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Salinan

Hokan family · Salinan branch · North America

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

On Position of Case Affixes, WALS codes Salinan as “Prepositional clitics”, a value held by 17 of the 1,031 languages coded, French and Malagasy among them.

The closest grammar profile to Salinan in the atlas belongs to Kanuri, a Saharan language: the two agree on 18 of the 40 features both have coded.

Of the 6 Hokan languages profiled here, Salinan departs most often from the family’s usual values.

Salinan: order of head and dependent in 8 constructions← beforeafter →verbsubject80%13%Order of Subject and Verb: Subject follows verb (VS). 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.nounadjectiveadjectiveno dominant order27%64%Order of Adjective and Noun: No dominant order. Of 1,367 languages coded, 373 put the adjective before the noun and 879 after it.noundemonstrative45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN). 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.adjectivedegree word47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Degree word follows adjective (AdjDeg). Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Salinan uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Salinan with Kanuri or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Hokan family

Salinan matches the most frequent Hokan value on 17 of the 38 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (45%).

Where Salinan breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
FeatureSalinanMost relatives
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is possibleZero copula is impossible (5 of 5)
Order of Person Markers on the VerbP precedes AA and P are fused (4 of 5)

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Salinan for 40 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 34 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Salinan shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Word structure 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyApproximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing147 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Definite ArticlesDemonstrative word used as marker of definiteness69 of 620
Person Marking on AdpositionsPerson marking for pronouns only83 of 378
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Numeral ClassifiersNumeral classifiers are absent260 of 400
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsNo gender distinctions254 of 378

Noun phrases 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Obligatory Possessive InflectionObligatorily possessed nouns exist43 of 244
Possessive ClassificationTwo classes94 of 243
Number of Possessive NounsNone reported233 of 243

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesNo tense-aspect inflection152 of 1,131

Word order 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Subject and VerbSubject follows verb (VS)194 of 1,496
Order of Object, Oblique, and VerbMore than one order with none dominant167 of 500
Order of Genitive and NounNoun-genitive (NGen)468 of 1,249
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word follows adjective (AdjDeg)192 of 481
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 Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)542 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject follows verb (VO)705 of 1,518

Simple clauses 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Negative MorphemesDouble negation119 of 1,157
Polar QuestionsInterrogative verb morphology164 of 955
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have verbal encoding151 of 386
Comparative ConstructionsLocational Comparative78 of 167
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingNo zero realization of third person S forms181 of 380
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of both the A and P arguments193 of 378
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingAccusative alignment212 of 380
Passive ConstructionsThere is no passive construction211 of 373
Nominal and Locational PredicationDifferent269 of 386

Vocabulary 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
M in Second Person Singularm in second person singular78 of 230
Hand and ArmDifferent389 of 617
M in First Person SingularNo m in first person singular177 of 230
N-M PronounsNo N-M pronouns194 of 230
M-T PronounsNo M-T pronouns200 of 230
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593