Kuuk Thaayorre

Family
Pama-Nyungan
Region
Australia
ISO 639-3
thd
Location
-14.82°, 141.85°
Notes
Features
Flora Fauna Vocabulary
Grammatical Data
Ethnographic Information
Data Sources
none


Flora Fauna Vocabulary (129)
English Spanish Portuguese Semantic Field Part of Speech Linnean Name Orthographic Form Phonemicized Form Gloss as in Source Etymology Code Proto-Form Proto-Language Loan Source Etymology Notes Wanderwort Status Etyma Set Range of Term Word Structure Word Structure Notes Classifier Classifier Notes Hypernym Source Association with Social Categories Ritual/Mythologically Significant Ritual Notes Food Source Food Notes Medicinal Medicinal Notes How Collected Who Collects How Prepared Psychotropic Psychotropic Notes Traded Trade Notes Distribution Habitat Dangerous Ethnobiology Notes Species Notes General Notes
agile wallaby, river wallaby flora-fauna Macropus agilis kothon; minh- kothon; minh- unique underived 0 1 0 0 0 no
ant (generic) hormiga formiga flora-fauna Formicidae missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
Australian pelican flora-fauna Pelecanus conspicillatus thaarr+muthurr; minh- thaarr+muthurr; minh- unique compound thaarr poss < thaarrn 'strong, sturdy, hard' 0 0 0 0 0 no
Australian snubfin dolphin flora-fauna Orcaella heinsohnii thiith; ngat- thiith; ngat- unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
baler shell flora-fauna Melo amphora wele wele unique Poss. to YYoront wel, wele 'chitinous sunstance' underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
bandicoot flora-fauna Peramelemorphia pink; minh- pink unique 0 0 0 0 0
barn owl flora-fauna Tyto alba pu(u)lapurr; minh- pu(u)lapurr; minh- unique compound ?? 0 0 0 0 0 no
barramundi flora-fauna Lates calcarifer pimp; ngat pimp; ngat unique underived 1 1 0 0 0 no
bat murciélago morcego flora-fauna Chiroptera spp mal; minh- & nhhungk; minh- minh-mal & minh-nhungk inheritance *mali pPaman Poss. more widely distributed than Paman underived 0 1 0 0 0 no
bindii, caltrop flora-fauna Tribulus terrestris missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
bird pajaro, ave passaro flora-fauna marr; minh- minh-marr unique < pPNy *marra; reflexes usually 'wing' or '(wing) feather' underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
black-breasted buzzard flora-fauna Hamirostra melanosternon missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
black-faced cuckoo-shrike flora-fauna Coracina novaehollandiae way; minh- minh-way loan direction unknown Yir-Yoront to YYoront wey+w; poss. < *waya underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
black-headed python flora-fauna Aspidites melanocephalus missing missing missing 0 2 0 0 0 no
black-soil yam flora-fauna Ipomoea diamantinensis missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 0 no
bloodwood flora-fauna Eucalyptus (Corymbia) bleeseri kampur; yuk- kampur; yuk- unique underived 0 1 1 0 0 no
blowfly maggots flora-fauna Diptera, Sarcophagidae papar papar inheritance *palparV pPaman To YYoront palpar underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
blue-tongue lizard flora-fauna Tiliqua species thaakutur; minh- thaakutur; minh- unique compound With thaa+ 'mouth' 0 1 0 0 0 no
blue-winged kookaburra flora-fauna Dacelo leachii missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
bluebone flora-fauna Choerodon cyanodus missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 0 no
brolga flora-fauna Grus rubicunda puntil; minh- minh-puntil unique Poss. containing punt 'elbow' < pPaman *punti. underived 1 0 0 0 0 no
brown goshawk flora-fauna Accipiter fasciatus missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
brush-tailed possum flora-fauna Trichosurus vulpecula kuln; minh- & thutp; minh- kuln; minh- & thutp; minh- inheritance *kulan pPama-Maric *kulan attested as far south as Yugambeh underived see Other Notes 0 1 0 0 0 no
bush cockroach flora-fauna (many species) missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
bush stone-curlew flora-fauna Burhinus grallarius missing missing missing 1 0 0 0 0 no
bush tobacco flora-fauna Lobelia quadrangularis missing missing missing 0 0 0 1 0 no
bush turkey, Australian bustard flora-fauna Ardeotis australis themthem; minh- minh-them+them loan direction unknown to YYoront themthem; loan status assumed reduplicated 0 1 0 0 0 no
bush yam flora-fauna Vigna lanceolata var. lanceolata missing missing missing 0 1 2 0 1 no
butterfly, moth mariposa borboleta flora-fauna Lepidoptera mopun; ruurr- mopun; ruurr- unique Poss. calque underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
carpet snake flora-fauna Morelia spilota missing missing 0 1 0 0 0
caterpillar flora-fauna Lepidoptera maananhth; ruurr- & thuulal; ruurr- & thut+put+pan maananhth; ruurr- & thuulal; ruurr- & thut+put+pan unique underived thutputpan is compound 0 0 0 0 0 no
catfish flora-fauna (many species) missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 0 no
centipede ciempiés centopéia flora-fauna Chilopoda, Myriapoda thene; ruurr- thene; ruurr- unique Poss. to YYoront then 'penis' underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
channel-billed cuckoo flora-fauna Scythops novaehollandiae missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
crested pigeon flora-fauna Ocyphaps lophotes missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
darter/cormorant flora-fauna Anhinga melanogaster, Phalacrocorax species koow+kirk; minh- & korkun; minh- && koow+pirka; minh- & wemen; minh- koow+kirk; minh- & korkun; minh- && koow+pirka; minh- & wemen; minh- calque Unknown /koow+kirk/ mutual calque; localto YYoront ko+kal+w; calque judgement based on Local distribution; note also Kurrtjar keergh 'darter; spike, sharp spine' compound koow 'nose, beak', kirk 'spear', pirk 'big, long' 0 1 0 0 0 no
death adder, five-minute snake flora-fauna Acanthophis praelongus walangkir; yak- walangkir; yak- unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 yes
dingo flora-fauna Canis familiaris dingo missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
dog (camp, domestic) perro cachorro flora-fauna Canis familiaris kuta kuta inheritance *kutaka pPaman Poss. (as *kuta) Eastern underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
duck pato pato, marreco flora-fauna Anatidae koonurr; minh- & nhiipi; minh- & pant; minh- & pooro; minh- & worrpur; minh- koonurr; minh- & nhiipi; minh- & pant; minh- & pooro; minh- & worrpur; minh- unique underived 0 1 0 0 0 no
