Passamaquoddy-Maliseet
Algic family · Algonquian branch · North America
WALS records no dominant basic order of subject, object and verb for Passamaquoddy-Maliseet, a group that holds 189 of the 1,376 languages it codes for this feature.
On Coding of Evidentiality, WALS codes Passamaquoddy-Maliseet as “Modal morpheme”, a value held by 7 of the 418 languages coded, French and Finnish among them.
On Alignment of Verbal Person Marking, WALS codes Passamaquoddy-Maliseet as “Hierarchical alignment”, a value held by 11 of the 380 languages coded, Cree (Plains) and Mapudungun among them.
Contrast Passamaquoddy-Maliseet with Ojibwa (Eastern) or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Passamaquoddy-Maliseet, rarest first.
- Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal InflectionOnly inclusive differentiated9 of 200
- Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by clitics with variable host32 of 711
- Order of Person Markers on the VerbBoth orders of A and P occur19 of 379
- Weight-Sensitive StressRight-oriented: The antepenultimate is involved27 of 500
- Order of Subject and VerbBoth orders with neither order dominant110 of 1,496
- Asymmetrical Case-MarkingSubtractive-quantitatively asymmetrical case-marking20 of 261
- Verbal Number and SuppletionSingular-plural pairs, suppletion15 of 193
- Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsCombined: two of the above factors determine weight42 of 500
Inside the Algic family
Passamaquoddy-Maliseet matches the most frequent Algic value on 36 of the 49 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (73%). Among the 5 Algic languages profiled here, that rate ranks third from the top.
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Passamaquoddy-Maliseet; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Passamaquoddy-Maliseet for 84 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 73 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Passamaquoddy-Maliseet shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 17
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm Types | Iambic: right-hand syllable in the foot is strong | 31 of 323 |
| Consonant Inventories | Moderately small | 122 of 563 |
| Tone | Simple tone system | 132 of 527 |
| Syllable Structure | Complex syllable structure | 151 of 486 |
| 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 |
| The Velar Nasal | No velar nasal | 235 of 469 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Average vowel inventory (5-6) | 287 of 564 |
| Lateral Consonants | /l/, no obstruent laterals | 388 of 567 |
| Glottalized Consonants | No glottalized consonants | 409 of 567 |
| Vowel Nasalization | Contrastive nasal vowels absent | 180 of 244 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking | Subject person/number marking is never syncretic | 81 of 198 |
| Case Syncretism | Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal | 123 of 198 |
Nouns and pronouns 17
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Cases | Exclusively borderline morphological case-marking | 24 of 261 |
| Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns | Person-number affixes | 25 of 261 |
| Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems | Non-sex-based gender system | 28 of 257 |
| Definite Articles | Demonstrative word used as marker of definiteness | 69 of 620 |
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | Gender distinctions in 3rd person singular only | 61 of 378 |
| Person Marking on Adpositions | No adpositions | 63 of 378 |
| Indefinite Articles | No indefinite article but definite article | 98 of 534 |
| Number of Genders | Two | 50 of 257 |
| Systems of Gender Assignment | Semantic assignment | 53 of 257 |
| Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns | Inclusive and exclusive differentiated | 63 of 200 |
| Ordinal Numerals | First, two-th, three-th | 110 of 321 |
| Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives | Three-way contrast | 88 of 234 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Case suffixes | 452 of 1,031 |
| Third Person Pronouns and Demonstratives | Unrelated | 100 of 225 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural suffix | 513 of 1,066 |
| Indefinite Pronouns | Interrogative-based indefinites | 194 of 326 |
| Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives | Same forms | 143 of 201 |
Noun phrases 2
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal and Verbal Conjunction | Nominal and verbal conjunction are largely identical | 161 of 301 |
| Noun Phrase Conjunction | AND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical | 131 of 234 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 10
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| The Prohibitive | Special imperative + special negative | 146 of 496 |
| Epistemic Possibility | Affixes on verbs | 84 of 240 |
| Imperative-Hortative Systems | The language has a maximal system, but not a minimal one | 133 of 375 |
| Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality | Only indirect evidentials | 166 of 418 |
| Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking | No overlap | 105 of 207 |
| The Morphological Imperative | Second singular and second plural | 292 of 548 |
| Suppletion According to Tense and Aspect | No suppletion in tense or aspect | 123 of 193 |
| Situational Possibility | Verbal constructions | 158 of 234 |
| Suppletion in Imperatives and Hortatives | None (= no suppletive imperatives reported in the reference material) | 153 of 193 |
| The Optative | Inflectional optative absent | 271 of 319 |
Word order 6
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Object, Oblique, and Verb | More than one order with none dominant | 167 of 500 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Prepositions | 511 of 1,184 |
| Order of Demonstrative and Noun | Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN) | 542 of 1,225 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object follows verb (VO) | 705 of 1,518 |
| Order of Degree Word and Adjective | Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj) | 227 of 481 |
| Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause | Initial subordinator word | 398 of 659 |
Simple clauses 13
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Applicative Constructions | Benefactive object only; both bases | 16 of 183 |
| Negative Morphemes | Double negation | 119 of 1,157 |
| Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking | Zero realization of all third person singular S forms | 45 of 380 |
| Other Roles of Applied Objects | No other roles (= Only benefactive) | 36 of 183 |
| Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard Negation | In other grammatical categories: Subtype A/Cat | 82 of 297 |
| Periphrastic Causative Constructions | Sequential type but no purposive type | 35 of 118 |
| Passive Constructions | There is a passive construction | 162 of 373 |
| Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation | Symmetric and asymmetric standard negation: Type SymAsy | 130 of 297 |
| Verbal Person Marking | Person marking of both the A and P arguments | 193 of 378 |
| Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases | Neutral | 98 of 190 |
| Antipassive Constructions | No antipassive | 146 of 194 |
| Productivity of the Antipassive Construction | no antipassive | 146 of 186 |
| Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions | Morphological type but no compound type | 254 of 310 |
Complex sentences 3
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose Clauses | Balanced/deranked | 30 of 170 |
| Reason Clauses | Balanced/deranked | 37 of 169 |
| Relativization on Subjects | Gap | 125 of 166 |
Vocabulary 3
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Tea | Others | 36 of 230 |
| Hand and Arm | Different | 389 of 617 |
| Finger and Hand | Different | 521 of 593 |