Word Order Facts
Menu

Zuni

a family of its own in WALS · North America

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

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

The closest grammar profile to Zuni in the atlas belongs to Haida, a language WALS places in a family of its own: the two agree on 39 of the 60 features both have coded.

Zuni: 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 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 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 Zuni uses in 7 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Zuni with Haida or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Zuni for 74 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 70 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Zuni shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 16

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Glottalized ConsonantsEjectives only58 of 567
Fixed Stress LocationsInitial: stress is on the first syllable92 of 502
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesNo voicing contrast182 of 567
Consonant InventoriesAverage201 of 563
Consonant-Vowel RatioAverage234 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 of 567
The Velar NasalNo velar nasal235 of 469
Vowel Quality InventoriesAverage vowel inventory (5-6)287 of 564
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsNo weight, or weight factor unknown261 of 500
Weight-Sensitive StressFixed stress (no weight-sensitivity)281 of 500
Syllable StructureModerately complex syllable structure274 of 486
ToneNo tones307 of 527
Presence of Uncommon ConsonantsNone449 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Absence of Common ConsonantsAll present503 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Word structure 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
ReduplicationNo productive reduplication55 of 368
Locus of Marking in the ClauseP is double-marked58 of 236
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun PhrasesPossessor is head-marked78 of 236
Locus of Marking: Whole-language TypologyInconsistent marking or other type121 of 236
Zero Marking of A and P ArgumentsNon-zero marking219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 13

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Person Marking on AdpositionsNo adpositions63 of 378
Asymmetrical Case-MarkingAdditive-quantitatively asymmetrical case-marking53 of 261
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesNo possessive affixes260 of 902
Number of CasesNo morphological case-marking100 of 261
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Occurrence of Nominal PluralityPlural in all nouns, always obligatory133 of 291
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Number of GendersNone145 of 257
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender SystemsNo gender system145 of 257
Systems of Gender AssignmentNo gender system145 of 257
Indefinite PronounsInterrogative-based indefinites194 of 326
Numeral ClassifiersNumeral classifiers are absent260 of 400
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsNo gender distinctions254 of 378

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Nominal and Verbal ConjunctionNominal and verbal conjunction are different125 of 301

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 13

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
The OptativeInflectional optative present48 of 319
The Morphological ImperativeNo second-person imperatives122 of 548
Imperative-Hortative SystemsThe language has a maximal system, but not a minimal one133 of 375
The ProhibitiveNormal imperative + special negative182 of 496
The Past TensePast/non-past distinction marked; no remoteness distinction94 of 222
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
Coding of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
The Future TenseNo inflectional marking of future/non-future distinction112 of 222
The PerfectNo perfect114 of 222
Perfective/Imperfective AspectNo grammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction121 of 222
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131
Suppletion According to Tense and AspectNo suppletion in tense or aspect123 of 193
Suppletion in Imperatives and HortativesNone (= no suppletive imperatives reported in the reference material)153 of 193

Word order 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases obligatorily initial264 of 902
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 Adjective and NounModifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)879 of 1,367
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Negative MorphemesDouble negation119 of 1,157
Verbal Person MarkingNo person marking of any argument82 of 378
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingNeutral alignment (no verbal person marking)84 of 380
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingNo person marking of the S96 of 380
Passive ConstructionsThere is a passive construction162 of 373
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA and P do not or do not both occur on the verb187 of 379
Nonperiphrastic Causative ConstructionsMorphological type but no compound type254 of 310
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate NegationNegative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation170 of 206

Vocabulary 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Hand and ArmIdentity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm'228 of 617
M in Second Person SingularNo m in second person singular152 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
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593