dugong flora-fauna Dugon dugong thumur; minh thumur; minh unique underived 1 1 0 0 0 no
earthworm flora-fauna Annelida, Oligochaeta werkarr; ruurr- werkarr; ruurr- unique also with generic yuk- underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
emu flora-fauna Dromaius novaehollandiae nhampi; minh- nhampi; minh- inheritance *ñampi pPaman Southernmost attestation is KThaay, northernmost is Umpila underived 2 1 2 0 0 no
fish (generic) pez peixe flora-fauna ngat ngat inheritance *ngata pPaman underived 0 1 0 0 0 N/A
flower flora-fauna (NA) paathar paathar unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
blowfly/housefly mosca mosca flora-fauna Diptera ngoonto; ruurr- ngoonto; ruurr- unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
flying-fox (generic) flora-fauna (many species) kant; minh- minh-kant unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
freshwater crocodile flora-fauna Crocodylus johnstoni kanharr, minh- kanharr, minh- inheritance *kañarra pPaman Attestations on the east coast of CYP refer to the saltwater crocodile underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
freshwater mussel flora-fauna Velesunio wilsoni tha'ay; ngat- & thukin; ngat- & wuunhth; ngat- tha'ay; ngat- & thukin; ngat- & wuunhth; ngat- unique No distinction given in source except that thukin is white & wuunhth is long; fw vs. sw not mentioned underived 0 1 0 0 0 no
freshwater prawn flora-fauna Macrobrachium rosenbergii paathar & winyi paathar & winyi unique No distinction given in source between fw & sw underived 0 1 0 0 0 no
frill-necked lizard flora-fauna Chlamydosaurus kingii missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 0 no
frog (generic) flora-fauna (many species) thatvr thatvr inheritance *catal Local Local. As *cata pPaman, with poss.cognates in Gunwinyguan underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
galah flora-fauna Eolophus roseicapilla missing missing 0 0 0 0 0
turtle (generic) flora-fauna (many species) paangarr; minh- paangarr; minh- loan *pangVrr Yir-Yoront pSWPaman (?) YYoront pengvrr or KKaper pangvrr poss. Species not given underived 0 1 0 0 0 no
ghost gum flora-fauna Eucalyptus papuana (Corymbia bella) werrke; yuk- werrke; yuk- unique underived 2 0 1 0 0 no
goanna (generic) or sand goanna flora-fauna Varanus spp thatpvr; minh- thatpvr; minh- unique underived 0 1 2 0 0 no
grass hierba, pasto capim, grama flora-fauna (NA) warrath warrath unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
grasshopper flora-fauna Orthoptera punhk+rathulk; ruurr- ruurr-pungk+rathulk unique compound pungk 'knee' 0 0 0 0 0 no
great bowerbird flora-fauna Chlamydera nuchalis missing missing missing 1 0 0 0 0 no
green ant flora-fauna Oecophylla smaragdina missing missing missing 0 2 2 0 0 no
green sea turtle flora-fauna Chelonia mydas permvn; minh- permvn; minh- loan *parmVn Yir-Yoront YYoront /parmvn/ to Kthaay, or vice versa underived 1 1 0 0 0 no
green tree snake flora-fauna Dendrelaphis punctulata missing missing missing 0 2 0 0 0 no
head/body lice flora-fauna Pediculus capitis, Pediculus humanus kurpun kurpun unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
horse caballo cavalho flora-fauna Equus caballus yarrman; kuta- yarrman; kuta- loan Languages to south and east kuta 'dog' < *kutaka WW %yarraman underived Kuta 'dog' is the generic for domesticated animals 0 0 0 0 0 no
hummingbird colibrí, picaflor (Peru) beija-flor flora-fauna Trochilidae wiwil; minh- minh-wiwil banana bird, blue-faced bird, honeyeater [identical to butcher bird, therefore suspect] unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
humpback whale flora-fauna Megaptera novaeangliae thaa+thomp; yuk- OR ngat- thaa+thomp; yuk- OR ngat- calque Yir-Yoront YYoront tha+thorrnh to KThaay, or vice versa compound thaa 'mouth' + thomp'smoke, vapour', an allusion to spouting 1 1 0 0 0 no
insect (generic) insecto insecto flora-fauna generic ruurr ruurr inheritance *tu:rru or *tu:kurr pPama-Nyungan HIGHLY PROBLEMATIC includes spiders, centipede, scorpion, some snails; does not include hornets underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
jabiru flora-fauna Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus mu(:)nt; minh- mu(:)nt inheritance 0 0 0 0 0
jungle-fowl (scrub-fowl) flora-fauna Megapodius freycinet werkete; minh- werkete; minh- unique underived 0 1 0 0 0 no
kangaroo (generic) flora-fauna Macropodidae kuuc; minh- kuuc; minh- unique Linnaean not given, but 'red' is probably wrong; see Species Notes. underived 2 1 0 0 0 no
land snail flora-fauna Gastropoda paangk; ruurr- & pinh; ruurr- paangk; ruurr- & pinh; ruurr- unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
magpie goose flora-fauna Anseranas semipalmata missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 0 no
military dragon flora-fauna Ctenophorus isolepis, Diporiphora spp., Lophognathus spp. missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
mosquito mosquito, zancudo mosquito, carapana flora-fauna Anopheles spp, Isoptera wongol wongol inheritance *wungulu Local Poss. relation to more-widespread *kungul(u) reflexes underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
mud wasp, hornet flora-fauna (many species) puunh puunh inheritance *puuñi pPaman underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
native bee flora-fauna (many species) rat; may- rat; may- unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
native cat flora-fauna Dasyurus thingk; minh- thingk; minh- inheritance *cingka pPaman Secure attestation only KThaay and north unknown 0 0 0 0 0 no
northern brown bandicoot flora-fauna Isoodon macrourus pink; minh- pink; minh- inheritance *pinku pPaman Poss. attestation in Muruwari unknown 0 1 0 0 0 no
northern kurrajong flora-fauna Brachychiton diversifolius missing missing missing 0 1 no? 0 0 no
nut tree flora-fauna Terminalia grandifolia missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 0 no
octopus flora-fauna Octopus australis missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
pandanus palm flora-fauna Pandanus spiralis kuncvn; yuk- & korngkon; yuk- kuncvn; yuk- & korngkon; yuk- inheritance *kuncan pPama-Nyungan *kulngkunV (pPama-Maric) reflexes in other languages as 'raffia' or 'string', products of this tree underived 1 1 0 0 1 no
paperbark flora-fauna Melaleuca sericea, Melaleuca stenostachya missing missing missing 0 0 1 0 0 no
