Polish
Indo-European family · Slavic branch · Eurasia
Polish is an SVO language, like 488 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
Within the Slavic branch, all 6 other languages coded for Hand and Arm have the value “Identity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm'”; Polish has “Different”.
On Expression of Pronominal Subjects, WALS codes Polish 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.
Of its word-order pairings, the one Polish shares with the fewest languages is Order of Subject and Verb: “Both orders with neither order dominant”, the value of 110 of the 1,496 languages coded.
The least common value coded for Polish is “Syncretism in relevant NP-types” on Asymmetrical Case-Marking, held by 21 of the 261 languages coded.
Contrast Polish with Lithuanian or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Polish, rarest first.
- Distributive NumeralsMarked by preceding word21 of 251
- Reciprocal ConstructionsMixed16 of 175
Inside the Indo-European family
Polish matches the most frequent Indo-European value on 54 of the 74 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (73%). Among the 39 Indo-European languages profiled here, that rate ranks seventh from the top.
| Feature | Polish | Most relatives |
|---|---|---|
| Tea | Others | Words derived from Sinitic cha (8 of 8, Slavic branch) |
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Polish; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
Outside the Indo-European family, the best match is Kannada (Dravidian), with 42 of 68 features alike.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Polish for 74 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 66 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Polish shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 17
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant Inventories | Large | 57 of 563 |
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | Moderately high | 102 of 564 |
| Fixed Stress Locations | Penultimate | 110 of 502 |
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | Voicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives | 158 of 567 |
| Syllable Structure | Complex syllable structure | 151 of 486 |
| Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems | /p t k b d g/ | 255 of 567 |
| Rhythm Types | Trochaic: left-hand syllable in the foot is strong | 153 of 323 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Average vowel inventory (5-6) | 287 of 564 |
| 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 |
| Lateral Consonants | /l/, no obstruent laterals | 388 of 567 |
| Glottalized Consonants | No glottalized consonants | 409 of 567 |
| 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 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Predominantly suffixing | 406 of 969 |
Nouns and pronouns 13
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | 3rd person only, but also non-singular | 42 of 378 |
| Number of Cases | 6-7 case categories | 37 of 261 |
| Ordinal Numerals | First, second, three-th | 61 of 321 |
| Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns | Second person pronouns encode a binary politeness distinction | 49 of 207 |
| Definite Articles | Neither definite nor indefinite article | 198 of 620 |
| Indefinite Articles | Neither indefinite nor definite | 198 of 534 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Case suffixes | 452 of 1,031 |
| Intensifiers and Reflexive Pronouns | Intensifiers and reflexive pronouns are formally differentiated | 74 of 168 |
| The Associative Plural | Associative plural marker also used for additive plurals | 104 of 236 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural suffix | 513 of 1,066 |
| Person Marking on Adpositions | Adpositions without person marking | 209 of 378 |
| Indefinite Pronouns | Interrogative-based indefinites | 194 of 326 |
| Comitatives and Instrumentals | Differentiation | 213 of 322 |
Noun phrases 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Noun Phrase Conjunction | AND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical | 131 of 234 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 10
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Suppletion According to Tense and Aspect | Suppletion in both tense and aspect | 24 of 193 |
| Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking | Overlap for both possibility and necessity | 36 of 207 |
| The Prohibitive | Normal imperative + normal negative | 113 of 496 |
| Epistemic Possibility | Verbal constructions | 65 of 240 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
Word order 11
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Polar Question Particles | Question particle at beginning of sentence | 129 of 884 |
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN) | 373 of 1,367 |
| Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions | Interrogative phrases obligatorily initial | 264 of 902 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Noun-genitive (NGen) | 468 of 1,249 |
| 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 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 |
| Order of Relative Clause and Noun | Relative clause follows noun (NRel) | 579 of 824 |
Simple clauses 12
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Verbal Person Marking | Person marking of only the A argument | 73 of 378 |
| Predicative Possession | Have-Possessive | 63 of 240 |
| Nominal and Locational Predication | Identical | 117 of 386 |
| Predicative Adjectives | Predicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding | 132 of 386 |
| Negative Morphemes | Negative particle | 502 of 1,157 |
| Passive Constructions | There is a passive construction | 162 of 373 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is possible | 175 of 386 |
| Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking | No zero realization of third person S forms | 181 of 380 |
| Order of Person Markers on the Verb | A and P do not or do not both occur on the verb | 187 of 379 |
| Alignment of Verbal Person Marking | Accusative alignment | 212 of 380 |
| Polar Questions | Question particle | 585 of 955 |
| Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate Negation | Negative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation | 170 of 206 |
Vocabulary 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Finger and Hand | Different | 521 of 593 |