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Luiseño

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

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

The closest grammar profile to Luiseño in the atlas belongs to Karok, a Hokan language: the two agree on 30 of the 42 features both have coded.

Of the 11 Uto-Aztecan languages profiled here, Luiseño follows the family’s usual values most closely.

On Predicative Possession, all 6 other Uto-Aztecan languages coded have the value “Have-Possessive”; Luiseño has “Topic Possessive”.

Luiseño: 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.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.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 follows noun (NAdj). 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.
The order Luiseño uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Luiseño with Karok or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Uto-Aztecan family

Luiseño matches the most frequent Uto-Aztecan value on 37 of the 46 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (80%).

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Luiseño for 46 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 40 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Luiseño shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 14

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsLong vowel: long vowels are heavy for stress65 of 500
The Velar NasalVelar nasal, also initially147 of 469
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
ToneNo tones307 of 527
Lateral Consonants/l/, no obstruent laterals388 of 567
Glottalized ConsonantsNo glottalized consonants409 of 567
Presence of Uncommon ConsonantsNone449 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 MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969
ReduplicationProductive full and partial reduplication278 of 368

Nouns and pronouns 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive prefixes255 of 902
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Numeral ClassifiersNumeral classifiers are absent260 of 400
Comitatives and InstrumentalsDifferentiation213 of 322

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131

Word order 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
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
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 Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
Order of Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)879 of 1,367
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause follows noun (NRel)579 of 824
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Reciprocal ConstructionsIdentical to reflexive44 of 175
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955

Vocabulary 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
N-M PronounsN-M pronouns, paradigmatic25 of 230
M in Second Person Singularm in second person singular78 of 230
Hand and ArmIdentity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm'228 of 617
M in First Person SingularNo m in first person singular177 of 230
M-T PronounsNo M-T pronouns200 of 230
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593