peaceful dove flora-fauna Geopelia placida kolor; minh- kolor; minh- inheritance *kurlu+ pPama-Nyungan loan status cannot be ruled out; sound-symbolism also is probably imvolved underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
pearlshell flora-fauna Pinctada spp missing missing missing 1 1 0 0 1 no
peewee flora-fauna Gryllina cyanoleuca missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
pied butcherbird flora-fauna Cracticus nigrogularis wiwil; minh wiwil; minh unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
pike eel flora-fauna Muraenesox arabicus missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 0 no
praying mantis, stick insects mantis religiosa louva-a-deus flora-fauna Mantodea missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
prickle bush flora-fauna Sclerolaena bicornis missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
quail (generic) flora-fauna Coturnix species, Turnix species missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
red river gum flora-fauna Eucalyptus camaldulensis missing missing missing 2 0 1 0 1 no
red-tailed black-cockatoo flora-fauna Calyptorhynchus banksi yaamurr; minh- yaamurr; minh- unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
riflefish, archerfish flora-fauna Toxotes chatareus missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 0 no
river mangrove flora-fauna Aegicera corniculatum kooron; yuk- kooron; yuk- loan Poss. fr. YYoront korn underived 0 0 2 0 1 no
rock fig flora-fauna Ficus brachypoda korkorr; yuk- korkorr; yuk- unique underived 0 1 0 0 0 no
sacred kingfisher flora-fauna Todiramphus sancta thitinokur; minh- thitinokur; minh- unique compound ?? 0 0 0 0 0 no
saltwater crocodile flora-fauna Crocodylus porosus pinc; minh- pinc; minh- unique underived 2 2 0 0 0 yes
saltwater mussel flora-fauna Mytilidae tha'ay; ngat- & thukin; ngat- & wuunhth; ngat- tha'ay; ngat- & thukin; ngat- & wuunhth; ngat- unique No distinction given in source except that thukin is white & wuunhth is long; fw vs. sw not mentioned underived 0 1 0 0 0 no
sawfish flora-fauna Pristis pectinata worklom; ngat worklom; ngat unique compound on basis of /rkl/ cluster; parts not identified 1 0 0 0 0 yes
scorpion escorpión; alacran escorpião flora-fauna Arachnida, Scorpiones ngompor; ruurr- ngompor; ruurr- unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
shark (generic) flora-fauna Selachimorpha witan; ngat witan; ngat unique No colloquial English specific given, but unclear whether this is geneic underived 0 0 0 0 0 variable
shell (generic) flora-fauna missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 1 no
short-beaked echidna flora-fauna Tachyglossus aculeatus kirk+pik; minh- kirk+pik; minh- calque Yir-Yoront YYoront to KThaay or vice versa; HOWEVER, in view of Kukatj kalkapurrk 'echidna', possibilities also include independent invention and (assuming trandcription vagaries) full cognation (*kalka+pirrki). /kirk/ 'spear' < *kalka; /perr/ poss. < *pirrki or*pik compound kirk 'spear' a reference to the spines 0 2 0 0 0 no
snake (generic) culebra, serpiente cobra flora-fauna yak yak unique underived 0 1 0 0 0 N/A
snappy gum flora-fauna Eucalyptus brevifolia missing missing missing 0 0 1 0 0 no
spider araña aranha flora-fauna Arachnida, Araneae ma'ar ma'ar loan Yir-Yoront YYoront, or vice versa used as a generic, or after generic ruurr- or yuk- underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
spinifex flora-fauna Triodia species missing missing missing 0 0 2 0 0 no
spoonbills (yellow-billed spoonbill, black-billed spoonbill) flora-fauna Platalea flavipes, Platalea regia pirpul; minh- pirpul; minh- unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
stingray (generic) rayas látigo, raya arraia flora-fauna Dasyatidae thip; ngat- & punhth+aacin; ngat thip; ngat- & punhth+aacin; ngat calque *ngata, *cipa *ngata (fish) pPaman; *cipa (liver) pPama-Nyungan and poss. pre-PNy (cognates in Gunwinyguan) Unknown protoform poss. *kipa; 'liver' is a reference to the prominence of the liver in preparation as food mutual calque, Local; OR loan with source undeterminable: YYoront OR KThaay To judge from YYoront usage, ngat-thip is a generic and ngat punhth+aacin less likely; there are other specific terms not cited here underived 0 1 All rays are prepared for eating in an elaborate manner prominently involving the liver (thip), hence the name 0 speared (usually from hand); beginning in Post-Wet & peaking in Dry & Pre-Wet 0 0 variable
stripe-faced dunnart flora-fauna Sminthopsis macroura missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
sugarbag wax flora-fauna think think unique underived 1 1 0 0 0 no
sulphur-crested cockatoo flora-fauna Cacatua galerita missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
swamp eel flora-fauna Ophisternon gutturale missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 0 no
swamp leech flora-fauna Annelida, Hirudinea missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 no
tawny frogmouth flora-fauna Podargus strigoides thaa+pinc; minh- thaa+pinc; minh- unique compound thaa 'mouth, beak'; pinc s.w. crocodile' or poss. 'black goanna colour' 0 0 0 0 0 no
termite mounds, ant hills flora-fauna Isoptera pekan; yuk- & thatir; yuk- pekan; yuk- & thatir; yuk- unique underived thatir elsewhere 'frog' 0 0 0 0 0 no
termites, white-ants comején (Peru), termitas cupim flora-fauna (many species) paant+pirka; ruurr- paant+pirka; ruurr- unique compound paant 'head'; pirk 'long, big' 0 0 0 0 0 no
ti-tree flora-fauna Melaleuca bracteata missing missing missing 0 0 1 0 0 no
tick garrapata carrapato flora-fauna Arachnida, Acarina ngoop ngoop unique underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
tiger shark flora-fauna Galeocerdo cuvier missing missing missing 0 0 0 0 0 yes
torresian crow flora-fauna Corvus orru waath; minh- waath; minh- inheritance *waaca pPama-Nyungan underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
tree árbol arvore flora-fauna (NA) yuk yuk inheritance *yuku pPaman poss. pPama-Nyungan underived 0 0 0 0 0 no
waterlily flora-fauna Nymphaea macrosperma ngurp; may- ngurp; may- unique underived 0 1 2 0 0 no
wattle flora-fauna Acacia difficilis missing missing missing 0 0 1 0 1 no
wedge-tailed eagle flora-fauna Aquila audax wang; minh- wang; minh- calque Unknown to YYoront minh-wangrr; calque judgement based on local distribution underived wang elsewhere 'ghost' 1 0 0 0 0 no
