect123 of 193

Word order 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at beginning of sentence129 of 884
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)373 of 1,367
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral precedes noun (NumN)479 of 1,154
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)542 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject precedes verb (OV)712 of 1,518
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word precedes adjective (DegAdj)227 of 481
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
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 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have verbal encoding151 of 386
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is possible175 of 386
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Nominal and Locational PredicationDifferent269 of 386

Vocabulary 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Hand and ArmIdentity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm'228 of 617
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593