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Huastec

Mayan family · North America

Huastec is an SVO language, like 488 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

The closest grammar profile to Huastec in the atlas belongs to Ndyuka, a Creoles and Pidgins language: the two agree on 29 of the 43 features both have coded.

Of the 4 Mayan languages profiled here, Huastec follows the family’s usual values most closely.

On Negative Morphemes, 7 of 8 other Mayan languages coded have the value “Negative particle”; Huastec has “Negative word, unclear if verb or particle”.

Huastec: order of head and dependent in 9 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 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.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 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 Huastec uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Huastec with Ndyuka or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Mayan family

Huastec matches the most frequent Mayan value on 29 of the 40 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (72%).

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Huastec for 47 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 44 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Huastec shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 16

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Glottalized ConsonantsEjectives only58 of 567
Weight-Sensitive StressUnbounded: Stress can be anywhere in the word54 of 500
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsLong vowel: long vowels are heavy for stress65 of 500
Rhythm TypesAbsent: no rhythmic stress98 of 323
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
Syllable StructureModerately complex syllable structure274 of 486
ToneNo tones307 of 527
Lateral Consonants/l/, no obstruent laterals388 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Absence of Common ConsonantsAll present503 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Word structure 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyLittle or no inflectional morphology141 of 969
ReduplicationProductive full and partial reduplication278 of 368

Nouns and pronouns 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Indefinite ArticlesNumeral for 'one' is used as indefinite article112 of 534
Definite ArticlesDefinite word distinct from demonstrative216 of 620
Position of Case AffixesNeither case affixes nor adpositional clitics379 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Indefinite PronounsInterrogative-based indefinites194 of 326

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesNo tense-aspect inflection152 of 1,131

Word order 13

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
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
Order of Genitive and NounNoun-genitive (NGen)468 of 1,249
Position of Polar Question ParticlesNo question particle355 of 884
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 precedes noun (DemN)542 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject follows verb (VO)705 of 1,518
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word precedes adjective (DegAdj)227 of 481
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and ClauseInitial subordinator word398 of 659
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause follows noun (NRel)579 of 824

Simple clauses 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Polar QuestionsInterrogative intonation only173 of 955

Vocabulary 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Number of Basic Colour Categories6 or between 6 and 7 categories34 of 119
Number of Non-Derived Basic Colour Categories5 categories56 of 119
Green and BlueGreen-or-blue ('grue')68 of 120
Hand and ArmDifferent389 of 617
Red and YellowRed and yellow98 of 120
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593