willie wagtail flora-fauna Rhipidura leucophrys thaa+thithur; minh thaa+thithur; minh inheritance *thitha/irr+ pPaman Source of /r/ (vs. /rr/) not accounted for. Poss. to pPNy. compound 1 0 0 0 0 no
witchetty grub flora-fauna (many species) maananhth; ruurr- maananhth; ruurr- unique underived 0 1 2 0 0 no
woma flora-fauna Aspidites ramsayii missing missing missing 0 1 0 0 0 no


Grammatical Data (295)
Category Grammatical Feature Grammatical Feature: Notes Feature Status Grammatical Notes Source Etymology Notes General Notes Phylogenetic Code
Phonology - Segmental Pre-/post-nasalized stops Analysis posits that the stop is the most relevant underlying phoneme. Comment in notes on whether the nasal contour is understood as a phonetic (allophonic) effect, or is phonologically contrastive. No 26 0
Phonology - Segmental Glottalized/ejective consonants Phonemic contrast [NOT counting glottal stop/fricative] No 26 0
Phonology - Segmental Palatalized stops Phonemic contrast yes 26 1
Phonology - Segmental Phonemic vowel length Does the language have long and short vowels? Yes 33 1
Phonology - Segmental Phonemic glottalization/laryngealization of vowels No 33 0
Phonology - Segmental Complex onsets Onset consists of more than one consonant phoneme No 44 0
Phonology - Segmental No codas *(C)VC [no also equals highly constrained] No 44 0
Phonology - Segmental Word-final coda required Do all syllables end in a consonant? No 44 0
Phonology - Suprasegmental Contrastive tones Note how many contrastive tones No 66 0
Phonology - Suprasegmental Contrastive stress Does stress occur on different syllables with meaning difference? No 66 0
Phonology - Suprasegmental Nasalization property of morpheme or syllable In contrast to nasalization as a property of segments No 30 0
Phonology - Suprasegmental Nasal spreading across some morpheme boundaries Do some affixes or other morphemes take the nasal/oral properties of the root they attach to? No 30 0
Phonology - Suprasegmental Vowel harmony No 33 0
Morphology - General Verbal fusion (2+ categories marked by portmanteau morphemes on verb) Verb combines two or more categories (tense, aspect, mood, person, number, etc.) in portmanteau morphemes{ [ignore proclitics unless they are fused with values other than person/number] Yes 365 1
Morphology - General Inflection manifested by replacement of segmental or suprasegmental phonemes Stem change, tone No 66 0
Morphology - General Verbal synthesis (1+ inflectional categories marked by verbal affixes) Morphological complexity in verbs - multiple inflectional affixes in a single verb word Yes 66 1
Morphology - General Prefixing/suffixing inflectional morph: strongly prefixing There are many more prefixes than suffixes No 66 0
Morphology - General Prefixing/suffixing inflectional morph: strongly suffixing There are many more suffixes than prefixes Yes 66 1
Morphology - General Prefixing/suffixing inflectional morph: roughly equal or one weakly preferred The numbers of suffixes and prefixes are not notably different No 66 0
Morphology - General Reduplication: full The full morpheme is reduplicated Yes 61 1
Morphology - General Reduplication: partial Only part of the morpheme is reduplicated Yes 61 1
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Productive NN compounding Noun compounds created from two noun phrases are common and systematically produced Yes 204 1
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Productive VV serialization (without compounding) Verb roots can be combined in a single predicate without markers of subordination (distinct from subordinating construction) or distinct inflection No 204 0
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Productive VV compounding Serial verb constructions involve chaining of roots together in one morphophonological word No 341 0
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Verb-adjunct (aka light verb) constructions There is a set of semantically weak verbs used in complex verbal constructions, e.g. 'take a nap' No 341 0
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Auxiliary verb(s) There are verbs that accompany main verbs of clauses and take grammatical marking not expressed by main verbs No 341 0
Morphology - Incorporation Incorporation of nouns into verbs is a productive intransitivizing process Verb contains nominal segment No 11 0
Morphology - Incorporation Productive incorporation of other elements (adjectives, locatives, etc.) into verbs Like noun incorporation, but incorporated elements are not nouns No 11 0
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Noun classes/genders Nouns are organized into sets with distinct morphological treatment; usually affects all nouns and involves agreement within the NP No 149 0
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Number of noun classes/genders Note the (approximate) total number of noun classes/genders N/A 149 0
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Noun classifiers (distinct from noun classes/genders) Nouns are organized into sets, but only a limited set of nouns may be implicated, with no or limited agreement marking. If only numeral classifiers exist, indicate yes but explain. Yes 279 1
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Sex is a relevant category in noun class(ification) system for animates Masculine, feminine, neuter Yes 83 1
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Sex is a relevant category in noun class(ification) system for inanimates No 83 0
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Animacy (w/o reference to sex) is a relevant category in the noun class(ification) system Animate/inanimate, human/non-human Yes 83 1
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Sex/gender distinction only in 3rd person pronouns add in notes section whether gender is present in other PNs or not in any PNs; consider with reference to pronouns and person marking only No 83 0
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Shape is a relevant category in the noun class(ification) system for animates No 83 0
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Shape is a relevant category in the noun class(ification) system for inanimates Yes 83 1
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification "Repeater" classifiers Where no distinct classifier exists, a copy of the noun itself may function in the morphosyntactic classifier "slot" No 83 0
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Numeral classifiers (specific to numerals) Special classifier forms that occur only with numerals No 279 0
