Zoque (Copainalá)
Mixe-Zoque family · North America
Zoque (Copainalá) puts its words in verb-object-subject order (VOS), one of only 25 with that basic order among the 1,376 languages WALS codes for this feature.
On Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase, WALS codes Zoque (Copainalá) as “No adpositions”, a value held by 30 of the 1,184 languages coded, Kayardild and Ngiyambaa among them.
The closest grammar profile to Zoque (Copainalá) in the atlas belongs to Miwok (Southern Sierra), a Penutian language: the two agree on 49 of the 76 features both have coded.
On Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard Negation, WALS codes Zoque (Copainalá) as “In finiteness and reality status: Subtypes A/Fin and A/NonReal”, a value held by 9 of the 297 languages coded, Korean and Chukchi among them.
Contrast Zoque (Copainalá) with Miwok (Southern Sierra) or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Zoque (Copainalá), rarest first.
- Negative MorphemesNegative auxiliary verb47 of 1,157
- Order of Person Markers on the VerbA and P are fused20 of 379
- Locus of Marking: Whole-language TypologyConsistently double-marking16 of 236
- Productivity of the Antipassive Constructionpartially productive14 of 186
- Applicative ConstructionsBenefactive object only; both bases16 of 183
- Number of Cases2 case categories23 of 261
- Antipassive ConstructionsAntipassive with patient-like argument left implicit18 of 194
- Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun PhrasesPossessor is double-marked22 of 236
Inside the Mixe-Zoque family
Zoque (Copainalá) matches the most frequent Mixe-Zoque value on 7 of the 13 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (54%).
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Zoque (Copainalá); the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Zoque (Copainalá) for 99 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 88 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Zoque (Copainalá) shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 18
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | Moderately low | 101 of 564 |
| The Velar Nasal | Velar nasal, but not initially | 87 of 469 |
| Consonant Inventories | Moderately small | 122 of 563 |
| Fixed Stress Locations | Penultimate | 110 of 502 |
| 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 |
| Rhythm Types | Trochaic: left-hand syllable in the foot is strong | 153 of 323 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Average vowel inventory (5-6) | 287 of 564 |
| Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress Systems | No weight, or weight factor unknown | 261 of 500 |
| Weight-Sensitive Stress | Fixed stress (no weight-sensitivity) | 281 of 500 |
| Tone | No tones | 307 of 527 |
| Lateral Consonants | /l/, no obstruent laterals | 388 of 567 |
| Glottalized Consonants | No glottalized consonants | 409 of 567 |
| 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 9
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Approximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing | 147 of 969 |
| Case Syncretism | Inflectional case marking is never syncretic | 35 of 198 |
| Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb | 6-7 categories per word | 31 of 145 |
| Locus of Marking in the Clause | P is double-marked | 58 of 236 |
| Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking | Subject person/number marking is never syncretic | 81 of 198 |
| Exponence of Selected Inflectional Formatives | Monoexponential case | 71 of 162 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection | Inclusive and exclusive differentiated | 30 of 200 |
| Person Marking on Adpositions | No adpositions | 63 of 378 |
| Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes | Possessive prefixes | 255 of 902 |
| Asymmetrical Case-Marking | Symmetrical case-marking | 79 of 261 |
| Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns | Inclusive and exclusive differentiated | 63 of 200 |
| Definite Articles | Definite word distinct from demonstrative | 216 of 620 |
| Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns | Person-number stem | 114 of 261 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Case suffixes | 452 of 1,031 |
| Intensifiers and Reflexive Pronouns | Intensifiers and reflexive pronouns are formally differentiated | 74 of 168 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural suffix | 513 of 1,066 |
| 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 |
| 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 | No possessive classification | 125 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 13
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| The Prohibitive | Special imperative + special negative | 146 of 496 |
| Coding of Evidentiality | Verbal affix or clitic | 131 of 418 |
| Epistemic Possibility | Affixes on verbs | 84 of 240 |
| The Perfect | Other perfect | 80 of 222 |
| Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality | Only indirect evidentials | 166 of 418 |
| The Past Tense | Past/non-past distinction marked; no remoteness distinction | 94 of 222 |
| Perfective/Imperfective Aspect | Grammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction | 101 of 222 |
| The Future Tense | No inflectional marking of future/non-future distinction | 112 of 222 |
| 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 |
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Tense-aspect suffixes | 667 of 1,131 |
| Situational Possibility | Verbal constructions | 158 of 234 |
Word order 8
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject follows verb (VS) | 194 of 1,496 |
| Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause | More than one type of adverbial subordinators with none dominant | 93 of 659 |
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN) | 373 of 1,367 |
| Position of Polar Question Particles | No question particle | 355 of 884 |
| Order of Demonstrative and Noun | Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN) | 542 of 1,225 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object follows verb (VO) | 705 of 1,518 |
| 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 |
Simple clauses 14
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns | Ergative - absolutive | 20 of 172 |
| Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases | Ergative - absolutive | 32 of 190 |
| Polar Questions | Interrogative verb morphology | 164 of 955 |
| Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation | Asymmetric standard negation only: Type Asy | 53 of 297 |
| Other Roles of Applied Objects | No other roles (= Only benefactive) | 36 of 183 |
| Predicative Possession | Conjunctional Possessive | 59 of 240 |
| Predicative Adjectives | Predicative adjectives have verbal encoding | 151 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 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is impossible | 211 of 386 |
| Alignment of Verbal Person Marking | Accusative alignment | 212 of 380 |
| Passive Constructions | There is no passive construction | 211 of 373 |
| Expression of Pronominal Subjects | Pronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs | 437 of 711 |
| Nominal and Locational Predication | Different | 269 of 386 |
Vocabulary 7
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Numeral Bases | Pure vigesimal | 20 of 196 |
| Tea | Others | 36 of 230 |
| 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 |
| N-M Pronouns | No N-M pronouns | 194 of 230 |
| M-T Pronouns | No M-T pronouns | 200 of 230 |
| Finger and Hand | Different | 521 of 593 |