Paumarí

Paumarí is an SVO language, like 488 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

On Negative Morphemes, WALS codes Paumarí as “Variation between negative word and affix”, a value held by 21 of the 1,157 languages coded, Lavukaleve and Armenian (Eastern) among them.

On Fixed Stress Locations, WALS codes Paumarí as “Antepenultimate”, a value held by 12 of the 502 languages coded, Georgian and Greek (Modern) among them.

The closest grammar profile to Paumarí in the atlas belongs to Dizi, an Afro-Asiatic language: the two agree on 26 of the 40 features both have coded.

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

Contrast Paumarí with Dizi or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Number of Cases3 case categories9 of 261
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPrefixes and suffixes32 of 902
Number of GendersFour12 of 257
Order of Object and VerbBoth orders with neither order dominant101 of 1,518
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingSplit alignment28 of 380
Asymmetrical Case-MarkingSubtractive-quantitatively asymmetrical case-marking20 of 261
Applicative ConstructionsBenefactive object only; both bases16 of 183
Case SyncretismInflectional case marking is syncretic for core cases only18 of 198

Closest profiles

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

Ngalakan Gunwinyguan25 of 42
Apurinã Arawakan51 of 94
Oromo (Harar) Afro-Asiatic51 of 98
Cree (Plains) Algic44 of 84

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Paumarí for 103 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 92 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Paumarí shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 17

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Glottalized Consonants	Implosives only	55 of 567
Consonant-Vowel Ratio	High	69 of 564
Syllable Structure	Simple syllable structure	61 of 486
Vowel Quality Inventories	Small vowel inventory (2-4)	93 of 564
Lateral Consonants	No laterals	95 of 567
Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives	Voicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives	158 of 567
Consonant Inventories	Average	201 of 563
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems	/p t k b d g/	255 of 567
The Velar Nasal	No velar nasal	235 of 469
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress Systems	No weight, or weight factor unknown	261 of 500
Weight-Sensitive Stress	Fixed stress (no weight-sensitivity)	281 of 500
Tone	No tones	307 of 527
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 7

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology	Approximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing	147 of 969
Locus of Marking in the Clause	P is double-marked	58 of 236
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun Phrases	Possessor is head-marked	78 of 236
Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking	Subject person/number marking is never syncretic	81 of 198
Locus of Marking: Whole-language Typology	Inconsistent marking or other type	121 of 236
Reduplication	Productive full and partial reduplication	278 of 368
Zero Marking of A and P Arguments	Non-zero marking	219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 17

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Coding of Nominal Plurality	No plural	98 of 1,066
Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns	Person-number affixes	25 of 261
Position of Case Affixes	Postpositional clitics	123 of 1,031
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns	Gender distinctions in 3rd person singular only	61 of 378
The Associative Plural	Special non-bound associative plural marker	47 of 236
Systems of Gender Assignment	Semantic assignment	53 of 257
Third Person Pronouns and Demonstratives	Related for all demonstratives	52 of 225
Definite Articles	Neither definite nor indefinite article	198 of 620
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems	Sex-based gender system	84 of 257
Indefinite Articles	Neither indefinite nor definite	198 of 534
Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives	Three-way contrast	88 of 234
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection	No inclusive/exclusive opposition	79 of 200
Intensifiers and Reflexive Pronouns	Intensifiers and reflexive pronouns are formally differentiated	74 of 168
Person Marking on Adpositions	Adpositions without person marking	209 of 378
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns	No inclusive/exclusive opposition	120 of 200
Numeral Classifiers	Numeral classifiers are absent	260 of 400
Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives	Same forms	143 of 201

Noun phrases 3

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Possessive Classification	Two classes	94 of 243
Obligatory Possessive Inflection	No obligatorily possessed nouns	201 of 244
Number of Possessive Nouns	None reported	233 of 243

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 10

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Coding of Evidentiality	Separate particle	65 of 418
The Prohibitive	Normal imperative + special negative	182 of 496
Epistemic Possibility	Other	91 of 240
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
Imperative-Hortative Systems	The language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system	201 of 375
Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes	Tense-aspect suffixes	667 of 1,131
Situational Possibility	Verbal constructions	158 of 234
The Optative	Inflectional optative absent	271 of 319

Word order 11

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Order of Subject and Verb	Subject follows verb (VS)	194 of 1,496
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause	More than one type of adverbial subordinators with none dominant	93 of 659
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions	Interrogative phrases obligatorily initial	264 of 902
Order of Object, Oblique, and Verb	More than one order with none dominant	167 of 500
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 Adposition and Noun Phrase	Postpositions	577 of 1,184
Order of Numeral and Noun	Numeral follows noun (NNum)	608 of 1,154
Order of Genitive and Noun	Genitive-noun (GenN)	685 of 1,249
Order of Adjective and Noun	Modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)	879 of 1,367
Order of Relative Clause and Noun	Relative clause follows noun (NRel)	579 of 824

Simple clauses 20

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking	Zero realization of all third person singular S forms	45 of 380
Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases	Ergative - absolutive	32 of 190
Polar Questions	Interrogative verb morphology	164 of 955
Verbal Person Marking	Person marking of only the A argument	73 of 378
Other Roles of Applied Objects	No other roles (= Only benefactive)	36 of 183
Comparative Constructions	Conjoined Comparative	34 of 167
Predicative Possession	Conjunctional Possessive	59 of 240
Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns	Nominative - accusative (standard)	61 of 172
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
Predicative Adjectives	Predicative adjectives have verbal encoding	151 of 386
Passive Constructions	There is a passive construction	162 of 373
Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals	Zero copula is possible	175 of 386
Order of Person Markers on the Verb	A and P do not or do not both occur on the verb	187 of 379
Periphrastic Causative Constructions	Purposive type but no sequential type	68 of 118
Expression of Pronominal Subjects	Pronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs	437 of 711
Nominal and Locational Predication	Different	269 of 386
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	Deranked	42 of 169
'When' Clauses	Balanced	84 of 174

Vocabulary 4

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
M in Second Person Singular	No m in second person singular	152 of 230
M in First Person Singular	No m in first person singular	177 of 230
N-M Pronouns	No N-M pronouns	194 of 230
M-T Pronouns	No M-T pronouns	200 of 230