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Classifiers used as derivational suffixes to derive nouns Verb + classifier = 'thing for doing V, thing that does V, etc.' No 208 0
Nominal Categories - Number Singular number may be marked on the noun Often occurs in a small subset of nouns if a single entity is referred to, e.g. insects that normally occur in groups No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Plural affix on noun No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Plural marked by stem change or tone on noun No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Plural marked by reduplication of noun No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Plural word/clitic Yes 85 1
Nominal Categories - Number Plural marked on human or animate nouns only No 85 0
Nominal Categories - Number Pronominal plural: stem + nominal plural affix Pronouns use a nominal plural affix not specific to pronouns No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Unique associative plural marker e.g. 'John and his associates', 'John and them' No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Definite or specific articles Definite = particular referent known to both speaker and addressee; specific = particular referent known to speaker only No 287 0
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Marker of definiteness distinct from demonstratives Focus on articles/markers whose primary function is to mark definiteness No 287 0
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Indefinite or non-specific article or marker No 287 0
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Inclusive/exclusive: in free pronominals Inclusive =us + you, exclusive = us but not you Yes 87 1
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Inclusive/exclusive: in verbal inflection (bound) Yes 87 1
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Distance contrasts in demonstratives (number) Note the number of distances in the demonstrative system Yes 255 1
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Other contrasts in demonstratives (visibility, elevation, etc.) No 255 0
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Gender in 3sg pronouns No 87 0
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Gender in 3pl pronouns No 87 0
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Gender in 1st and/or 2nd person pronouns No 87 0
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Formal/informal distinction in pronouns Polite pronominal variants or differential avoidance of pronouns No 87 0
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Reflexive pronouns e.g. English 'himself', Spanish 'se'; distinct form(s) from basic (non-reflexive) pronominals; distinct from reflexive verbal affix Yes 88 1
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Adpositions mark core NPs Prepositions or postpositions mark subjects, objects, beneficiaries/recipients No 148 0
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: number of cases Note the number of grammatical relations that may be morphologically marked on the noun Yes 148 1
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: only non-core arguments morphologically marked Subjects, objects, beneficiaries/recipients NOT marked, but other grammatical relations are No 148 0
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: symmetrical All NPs marked if in appropriate syntactic relation; no distinction in marking based on semantics (type of entity) Yes 148 1
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: asymmetrical Semantically defined subset of NPs marked for case, e.g. animates No 148 0
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: suffix or postpositional clitic Yes 148 1
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: prefix or prepositional clitic No 148 0
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: infix or inpositional clitic No 148 0
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: stem change No 148 0
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: tone No 148 0
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: comitative = instrumental Same marking for 'with a person' and 'with an instrument' No 200 0
Nominal Categories - Numerals Base-2 At least some part of the system involves base-2 No 85 0
Nominal Categories - Numerals Base-5 At least some part of the system involves base-5 No 85 0
Nominal Categories - Numerals Base-10 At least some part of the system involves base-10 No 85 0
Nominal Categories - Numerals Other base (specify) 4, 20, etc. Yes 85 1
Nominal Categories - Numerals Etymological transparency in any numerals under 5 e.g. two = 'eye-quantity' No 85 0
Nominal Categories - Numerals Numerals do not go above 5 'Many' or some other non-exact term used Yes 85 1
Nominal Categories - Numerals Numerals do not go above 10 'Many' or some other non-exact term used Yes 85 1
Nominal Categories - Other nominal Tense or aspect inflection on non-verbal predicates i.e. nominal or adjectival No 75 0
Nominal Categories - Other nominal Person inflection on non-verbal predicates i.e. nominal or adjectival No 75 0
Nominal Syntax - Possession Pronominal possessive affixes: prefix on N alienable/inalienable? N/A 219 0
Nominal Syntax - Possession Pronominal possessive affixes: suffix on N alienable/inalienable? N/A 219 0
Nominal Syntax - Possession Head/dependent marking in possessive NP: dependent e.g. 'the boy-'s dog' Yes 173 1
Nominal Syntax - Possession Head/dependent marking in possessive NP: head e.g. 'the boy his-dog' No 173 0
Nominal Syntax - Possession Possessive classifiers There are special classifiers that occur with possessed entities No 83 0
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Morphological marking of inalienable possession Where inalienable possession differs from alienable, the former takes a morphological marker (may include an associated free particle/pronoun) Yes 325 1
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Morphological marking of alienable possession Where inalienable possession differs from alienable, the latter takes a morphological marker (may include an associated free particle/pronoun) No 325 0
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Default marker for inalienably possessed nouns if unpossessed An inalienable noun that is in an unpossessed state must have a derivational affix or associated form No 325 0
