Pipil

Uto-Aztecan family · Aztecan branch · North America

WALS records no dominant basic order of subject, object and verb for Pipil, a group that holds 189 of the 1,376 languages it codes for this feature.

On Comitatives and Instrumentals, all 9 other Uto-Aztecan languages coded have the value “Differentiation”; Pipil has “Identity”.

The order Pipil uses in 7 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Pipil with Nahuatl (Tetelcingo) or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Person Marking on AdpositionsPerson marking for pronouns and nouns23 of 378
Third Person Pronouns and DemonstrativesRelated to remote demonstratives18 of 225
Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson-number stem with a nominal plural affix22 of 261
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingZero in all 3rd person forms36 of 380

Inside the Uto-Aztecan family

Pipil matches the most frequent Uto-Aztecan value on 31 of the 56 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (55%). Among the 11 Uto-Aztecan languages profiled here, that rate ranks tenth from the top.

Closest profiles

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

Nahuatl (Tetelcingo) Uto-Aztecan31 of 45
Fijian Austronesian39 of 59
Nez Perce Penutian27 of 40
Kutenai family of its own37 of 57
Wichí Matacoan34 of 52

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Pipil for 61 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 55 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Pipil shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 1

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
The Velar Nasal	No velar nasal	235 of 469

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: Whole-language Typology	Consistently head-marking	47 of 236
Locus of Marking in the Clause	P is head-marked	71 of 236
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun Phrases	Possessor is head-marked	78 of 236
Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb	4-5 categories per word	52 of 145
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 14

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Indefinite Articles	Indefinite word distinct from numeral for 'one'	102 of 534
Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes	Possessive prefixes	255 of 902
Distributive Numerals	Marked by reduplication	85 of 251
Definite Articles	Definite word distinct from demonstrative	216 of 620
Position of Case Affixes	Neither case affixes nor adpositional clitics	379 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal Plurality	Plural suffix	513 of 1,066
Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives	Two-way contrast	126 of 234
Number of Genders	None	145 of 257
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems	No gender system	145 of 257
Systems of Gender Assignment	No gender system	145 of 257
Numeral Classifiers	Numeral classifiers are absent	260 of 400
Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns	Second person pronouns encode no politeness distinction	136 of 207
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns	No gender distinctions	254 of 378
Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives	Same forms	143 of 201

Noun phrases 1

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Noun Phrase Conjunction	WITH-languages: 'and' and 'with' are identical	103 of 234

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 10

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Suppletion According to Tense and Aspect	Suppletion according to tense	36 of 193
The Prohibitive	Normal imperative + special negative	182 of 496
Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality	No grammatical evidentials	181 of 418
Coding of Evidentiality	No grammatical evidentials	181 of 418
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
Suppletion in Imperatives and Hortatives	None (= no suppletive imperatives reported in the reference material)	153 of 193
Verbal Number and Suppletion	No singular-(dual)-plural pairs/triples	159 of 193
The Optative	Inflectional optative absent	271 of 319

Word order 9

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Order of Subject and Verb	Subject follows verb (VS)	194 of 1,496
Order of Adjective and Noun	Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)	373 of 1,367
Order of Genitive and Noun	Noun-genitive (NGen)	468 of 1,249
Position of Polar Question Particles	No question particle	355 of 884
Order of Numeral and Noun	Numeral precedes noun (NumN)	479 of 1,154
Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase	Prepositions	511 of 1,184
Order of Object and Verb	Object follows verb (VO)	705 of 1,518
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause	Initial subordinator word	398 of 659
Order of Relative Clause and Noun	Relative clause follows noun (NRel)	579 of 824

Simple clauses 7

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Polar Questions	Interrogative intonation only	173 of 955
Order of Person Markers on the Verb	A precedes P	96 of 379
Negative Morphemes	Negative particle	502 of 1,157
Passive Constructions	There is a passive construction	162 of 373
Verbal Person Marking	Person marking of both the A and P arguments	193 of 378
Alignment of Verbal Person Marking	Accusative alignment	212 of 380
Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions	Morphological type but no compound type	254 of 310

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