Yurok

Algic family · Yurok branch · North America

WALS records no dominant basic order of subject, object and verb for Yurok, a group that holds 189 of the 1,376 languages it codes for this feature.

Of the 5 Algic languages profiled here, Yurok departs most often from the family’s usual values.

On Coding of Nominal Plurality, 6 of 7 other Algic languages coded have the value “Plural suffix”; Yurok has “Morphological plural with no method primary”.

On Glottalized Consonants, WALS codes Yurok as “Ejectives and glottalized resonants”, a value held by 20 of the 567 languages coded, Slave and Kutenai among them.

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

Contrast Yurok with Wiyot or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard NegationA/NonReal and A/Cat11 of 297
N-M PronounsN-M pronouns, non-paradigmatic11 of 230
Order of Adposition and Noun PhraseMore than one adposition type with none dominant58 of 1,184
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA and P are fused20 of 379
Situational PossibilityOther kinds of markers13 of 234
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle in second position in sentence52 of 884
Order of Object and VerbBoth orders with neither order dominant101 of 1,518
Order of Relative Clause and NounMixed types of relative clause with none dominant64 of 824

Inside the Algic family

Yurok matches the most frequent Algic value on 28 of the 55 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (51%).

Closest profiles

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

Wiyot Algic31 of 41
Nez Perce Penutian47 of 77
Karok Hokan50 of 83
Armenian (Eastern) Indo-European48 of 80
Slave Na-Dene52 of 89

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Yurok for 94 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 83 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Yurok shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 14

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Lateral Consonants	/l/ and lateral obstruents	47 of 567
Consonant Inventories	Moderately large	94 of 563
Consonant-Vowel Ratio	Moderately high	102 of 564
Syllable Structure	Complex syllable structure	151 of 486
Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives	No voicing contrast	182 of 567
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems	Other	242 of 567
The Velar Nasal	No velar nasal	235 of 469
Vowel Quality Inventories	Average vowel inventory (5-6)	287 of 564
Tone	No tones	307 of 527
Vowel Nasalization	Contrastive nasal vowels absent	180 of 244
Presence of Uncommon Consonants	None	449 of 567
Uvular Consonants	No uvulars	470 of 567
Absence of Common Consonants	All present	503 of 567
Front Rounded Vowels	None	525 of 562

Word structure 12

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Case Syncretism	Inflectional case marking is syncretic for core cases only	18 of 198
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology	Moderate preference for suffixing	123 of 969
Locus of Marking: Whole-language Typology	Consistently head-marking	47 of 236
Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb	6-7 categories per word	31 of 145
Locus of Marking in the Clause	P is head-marked	71 of 236
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun Phrases	Possessor is head-marked	78 of 236
Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking	Subject person/number marking is never syncretic	81 of 198
Exponence of Selected Inflectional Formatives	No case	75 of 162
Reduplication	Productive full and partial reduplication	278 of 368
Fusion of Selected Inflectional Formatives	Exclusively concatenative	125 of 165
Exponence of Tense-Aspect-Mood Inflection	monoexponential TAM	127 of 160
Zero Marking of A and P Arguments	Non-zero marking	219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 15

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Number of Cases	Exclusively borderline morphological case-marking	24 of 261
Definite Articles	Demonstrative word used as marker of definiteness	69 of 620
Asymmetrical Case-Marking	Additive-quantitatively asymmetrical case-marking	53 of 261
Third Person Pronouns and Demonstratives	Related for all demonstratives	52 of 225
Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes	Possessive prefixes	255 of 902
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection	No inclusive/exclusive opposition	79 of 200
Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns	Person-number stem	114 of 261
Position of Case Affixes	Case suffixes	452 of 1,031
Person Marking on Adpositions	Adpositions without person marking	209 of 378
Number of Genders	None	145 of 257
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems	No gender system	145 of 257
Systems of Gender Assignment	No gender system	145 of 257
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns	No inclusive/exclusive opposition	120 of 200
Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns	Second person pronouns encode no politeness distinction	136 of 207
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns	No gender distinctions	254 of 378

Noun phrases 4

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Possessive Classification	Two classes	94 of 243
Noun Phrase Conjunction	AND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical	131 of 234
Obligatory Possessive Inflection	No obligatorily possessed nouns	201 of 244
Number of Possessive Nouns	None reported	233 of 243

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 9

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
The Prohibitive	Special imperative + normal negative	55 of 496
Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes	No tense-aspect inflection	152 of 1,131
Epistemic Possibility	Other	91 of 240
Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality	No grammatical evidentials	181 of 418
Coding of Evidentiality	No grammatical evidentials	181 of 418
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking	No overlap	105 of 207
The Morphological Imperative	Second singular and second plural	292 of 548
Imperative-Hortative Systems	The language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system	201 of 375
The Optative	Inflectional optative absent	271 of 319

Word order 9

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Order of Adjective and Noun	Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)	373 of 1,367
Order of Object, Oblique, and Verb	More than one order with none dominant	167 of 500
Order of Numeral and Noun	Numeral precedes noun (NumN)	479 of 1,154
Order of Demonstrative and Noun	Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)	542 of 1,225
Order of Degree Word and Adjective	Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj)	227 of 481
Order of Genitive and Noun	Genitive-noun (GenN)	685 of 1,249
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause	Initial subordinator word	398 of 659
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions	Interrogative phrases not obligatorily initial	615 of 902
Order of Subject and Verb	Subject precedes verb (SV)	1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 17

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns	Nominative - accusative (standard)	61 of 172
Predicative Adjectives	Predicative adjectives have verbal encoding	151 of 386
Negative Morphemes	Negative particle	502 of 1,157
Passive Constructions	There is a passive construction	162 of 373
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation	Symmetric and asymmetric standard negation: Type SymAsy	130 of 297
Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals	Zero copula is possible	175 of 386
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking	No zero realization of third person S forms	181 of 380
Verbal Person Marking	Person marking of both the A and P arguments	193 of 378
Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases	Neutral	98 of 190
Applicative Constructions	No applicative construction	100 of 183
Other Roles of Applied Objects	No applicative construction	100 of 183
Alignment of Verbal Person Marking	Accusative alignment	212 of 380
Polar Questions	Question particle	585 of 955
Expression of Pronominal Subjects	Pronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs	437 of 711
Nominal and Locational Predication	Different	269 of 386
Antipassive Constructions	No antipassive	146 of 194
Productivity of the Antipassive Construction	no antipassive	146 of 186

Vocabulary 3

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
M in Second Person Singular	m in second person singular	78 of 230
M in First Person Singular	No m in first person singular	177 of 230
M-T Pronouns	No M-T pronouns	200 of 230