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Inalienable possession of kin terms 'my-father' but *father No 325 0
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Inalienable possession of body parts (human/animal) 'my-leg' but *leg Yes 325 1
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Generic human nouns are obligatorily bound/possessed Human nouns must co-occur with another noun (e.g. Hup-man, NonIndian-woman, but *man) No 325 0
Nominal Syntax - Adjectives Underived adjectives There are underived adjectives which do not have counterparts in other word classes Yes 85 1
Nominal Syntax - Adjectives Gender inflection on adjectives within the NP There is gender agreement/concord (animate/inanimate or masc/fem, etc.) within the NP, e.g. la casa blanca, el perro blanco N/A 87 0
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive nominalizing morphology: action/state (arrive/arrival) There is a morpheme which derives an event from a verb No 426 0
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive nominalizing morphology: agentive (sing/singer) There is a morpheme which derives an agent or subject from a verb Yes 426 1
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive nominalizing morphology: object (sing/song) There is a morpheme which derives a patient or object from a verb No 426 0
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive verbalizing morphology There is a morpheme which derives a verb from a noun or adjective Yes 422 1
Nominal Syntax - Other NP coordination and comitative phrases marked differently 'John and Mary went to market' is marked differently from 'John went to market with Mary' Yes 316 1
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Dedicated past marker(s) Past tense is regularly morphologically marked on the verb or elsewhere Yes 353 1
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Multiple past tenses, distinguishing distance from time of reference e.g. distant vs. recent past No 353 0
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Multiple future tenses, distinguishing distance from time of reference e.g. imminent vs. distant future No 353 0
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Dedicated future or non-past marker(s) Yes 354 1
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect affixes: prefix No 353 0
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect affixes: suffix Yes 353 1
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect affixes: tone or ablaut No 353 0
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect suppletion No 353 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Dedicated imperative morpheme or verb form There is a special morpheme (or morphemes, or a bare verb root where inflection is normally expected) used to signal imperative (command) mood No 382 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Polite imperative morpheme There is a distinct morpheme for polite imperative constructions (specify if it has other functions in the language) No 382 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Difference between negation in imperative (prohibitive) and declarative clauses There are different strategies for marking negation in imperative and declarative clauses Yes 384 1
Verbal Categories - Mood Dedicated hortative morpheme or verb form (1pl or 3rd person imperative) as opposed to imperative; the person in control of desired state of affairs is not the addressee; ex: 'Let's sing' / 'Let him sing' Yes 385 1
Verbal Categories - Mood Situational possibility: affix on verb Inflectional marking of capacity to do something Yes 390 1
Verbal Categories - Mood Situational possibility: verbal construction No 390 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Situational possibility: other marking No 390 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Epistemic possibility: affix on verb Modal expressing hypothesis Yes 390 1
Verbal Categories - Mood Epistemic possibility: verbal construction No 390 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Epistemic possibility: other marking No 390 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Marking of expected/unexpected action or result There is inflectional marking of expected/unexpected No 582 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Verbal frustrative Modal expressing frustration ("in vain") No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Verbal habitual Modal expressing habituality No 366 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Apprehensive construction There is a single morpheme or verb form to mean '(be careful lest) X happens' Yes 496 1
Verbal Categories - Mood Reality status marking on verbs There are dedicated morpheme(s) for realis/irrealis 'actualized/unactualized events' Yes 392 1
Verbal Categories - Mood Affect markers (positive/negative) Note whether these inflectional markers are positive or negative No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Directionals Directional elements affixed to the verb There are grammaticalized elements indicating movement away, toward, there and back, etc. No 341 0
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized visual Indicates information has been witnessed visually - indicate only if an overt marker No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized nonvisual Indicates information has been sensed firsthand but not visually (usually heard; also smelled, tasted, felt) No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized inferential Indicates information has not been experienced firsthand, but inferred from some kind of evidence - indicate only if an overt marker. No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized reportive Indicates speaker is not responsible for veracity of statement, merely reporting; 'allegedly' No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized quotative Indicate presence of adjacent representation of repeated discourse No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Other evidential Any other evidential values not represented above No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: verb affix or clitic No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: part of tense system Includes portmanteau morphs No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: separate particle No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: modal morpheme No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Verbal number Verbal number suppletion No 87 0
