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Kawaiisu

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

WALS records no dominant basic order of subject, object and verb for Kawaiisu, a group that holds 189 of the 1,376 languages it codes for this feature.

The closest grammar profile to Kawaiisu in the atlas belongs to Miwok (Southern Sierra), a Penutian language: the two agree on 26 of the 40 features both have coded.

On Alignment of Verbal Person Marking, WALS codes Kawaiisu as “Hierarchical alignment”, a value held by 11 of the 380 languages coded, Mapudungun and Awa Pit among them.

On Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns, all 7 other Uto-Aztecan languages coded have the value “No gender distinctions”; Kawaiisu has “3rd person only, but also non-singular”.

Kawaiisu: order of head and dependent in 7 constructions← beforeafter →verbsubjectsubjectno dominant order80%13%Order of Subject and Verb: Both orders with neither order dominant. Of 1,496 languages coded, 1,192 put the subject before the verb and 194 after it.verbobjectobjectno dominant order47%46%Order of Object and Verb: Both orders with neither order dominant. 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.noungenitivegenitiveno dominant order55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Both orders occur with neither order dominant. 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.noundemonstrativedemonstrativeMixed45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Two or more of above types with none dominant. Of 1,225 languages coded, 551 put the demonstrative before the noun and 590 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.
The order Kawaiisu uses in 7 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Kawaiisu with Miwok (Southern Sierra) or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Uto-Aztecan family

Kawaiisu matches the most frequent Uto-Aztecan value on 27 of the 47 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (57%). Among the 11 Uto-Aztecan languages profiled here, that rate ranks ninth from the top.

Where Kawaiisu breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
FeatureKawaiisuMost relatives
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in plosives aloneNo voicing contrast (4 of 4, Northern Uto-Aztecan branch)

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Kawaiisu 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 Kawaiisu shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 14

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Weight-Sensitive StressRight-edge: Stress on ultimate or penultimate syllable65 of 500
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsLong vowel: long vowels are heavy for stress65 of 500
Consonant InventoriesAverage201 of 563
Consonant-Vowel RatioAverage234 of 564
Fixed Stress LocationsNo fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress)220 of 502
The Velar NasalNo velar nasal235 of 469
Vowel Quality InventoriesAverage vowel inventory (5-6)287 of 564
ToneNo tones307 of 527
Lateral Consonants/l/, no obstruent laterals388 of 567
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 MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Third Person Pronouns and DemonstrativesRelated for all demonstratives52 of 225
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive suffixes355 of 902
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
The ProhibitiveSpecial imperative + special negative146 of 496
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityOnly indirect evidentials166 of 418
The Morphological ImperativeSecond singular and second plural292 of 548

Word order 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
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 Object, Oblique, and VerbMore than one order with none dominant167 of 500
Position of Polar Question ParticlesNo question particle355 of 884
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause follows noun (NRel)579 of 824

Simple clauses 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Polar QuestionsInterrogative intonation only173 of 955
Reciprocal ConstructionsIdentical to reflexive44 of 175
Passive ConstructionsThere is a passive construction162 of 373
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingNo zero realization of third person S forms181 of 380
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of both the A and P arguments193 of 378

Vocabulary 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Hand and ArmDifferent389 of 617
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593