Word Order Facts
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Welsh

Indo-European family · Celtic branch · Eurasia

Welsh 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 its word-order pairings, the one Welsh shares with the fewest languages is Order of Degree Word and Adjective: “Both orders occur with neither order dominant”, the value of 62 of the 481 languages coded.

The least common value coded for Welsh is “Mixed” on Comitatives and Instrumentals, held by 33 of the 322 languages coded.

Its closest grammar profile in the atlas is that of Irish: the two agree on 38 of the 54 features both have coded.

Compared with English, Welsh has the same value on 30 of the 55 features both are coded for (55%).

Welsh: 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 worddegree wordno dominant order47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Both orders occur with neither order dominant. Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Welsh uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Welsh with Irish or with any other language

Inside the Indo-European family

Welsh matches the most frequent Indo-European value on 32 of the 55 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (58%). Among the 39 Indo-European languages profiled here, that rate ranks 36th from the top.

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Welsh for 55 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 52 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Welsh shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Fixed Stress LocationsPenultimate110 of 502
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsNo weight, or weight factor unknown261 of 500
Weight-Sensitive StressFixed stress (no weight-sensitivity)281 of 500

Word structure 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
ReduplicationNo productive reduplication55 of 368
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 13

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsGender distinctions in 3rd person singular only61 of 378
Indefinite ArticlesNo indefinite article but definite article98 of 534
Pronominal and Adnominal DemonstrativesDifferent stems37 of 201
Ordinal NumeralsFirst, second, three-th61 of 321
Person Marking on AdpositionsPerson marking for pronouns only83 of 378
Politeness Distinctions in PronounsSecond person pronouns encode a binary politeness distinction49 of 207
Asymmetrical Case-MarkingNo morphological case-marking81 of 261
Definite ArticlesDefinite word distinct from demonstrative216 of 620
Position of Case AffixesNeither case affixes nor adpositional clitics379 of 1,031
Number of CasesNo morphological case-marking100 of 261
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Distance Contrasts in DemonstrativesTwo-way contrast126 of 234
Intensifiers and Reflexive PronounsIntensifiers and reflexive pronouns are formally identical94 of 168

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Action Nominal ConstructionsErgative-Possessive21 of 168

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal MarkingOverlap for either possibility or necessity66 of 207
The ProhibitiveNormal imperative + special negative182 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
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131
Situational PossibilityVerbal constructions158 of 234

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 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

Simple clauses 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of only the A argument73 of 378
Predicative PossessionLocational Possessive48 of 240
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding132 of 386
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Passive ConstructionsThere is a passive construction162 of 373
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingNo zero realization of third person S forms181 of 380
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA and P do not or do not both occur on the verb187 of 379
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is impossible211 of 386
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingAccusative alignment212 of 380
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Nominal and Locational PredicationDifferent269 of 386

Vocabulary 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
TeaWords derived from Min Nan Chinese te84 of 230
Hand and ArmDifferent389 of 617
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593