Verbal Categories - Other Social interaction markers Note the type of interaction No 66 0
Word Order No fixed basic constituent order No 443 0
Word Order VS in intransitive clauses Verb precedes subject No 448 0
Word Order VS in transitive clauses No 450 0
Word Order VO in transitive clauses Verb precedes object No 450 0
Word Order OS in transitive clauses Object precedes subject No 450 0
Word Order Preposition-Noun No 148 0
Word Order Noun-Postposition or case suffix Yes 148 1
Word Order Gen-Noun Possessive phrase composed of a free possessor and its possessum has possessor first (e.g. John's book) No 77 0
Word Order Noun-Gen Possessive phrase composed of a free possessor and its possessum has possessum first (e.g. 'book of John') Yes 77 1
Word Order Adj-Noun Adjective precedes the noun No 77 0
Word Order Noun-Adj Adjective follows the noun Yes 77 1
Word Order Dem-Noun No 77 0
Word Order Noun-Dem Yes 77 1
Word Order Num-Noun No 77 0
Word Order Noun-Num Yes 77 1
Word Order Noun-Rel Relative clause follows noun that it modifies Yes 533 1
Word Order Rel-Noun Relative clause precedes noun that it modifies No 533 0
Word Order Re<Noun>l (internally headed relative) e.g. 'the dog cat chased-NMZR got away' ('the cat that the dog chased got away') No 533 0
Word Order Relative clause is correlative or adjoined e.g. 'what is running, the dog chased that cat' No 533 0
Word Order Question word is clause initial 'what', 'who', etc. come first in interrogative clause No 232 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: nominative-accusative w/ marked accusative Objects of transitive clauses ('P') have a unique marker, while subjects of transitive ('A') and intransitive ('S') clauses are unmarked or share a different marker from that occurring on objects No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: nominative-accusative w/ marked nominative Subjects of transitive and intransitive clauses share a marker, while objects of transitives are unmarked No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: ergative-absolutive Subjects of intransitive clauses and objects of transitives share a unique marker, while subjects of transitive clauses are unmarked or have a different marker Yes 148 1
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: tripartite Intransitive subjects, transitive subjects, and transitive objects all receive distinct case markers No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: active-inactive Subjects of intransitive clauses are treated two different ways: like subjects of transitives if they are more agent-like (e.g. he jumped), and like objects of transitives if they are more patient-like (e.g. he fell asleep) No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: marked accusative Yes 148 1
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: marked nominative No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: ergative-absolutive yes, no, mixed, other No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: tripartite No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: active-inactive No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: nominative-accusative Same as above, for pronominal affixes/clitics on verbs Yes 148 1
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: ergative-absolutive yes, no, mixed, other No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: active-inactive No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: hierarchical Marking of A and P depends on their relative ranking on a hierarchy (usually 1>2>3 or 2>1>3) No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: split More than one of the above systems is represented in person marking, depending on e.g. person (e.g. 1/2 vs. 3), tense-aspect value, main vs. subordinate clause type, etc. No 148 0
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: pronouns in subject position Pronominal subjects are free pronouns that occur in the same position as full NP subjects Yes 216 1
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: prefixes on verb Pronominal subjects are marked as verbal prefixes (free pronouns may be another option) No 216 0
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: suffixes on verb Pronominal subjects are marked as verbal suffixes (free pronouns may be another option) No 216 0
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: clitics on variable host Pronominal subjects are clitics that can attach to verbs, nominal constituents, etc. Yes 216 1
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: pronouns in non-subject position Pronominal subjects are free pronouns but do not normally occur in the position expected for full NP subjects No 216 0
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Person marking on intransitive verbs Intransitive verbs take person-marking clitics/affixes Yes 216 1
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Person marking (of agents) on transitive verbs Transitive verbs take subject (A) markers Yes 216 1
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Person-marking (of objects) on transitive verbs Transitive verbs take object (P) markers Yes 216 1
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking 3rd person zero in verbal person marking: subjects 3rd person subjects are not overtly marked within the verbal person-marking system No 215 0
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking 3rd person zero in verbal person marking: objects 3rd person objects are not overtly marked within the verbal person-marking system No 215 0
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Number can be marked separately from person on the verb Verbal person marking exists, but number is (or can) be marked separately No 215 0
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Possessive affixes/clitics on nouns are same as verbal person markers Where nouns take possessive affixes, these are the same as the person-marking affixes N/A 215 0
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Gender distinguished in verbal person markers For any person, verbal person markers exhibit different forms depending on the gender (masc/fem, animate/inanimate, etc.) of the referent No 215 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice Ditransitive constructions: indirect object In ditransitives (e.g. 'John gives a book to Bill'), the theme (book) is treated in the same way as are objects of transitives, while the recipient/beneficiary (Bill) is treated differently Yes 177 1
