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Páez

Páezan family · South America

Páez is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

WALS lists no other language in the family it assigns to Páez.

The closest grammar profile to Páez in the atlas belongs to Korean, a language WALS places in a family of its own: the two agree on 35 of the 48 features both have coded.

On Expression of Pronominal Subjects, WALS codes Páez as “Pronominal subjects are expressed by clitics with variable host”, a value held by 32 of the 711 languages coded, Ngiyambaa and Yagua among them.

Páez: 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.verbobject47%46%Order of Object and Verb: Object precedes verb (OV). 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.adjectivedegree word47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj). Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Páez uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Páez with Korean or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Páez for 48 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 45 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Páez shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 13

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant InventoriesLarge57 of 563
Consonant-Vowel RatioHigh69 of 564
Vowel Quality InventoriesSmall vowel inventory (2-4)93 of 564
Syllable StructureComplex syllable structure151 of 486
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesNo voicing contrast182 of 567
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 of 567
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 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Case AffixesPostpositional clitics123 of 1,031
Number of Cases6-7 case categories37 of 261
Asymmetrical Case-MarkingSymmetrical case-marking79 of 261
Definite ArticlesNeither definite nor indefinite article198 of 620
Indefinite ArticlesNeither indefinite nor definite198 of 534
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Indefinite PronounsInterrogative-based indefinites194 of 326
Comitatives and InstrumentalsDifferentiation213 of 322

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Nominal and Verbal ConjunctionNominal and verbal conjunction are different125 of 301

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Coding of EvidentialityVerbal affix or clitic131 of 418
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityOnly indirect evidentials166 of 418
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131

Word order 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Polar Question ParticlesNo question particle355 of 884
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 Object and VerbObject precedes verb (OV)712 of 1,518
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word precedes adjective (DegAdj)227 of 481
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 Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Polar QuestionsInterrogative verb morphology164 of 955
Predicative PossessionHave-Possessive63 of 240
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard NegationIn other grammatical categories: Subtype A/Cat82 of 297
Negative MorphemesNegative affix395 of 1,157
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard NegationSymmetric and asymmetric standard negation: Type SymAsy130 of 297
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'Indirect-object construction189 of 378
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate NegationNegative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation170 of 206

Complex sentences 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
'Want' Complement SubjectsThe complement subject is left implicit144 of 283

Vocabulary 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Hand and ArmIdentity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm'228 of 617
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593