Jakaltek

Mayan family · North America

Jakaltek 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 Applicative Constructions, WALS codes Jakaltek as “Non-benefactive object only; transitive base only”, a value held by 1 of the 183 languages coded.

On Expression of Pronominal Subjects, WALS codes Jakaltek as “More than one of the above types with none dominant”, a value held by 32 of the 711 languages coded, Finnish and Hebrew (Modern) among them.

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

Contrast Jakaltek with Tzutujil or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingErgative alignment19 of 380
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyPredominantly prefixing58 of 969
Person Marking on AdpositionsPerson marking for pronouns and nouns23 of 378
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard NegationIn reality status: Subtype A/NonReal20 of 297
Definite ArticlesNo definite article but indefinite article45 of 620
Uvular ConsonantsUvular stops and continuants48 of 567
Antipassive ConstructionsAntipassive with patient-like argument left implicit18 of 194
Other Roles of Applied ObjectsInstrument17 of 183

Inside the Mayan family

Jakaltek matches the most frequent Mayan value on 39 of the 57 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (68%). Among the 4 Mayan languages profiled here, that rate ranks third from the top.

Closest profiles

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

Tzutujil Mayan37 of 53
Huave (San Mateo del Mar) Huavean35 of 57
Huastec Mayan26 of 41
Pipil Uto-Aztecan34 of 56
Nahuatl (Tetelcingo) Uto-Aztecan49 of 85

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Jakaltek for 120 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 109 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Jakaltek shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 17

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Glottalized Consonants	Ejectives only	58 of 567
Consonant Inventories	Moderately large	94 of 563
Consonant-Vowel Ratio	Moderately high	102 of 564
Fixed Stress Locations	Initial: stress is on the first syllable	92 of 502
Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives	No voicing contrast	182 of 567
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems	Other	242 of 567
The Velar Nasal	No velar nasal	235 of 469
Vowel Quality Inventories	Average vowel inventory (5-6)	287 of 564
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
Syllable Structure	Moderately complex syllable structure	274 of 486
Tone	No tones	307 of 527
Lateral Consonants	/l/, no obstruent laterals	388 of 567
Vowel Nasalization	Contrastive nasal vowels absent	180 of 244
Presence of Uncommon Consonants	None	449 of 567
Absence of Common Consonants	All present	503 of 567
Front Rounded Vowels	None	525 of 562

Word structure 11

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Locus of Marking: Whole-language Typology	Consistently head-marking	47 of 236
Locus of Marking in the Clause	P is head-marked	71 of 236
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun Phrases	Possessor is head-marked	78 of 236
Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb	4-5 categories per word	52 of 145
Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking	Subject person/number marking is never syncretic	81 of 198
Exponence of Selected Inflectional Formatives	No case	75 of 162
Case Syncretism	Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal	123 of 198
Reduplication	Productive full and partial reduplication	278 of 368
Fusion of Selected Inflectional Formatives	Exclusively concatenative	125 of 165
Exponence of Tense-Aspect-Mood Inflection	monoexponential TAM	127 of 160
Zero Marking of A and P Arguments	Non-zero marking	219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 18

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns	Person-number affixes	25 of 261
Coding of Nominal Plurality	Plural word	170 of 1,066
Ordinal Numerals	First/one-th, two-th, three-th	54 of 321
Occurrence of Nominal Plurality	Plural in all nouns, always optional	55 of 291
Numeral Classifiers	Numeral classifiers are obligatory	78 of 400
Indefinite Articles	Numeral for 'one' is used as indefinite article	112 of 534
Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes	Possessive prefixes	255 of 902
Asymmetrical Case-Marking	No morphological case-marking	81 of 261
Position of Case Affixes	Neither case affixes nor adpositional clitics	379 of 1,031
Number of Cases	No morphological case-marking	100 of 261
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection	No inclusive/exclusive opposition	79 of 200
Third Person Pronouns and Demonstratives	Unrelated	100 of 225
Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives	Two-way contrast	126 of 234
Indefinite Pronouns	Interrogative-based indefinites	194 of 326
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns	No inclusive/exclusive opposition	120 of 200
Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns	Second person pronouns encode no politeness distinction	136 of 207
Comitatives and Instrumentals	Differentiation	213 of 322
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns	No gender distinctions	254 of 378

