Maidu (Northeast)

Penutian family · Maiduan branch · North America

Maidu (Northeast) is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

On Glottalized Consonants, WALS codes Maidu (Northeast) as “Ejectives and implosives”, a value held by 14 of the 567 languages coded, Hausa and Oromo (Harar) among them.

The closest grammar profile to Maidu (Northeast) in the atlas belongs to Tonkawa, a language WALS places in a family of its own: the two agree on 33 of the 47 features both have coded.

Of the 5 Penutian languages profiled here, Maidu (Northeast) follows the family’s usual values most closely.

The order Maidu (Northeast) uses in 6 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Maidu (Northeast) with Tonkawa or with any other language

Uncommon values

Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Maidu (Northeast), rarest first.

Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsCoda consonant: closed syllables are heavy for stress18 of 500
Weight-Sensitive StressLeft-edge: Stress is on the first or second syllable37 of 500

Inside the Penutian family

Maidu (Northeast) matches the most frequent Penutian value on 40 of the 56 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (71%).

Closest profiles

Languages that share the most coded values with Maidu (Northeast); the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.

Shipibo-Konibo Pano-Tacanan32 of 46
Miwok (Southern Sierra) Penutian34 of 51
Wappo Wappo-Yukian31 of 46
Barasano Tucanoan29 of 43

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Maidu (Northeast) for 63 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 59 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Maidu (Northeast) shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 14

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Consonant Inventories	Moderately small	122 of 563
Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives	No voicing contrast	182 of 567
Consonant-Vowel Ratio	Average	234 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems	Other	242 of 567
Fixed Stress Locations	No fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress)	220 of 502
Rhythm Types	Trochaic: left-hand syllable in the foot is strong	153 of 323
Vowel Quality Inventories	Average vowel inventory (5-6)	287 of 564
Syllable Structure	Moderately complex syllable structure	274 of 486
Tone	No tones	307 of 527
Lateral Consonants	/l/, no obstruent laterals	388 of 567
Presence of Uncommon Consonants	None	449 of 567
Uvular Consonants	No uvulars	470 of 567
Absence of Common Consonants	All present	503 of 567
Front Rounded Vowels	None	525 of 562

Word structure 2

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Reduplication	No productive reduplication	55 of 368
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology	Predominantly suffixing	406 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 8

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Person Marking on Adpositions	No adpositions	63 of 378
Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes	Possessive prefixes	255 of 902
Distributive Numerals	Marked by reduplication	85 of 251
Position of Case Affixes	Case suffixes	452 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal Plurality	Plural suffix	513 of 1,066
Numeral Classifiers	Numeral classifiers are absent	260 of 400
Comitatives and Instrumentals	Differentiation	213 of 322
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns	No gender distinctions	254 of 378

Noun phrases 3

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Obligatory Possessive Inflection	Obligatorily possessed nouns exist	43 of 244
Possessive Classification	Two classes	94 of 243
Number of Possessive Nouns	None reported	233 of 243

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 7

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
The Past Tense	Present, 2-3 remoteness distinctions	38 of 222
Coding of Evidentiality	Verbal affix or clitic	131 of 418
The Perfect	Other perfect	80 of 222
Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality	Only indirect evidentials	166 of 418
The Future Tense	Inflectional marking of future/non-future distinction	110 of 222
Perfective/Imperfective Aspect	No grammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction	121 of 222
Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes	Tense-aspect suffixes	667 of 1,131

Word order 8

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Order of Relative Clause and Noun	Relative clause precedes noun (RelN)	141 of 824
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
Position of Polar Question Particles	No question particle	355 of 884
Order of Demonstrative and Noun	Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)	542 of 1,225
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 Subject and Verb	Subject precedes verb (SV)	1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 11

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Polar Questions	Interrogative verb morphology	164 of 955
Verbal Person Marking	Person marking of only the A argument	73 of 378
Negative Morphemes	Negative affix	395 of 1,157
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation	Symmetric standard negation only: Type Sym	114 of 297
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard Negation	Non-assignable (no asymmetry found)	114 of 297
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking	No zero realization of third person S forms	181 of 380
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
Reciprocal Constructions	Distinct from reflexive	99 of 175
Expression of Pronominal Subjects	Pronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs	437 of 711

Vocabulary 6

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
N-M Pronouns	N-M pronouns, paradigmatic	25 of 230
M in Second Person Singular	m in second person singular	78 of 230
Hand and Arm	Different	389 of 617
M in First Person Singular	No m in first person singular	177 of 230
M-T Pronouns	No M-T pronouns	200 of 230
Finger and Hand	Different	521 of 593