Word Order Facts
Menu

Washo

a family of its own in WALS · North America

Washo is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

On Number of Possessive Nouns, WALS codes Washo as “One”, a value held by 3 of the 243 languages coded, the others being Guaraní and Trumai.

WALS lists no other language in the family it assigns to Washo.

The closest grammar profile to Washo in the atlas belongs to Burushaski, a language WALS places in a family of its own: the two agree on 29 of the 41 features both have coded.

Washo: order of head and dependent in 7 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 precedes verb (OV). 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: Postpositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.noungenitive55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Genitive-noun (GenN). 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 precedes noun (AdjN). 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.
The order Washo uses in 7 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Washo with Burushaski or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Closest profiles

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

  • Yuchi family of its own28 of 40
  • Nivkh family of its own25 of 40
  • Yurok Algic25 of 40
  • Ainu family of its own26 of 43

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Washo for 43 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 39 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Washo shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
The Velar NasalVelar nasal, also initially147 of 469

Word structure 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyModerate preference for suffixing123 of 969
Locus of Marking: Whole-language TypologyConsistently head-marking47 of 236
Locus of Marking in the ClauseP is head-marked71 of 236
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun PhrasesPossessor is head-marked78 of 236
ReduplicationProductive full and partial reduplication278 of 368
Zero Marking of A and P ArgumentsNon-zero marking219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Asymmetrical Case-MarkingAdditive-quantitatively asymmetrical case-marking53 of 261
Person Marking on AdpositionsPerson marking for pronouns only83 of 378
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive prefixes255 of 902
Distributive NumeralsMarked by reduplication85 of 251
Conjunctions and Universal QuantifiersFormally different40 of 116
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Numeral ClassifiersNumeral classifiers are absent260 of 400
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsNo gender distinctions254 of 378

Noun phrases 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Possessive ClassificationTwo classes94 of 243
Obligatory Possessive InflectionNo obligatorily possessed nouns201 of 244

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131

Word order 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)373 of 1,367
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at end of sentence314 of 884
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral precedes noun (NumN)479 of 1,154
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)542 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject precedes verb (OV)712 of 1,518
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
Order of Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Person Markers on the VerbP precedes A57 of 379
Negative MorphemesNegative affix395 of 1,157
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard NegationSymmetric standard negation only: Type Sym114 of 297
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard NegationNon-assignable (no asymmetry found)114 of 297
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
Passive ConstructionsThere is no passive construction211 of 373
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs437 of 711

Vocabulary 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
M in Second Person Singularm in second person singular78 of 230
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