Word Order Facts
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So

Eastern Sudanic family · Kuliak branch · Africa

So puts its words in verb-subject-object order (VSO), one of only 95 with that basic order among the 1,376 languages WALS codes for this feature.

The closest grammar profile to So in the atlas belongs to Kanuri, a Saharan language: the two agree on 24 of the 41 features both have coded.

On Numeral Classifiers, all 7 other Eastern Sudanic languages coded have the value “Numeral classifiers are absent”; So has “Numeral classifiers are obligatory”.

So: 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.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.noundemonstrative45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Demonstrative word follows noun (NDem). Of 1,225 languages coded, 551 put the demonstrative before the noun and 590 after it.nounnumeral42%53%Order of Numeral and Noun: Numeral follows noun (NNum). 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.
The order So uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast So with Kanuri or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Eastern Sudanic family

So matches the most frequent Eastern Sudanic value on 24 of the 41 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (59%). Among the 11 Eastern Sudanic languages profiled here, that rate ranks eighth from the top.

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes So for 43 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 40 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value So shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Word structure 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyModerate preference for suffixing123 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Pronominal and Adnominal DemonstrativesDifferent stems37 of 201
Ordinal NumeralsFirst, second, three-th61 of 321
Person Marking on AdpositionsPerson marking for pronouns only83 of 378
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive suffixes355 of 902
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Distance Contrasts in DemonstrativesTwo-way contrast126 of 234
Comitatives and InstrumentalsDifferentiation213 of 322
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsNo gender distinctions254 of 378

Noun phrases 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Genitives, Adjectives and Relative ClausesAdjectives and relative clauses collapsed33 of 138
Nominal and Verbal ConjunctionNominal and verbal conjunction are different125 of 301

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect prefixes153 of 1,131
The ProhibitiveNormal imperative + normal negative113 of 496
Epistemic PossibilityOther91 of 240
The Morphological ImperativeSecond singular and second plural292 of 548
Imperative-Hortative SystemsThe language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system201 of 375

Word order 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Subject and VerbSubject follows verb (VS)194 of 1,496
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases obligatorily initial264 of 902
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at end of sentence314 of 884
Order of Genitive and NounNoun-genitive (NGen)468 of 1,249
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePrepositions511 of 1,184
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word follows noun (NDem)562 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject follows verb (VO)705 of 1,518
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral follows noun (NNum)608 of 1,154
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

Simple clauses 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of only the A argument73 of 378
Predicative PossessionConjunctional Possessive59 of 240
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard NegationIn other grammatical categories: Subtype A/Cat82 of 297
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Passive ConstructionsThere is a passive construction162 of 373
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard NegationSymmetric and asymmetric standard negation: Type SymAsy130 of 297
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA and P do not or do not both occur on the verb187 of 379
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'Indirect-object construction189 of 378
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingAccusative alignment212 of 380
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs437 of 711

Complex sentences 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Relativization on SubjectsGap125 of 166

Vocabulary 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Numeral BasesDecimal125 of 196