Kalkatungu
Pama-Nyungan family · Northern Pama-Nyungan branch · Australia
Kalkatungu is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
On Verbal Person Marking, WALS codes Kalkatungu as “Person marking of the A or P argument”, a value held by 6 of the 378 languages coded, Awa Pit and Kiowa among them.
The closest grammar profile to Kalkatungu in the atlas belongs to Wichí, a Matacoan language: the two agree on 25 of the 40 features both have coded.
On Indefinite Pronouns, 23 of 26 other Pama-Nyungan languages coded have the value “Interrogative-based indefinites”; Kalkatungu has “Special indefinites”.
Contrast Kalkatungu with Wichí or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Kalkatungu, rarest first.
- Absence of Common ConsonantsNo fricatives48 of 567
Inside the Pama-Nyungan family
Kalkatungu matches the most frequent Pama-Nyungan value on 31 of the 42 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (74%). Among the 12 Pama-Nyungan languages profiled here, that rate ranks fifth from the top.
| Feature | Kalkatungu | Most relatives |
|---|---|---|
| 'Want' Complement Subjects | The complement subject is expressed overtly | The complement subject is left implicit (11 of 12) |
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Kalkatungu; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Kalkatungu for 42 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 37 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Kalkatungu shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 16
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | High | 69 of 564 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Small vowel inventory (2-4) | 93 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 |
| Consonant Inventories | Average | 201 of 563 |
| Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems | Other | 242 of 567 |
| Rhythm Types | Trochaic: left-hand syllable in the foot is strong | 153 of 323 |
| 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 |
| Glottalized Consonants | No glottalized consonants | 409 of 567 |
| Presence of Uncommon Consonants | None | 449 of 567 |
| Uvular Consonants | No uvulars | 470 of 567 |
| Front Rounded Vowels | None | 525 of 562 |
Nouns and pronouns 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Occurrence of Nominal Plurality | Plural only in human nouns, obligatory | 40 of 291 |
| Person Marking on Adpositions | No adpositions | 63 of 378 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Case suffixes | 452 of 1,031 |
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | No gender distinctions | 254 of 378 |
Noun phrases 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal and Verbal Conjunction | Nominal and verbal conjunction are largely identical | 161 of 301 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Tense-aspect suffixes | 667 of 1,131 |
Word order 6
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions | Interrogative phrases obligatorily initial | 264 of 902 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 479 of 1,154 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object precedes verb (OV) | 712 of 1,518 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Genitive-noun (GenN) | 685 of 1,249 |
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj) | 879 of 1,367 |
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 1,192 of 1,496 |
Simple clauses 9
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give' | Mixed | 40 of 378 |
| Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking | Zero realization of all third person singular S forms | 45 of 380 |
| Predicative Adjectives | Predicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding | 132 of 386 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is possible | 175 of 386 |
| Order of Person Markers on the Verb | A and P do not or do not both occur on the verb | 187 of 379 |
| Alignment of Verbal Person Marking | Accusative alignment | 212 of 380 |
| Passive Constructions | There is no passive construction | 211 of 373 |
| Nominal and Locational Predication | Different | 269 of 386 |
| Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions | Morphological type but no compound type | 254 of 310 |