Word Order Facts
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Panjabi

Indo-European family · Indic branch · Eurasia

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

Of its word-order pairings, the one Panjabi shares with the fewest languages is Order of Relative Clause and Noun: “Mixed types of relative clause with none dominant”, the value of 64 of the 824 languages coded.

The least common value coded for Panjabi is “Special indefinites” on Indefinite Pronouns, held by 22 of the 326 languages coded.

Its closest grammar profile in the atlas is that of Hindi: the two agree on 48 of the 52 features both have coded.

Compared with English, Panjabi has the same value on 31 of the 60 features both are coded for (52%).

Panjabi: order of head and dependent in 9 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 precedes noun (AdjN). 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 clauserelative clauseMixed17%70%Order of Relative Clause and Noun: Mixed types of relative clause with none dominant. Of 824 languages coded, 141 put the relative clause before the noun and 579 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 Panjabi uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Panjabi with Hindi or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Indo-European family

Panjabi matches the most frequent Indo-European value on 44 of the 60 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (73%). Among the 39 Indo-European languages profiled here, that rate ranks fifth from the top.

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Panjabi for 60 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 55 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Panjabi shares with the fewest languages comes first.

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 15

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Number of GendersTwo50 of 257
Systems of Gender AssignmentSemantic and formal assignment59 of 257
Third Person Pronouns and DemonstrativesRelated for all demonstratives52 of 225
Politeness Distinctions in PronounsSecond person pronouns encode a binary politeness distinction49 of 207
Definite ArticlesNeither definite nor indefinite article198 of 620
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender SystemsSex-based gender system84 of 257
Conjunctions and Universal QuantifiersFormally similar, involving interrogative expression43 of 116
Indefinite ArticlesNeither indefinite nor definite198 of 534
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
The Associative PluralAssociative plural marker also used for additive plurals104 of 236
Occurrence of Nominal PluralityPlural in all nouns, always obligatory133 of 291
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Distance Contrasts in DemonstrativesTwo-way contrast126 of 234
Intensifiers and Reflexive PronounsIntensifiers and reflexive pronouns are formally identical94 of 168
Pronominal and Adnominal DemonstrativesSame forms143 of 201

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Action Nominal ConstructionsPossessive-Accusative29 of 168

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Epistemic PossibilityVerbal constructions65 of 240
The PerfectOther perfect80 of 222
The ProhibitiveNormal imperative + special negative182 of 496
The Past TensePast/non-past distinction marked; no remoteness distinction94 of 222
Perfective/Imperfective AspectGrammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction101 of 222
The Future TenseInflectional marking of future/non-future distinction110 of 222
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal MarkingNo overlap105 of 207
The Morphological ImperativeSecond singular and second plural292 of 548
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131
Situational PossibilityVerbal constructions158 of 234
The OptativeInflectional optative absent271 of 319

Word order 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at beginning of sentence129 of 884
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)373 of 1,367
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 Adverbial Subordinator and ClauseInitial subordinator word398 of 659
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases not obligatorily initial615 of 902
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Applicative ConstructionsNo applicative construction100 of 183
Other Roles of Applied ObjectsNo applicative construction100 of 183
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs437 of 711
Antipassive ConstructionsNo antipassive146 of 194
Productivity of the Antipassive Constructionno antipassive146 of 186
Nonperiphrastic Causative ConstructionsMorphological type but no compound type254 of 310

Complex sentences 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Reason ClausesBalanced/deranked37 of 169
'When' ClausesBalanced/deranked39 of 174
Purpose ClausesDeranked102 of 170
Utterance Complement ClausesBalanced114 of 143

Vocabulary 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
TeaWords derived from Sinitic cha110 of 230
Hand and ArmDifferent389 of 617
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593