Noun phrases 5

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Nominal and Verbal Conjunction	Nominal and verbal conjunction are different	125 of 301
Noun Phrase Conjunction	WITH-languages: 'and' and 'with' are identical	103 of 234
Possessive Classification	No possessive classification	125 of 243
Obligatory Possessive Inflection	No obligatorily possessed nouns	201 of 244
Number of Possessive Nouns	None reported	233 of 243

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 17

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
The Prohibitive	Special imperative + normal negative	55 of 496
Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes	Combination of tense-aspect strategies with none primary	146 of 1,131
Suppletion in Imperatives and Hortatives	Imperative	29 of 193
Coding of Evidentiality	Separate particle	65 of 418
Situational Possibility	Affixes on verbs	63 of 234
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking	Overlap for either possibility or necessity	66 of 207
Imperative-Hortative Systems	The language has a maximal system, but not a minimal one	133 of 375
Epistemic Possibility	Other	91 of 240
The Past Tense	No grammatical marking of past/non-past distinction	88 of 222
Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality	Only indirect evidentials	166 of 418
Perfective/Imperfective Aspect	Grammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction	101 of 222
The Future Tense	No inflectional marking of future/non-future distinction	112 of 222
The Perfect	No perfect	114 of 222
The Morphological Imperative	Second singular and second plural	292 of 548
Suppletion According to Tense and Aspect	No suppletion in tense or aspect	123 of 193
Verbal Number and Suppletion	No singular-(dual)-plural pairs/triples	159 of 193
The Optative	Inflectional optative absent	271 of 319

Word order 12

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Order of Subject and Verb	Subject follows verb (VS)	194 of 1,496
Order of Adjective and Noun	Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)	373 of 1,367
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
Position of Polar Question Particles	No question particle	355 of 884
Order of Numeral and Noun	Numeral precedes noun (NumN)	479 of 1,154
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 Relative Clause and Noun	Relative clause follows noun (NRel)	579 of 824

Simple clauses 18

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking	Zero realization of all third person singular S forms	45 of 380
Periphrastic Causative Constructions	Both sequential type and purposive type	15 of 118
Productivity of the Antipassive Construction	productive	24 of 186
Order of Person Markers on the Verb	P precedes A	57 of 379
Polar Questions	Interrogative intonation only	173 of 955
Reciprocal Constructions	Identical to reflexive	44 of 175
Predicative Adjectives	Predicative adjectives have verbal encoding	151 of 386
Negative Morphemes	Negative particle	502 of 1,157
Passive Constructions	There is a passive construction	162 of 373
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation	Symmetric and asymmetric standard negation: Type SymAsy	130 of 297
Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns	Neutral	79 of 172
Comparative Constructions	Locational Comparative	78 of 167
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'	Indirect-object construction	189 of 378
Verbal Person Marking	Person marking of both the A and P arguments	193 of 378
Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases	Neutral	98 of 190
Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals	Zero copula is impossible	211 of 386
Nominal and Locational Predication	Different	269 of 386
Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions	Morphological type but no compound type	254 of 310

Complex sentences 4

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
'Want' Complement Subjects	The complement subject is expressed overtly	72 of 283
Relativization on Obliques	Gap Strategy	55 of 112
Relativization on Subjects	Gap	125 of 166
Utterance Complement Clauses	Balanced	114 of 143

Vocabulary 7

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Numeral Bases	Hybrid vigesimal-decimal	22 of 196
Hand and Arm	Identity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm'	228 of 617
M in Second Person Singular	No m in second person singular	152 of 230
M in First Person Singular	No m in first person singular	177 of 230
N-M Pronouns	No N-M pronouns	194 of 230
M-T Pronouns	No M-T pronouns	200 of 230
Finger and Hand	Different	521 of 593