Word Order Facts
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Romanian

Indo-European family · Romance branch · Eurasia

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

Within the Romance branch, all 6 other languages coded for Imperative-Hortative Systems have the value “The language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system”; Romanian has “The language has a maximal system, but not a minimal one”.

Romanian: 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 follows verb (VO). 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: Prepositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.noungenitive55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Noun-genitive (NGen). 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 follows noun (NAdj). Of 1,367 languages coded, 373 put the adjective before the noun and 879 after it.noundemonstrativedemonstrativeMixed45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Two or more of above types with none dominant. 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 clause17%70%Order of Relative Clause and Noun: Relative clause follows noun (NRel). 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 Romanian uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Romanian with Catalan or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Indo-European family

Romanian matches the most frequent Indo-European value on 46 of the 67 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (69%). Among the 39 Indo-European languages profiled here, that rate ranks 18th from the top.

Where Romanian breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
FeatureRomanianMost relatives
Definite ArticlesDefinite affix on nounDefinite word distinct from demonstrative (4 of 4, Romance branch)
Ordinal NumeralsFirst, two-th, three-thFirst, second, three-th (10 of 11, Romance branch)

Closest profiles

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

Outside the Indo-European family, the best match is Igbo (Niger-Congo), with 30 of 47 features alike.

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Romanian for 67 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 57 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Romanian shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 14

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Weight-Sensitive StressRight-edge: Stress on ultimate or penultimate syllable65 of 500
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives158 of 567
Vowel Quality InventoriesLarge vowel inventory (7-14)184 of 564
Consonant InventoriesAverage201 of 563
Consonant-Vowel RatioAverage234 of 564
Fixed Stress LocationsNo fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress)220 of 502
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems/p t k b d g/255 of 567
ToneNo tones307 of 527
Lateral Consonants/l/, no obstruent laterals388 of 567
Glottalized ConsonantsNo glottalized consonants409 of 567
Presence of Uncommon ConsonantsNone449 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Absence of Common ConsonantsAll present503 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Word structure 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Asymmetrical Case-MarkingAdditive-quantitatively asymmetrical case-marking53 of 261
Indefinite ArticlesNumeral for 'one' is used as indefinite article112 of 534
Comitatives and InstrumentalsIdentity76 of 322
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesNo possessive affixes260 of 902
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Intensifiers and Reflexive PronounsIntensifiers and reflexive pronouns are formally differentiated74 of 168
Occurrence of Nominal PluralityPlural in all nouns, always obligatory133 of 291
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Indefinite PronounsInterrogative-based indefinites194 of 326

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Noun Phrase ConjunctionAND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical131 of 234

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
The ProhibitiveSpecial imperative + normal negative55 of 496
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal MarkingOverlap for both possibility and necessity36 of 207
Epistemic PossibilityVerbal constructions65 of 240
The Past TensePast/non-past distinction marked; no remoteness distinction94 of 222
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
Coding of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
Perfective/Imperfective AspectGrammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction101 of 222
The Future TenseNo inflectional marking of future/non-future distinction112 of 222
The PerfectNo perfect114 of 222
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131
Situational PossibilityVerbal constructions158 of 234

Word order 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases obligatorily initial264 of 902
Order of Genitive and NounNoun-genitive (NGen)468 of 1,249
Position of Polar Question ParticlesNo question particle355 of 884
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral precedes noun (NumN)479 of 1,154
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePrepositions511 of 1,184
Order of Object and VerbObject follows verb (VO)705 of 1,518
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word precedes adjective (DegAdj)227 of 481
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and ClauseInitial subordinator word398 of 659
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)879 of 1,367
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause follows noun (NRel)579 of 824
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Polar QuestionsInterrogative intonation only173 of 955
Predicative PossessionHave-Possessive63 of 240
Nominal and Locational PredicationIdentical117 of 386
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding132 of 386
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is impossible211 of 386
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate NegationNegative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation170 of 206

Complex sentences 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
'Want' Complement SubjectsThe complement subject is expressed overtly72 of 283

Vocabulary 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Hand and ArmDifferent389 of 617
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593