Word Order Facts
Menu

Tlapanec

Oto-Manguean family · Subtiaba-Tlapanec branch · North America

Tlapanec 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.

Of the 4 Oto-Manguean languages profiled here, Tlapanec follows the family’s usual values most closely.

On Position of Case Affixes, 12 of 15 other Oto-Manguean languages coded have the value “Neither case affixes nor adpositional clitics”; Tlapanec has “Case suffixes”.

Tlapanec: order of head and dependent in 9 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 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 Tlapanec uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Tlapanec with Chinantec (Lealao) or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Oto-Manguean family

Tlapanec matches the most frequent Oto-Manguean value on 33 of the 40 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (82%).

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Tlapanec for 40 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 36 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Tlapanec shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
ToneComplex tone system88 of 527
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in plosives alone189 of 567
Consonant InventoriesAverage201 of 563
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems/p t k b d g/255 of 567
The Velar NasalNo velar nasal235 of 469
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

Word structure 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyApproximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing147 of 969
ReduplicationProductive full and partial reduplication278 of 368

Nouns and pronouns 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Comitatives and InstrumentalsIdentity76 of 322
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive suffixes355 of 902

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect prefixes153 of 1,131
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
Coding of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418

Word order 12

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Subject and VerbSubject follows verb (VS)194 of 1,496
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at beginning of sentence129 of 884
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases obligatorily initial264 of 902
Order of Genitive and NounNoun-genitive (NGen)468 of 1,249
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral precedes noun (NumN)479 of 1,154
Order of Object, Oblique, and VerbVerb-object-oblique (VOX)210 of 500
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 Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word precedes adjective (DegAdj)227 of 481
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 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Negative MorphemesNegative affix395 of 1,157
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955

Vocabulary 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Hand and ArmIdentity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm'228 of 617
Number of Non-Derived Basic Colour Categories5 categories56 of 119
Green and BlueGreen-or-blue ('grue')68 of 120
Red and YellowRed and yellow98 of 120
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593