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice Ditransitive constructions: double object In ditransitives (e.g. 'John gives Bill a book'), both the theme (book) and the recipient/beneficiary (Bill) is treated in the same way as are objects of transitives No 177 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice Ditransitive constructions: secondary object In ditransitives, the recipient/beneficiary is treated in the same way as are objects of transitives, while the theme (book) is treated differently No 177 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Reciprocal: dedicated morpheme Verb becomes reciprocal through use of reciprocal morpheme associated with the verb (may be attached to the verb root). This morpheme is only used to mean reciprocal. Yes 411 1
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Reflexive: dedicated morpheme Verb becomes reflexive through use of reflexive morpheme associated with the verb (may be attached to the verb root). This morpheme is used only to mean reflexive. Yes 412 1
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Reciprocal/reflexive: same morpheme Verb becomes reciprocal or reflexive through use of a morpheme that means either reciprocal or reflexive which attaches to the root of the verb No 412 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Passive Passive voice usually involves a change to the verb, while the object of the active voice verb is promoted to subject in the passive voice, and the former subject is deleted/demoted No 513 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Antipassive Like passive, but deletes or demotes the object of a transitive verb; usually found in ergative languages No 513 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Other intransitivizing morphology There is/are some other mechanism(s) for reducing valency No 402 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Applicative: benefactive Applicative adds a beneficiary/maleficiary object argument to the verb No 402-5 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Applicative: other Applicative adds some other object argument to the verb Yes 402-5 1
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: prefix Causative is morphological and is attached before the root of the verb No 402-5 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: suffix Causative is morphological and is attached after the root of the verb Yes 402-5 1
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative marked by circumfix, stem change, or tone Morphological causative other than simple prefix/suffix No 402-5 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: serial verb or analytical construction Causative construction that involves periphrasis or serialization No 402-5 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: dedicated 'make do by proxy' Indicates that the causer does not directly cause the action of the verb to be realized, but does so by inducing someone else to carry out the action, e.g. 'John had the house painted.' No 402-5 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: dedicated sociative Indicates that causer participates in event No 402-5 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Other transitivizing morphology (adds valence) There is/are some other mechanism(s) for increasing valency No 402-5 0
Simple Clauses - Negation Clausal negator is a preposed element Clausal negator is a preposed element Yes 124 1
Simple Clauses - Negation Clausal negator is a postposed element Clausal negator is a postposed element No 124 0
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: affix Negatives: affix No 124 0
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: particle Negatives: particle Yes 124 1
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: auxiliary verb Negatives: auxiliary verb No 124 0
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: double Standard (non-emphatic) negation typically requires two morphemes, e.g. French 'ne V pas' No 124 0
Simple Clauses - Negation Distinct negative form for 'NP does not exist' No 124 0
Simple Clauses - Negation Distinct negative expression 'I don't know' Lexical expression or highly idiomatic phrase No 579 0
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: interrogative particle Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by interrogative particle Yes 482 1
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: verb morphology Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by interrogative verb morphology No 482 0
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: word order Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by word order (esp. subject-verb inversion) No 482 0
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: intonation only Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by intonation only Yes 482 1
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Content questions: word order differs from declaratives Content questions distinguished from declaratives by word order (esp. subject-verb inversion) as well as by presence of Q-word (who, what, etc.) No 482 0
Simple Clauses - Predication Predicate adjectives: verbal Adjectives act like verbs in predicative position No 97 0
Simple Clauses - Predication Predicate adjectives: nominal Adjectives act like nouns in predicative position Yes 97 1
Simple Clauses - Predication Zero copula for predicate nominals is possible Predicate nominals may occur without a copula (i.e. grammatical in some circumstances, if not all) Yes 466 1
Simple Clauses - Predication Headless relative clauses Compare Eng 'the one that fell' (but in Eng 'one' could be considered a head) No 533 0
Simple Clauses - Predication Headless relative clauses are the dominant or only form of relative clause Relative clauses that form a constituent with a head noun (in a single noun phrase) are rare or nonexistent; some descriptions may refer to adjoined or correlative clauses. No 533 0
Simple Clauses - Predication Relative clause may occur with a noun classifier/class marker It may be unclear whether the classifier is the nominal head of the construction or is an agreement marker on the relative clause No 533 0
Simple Clauses - Predication Relativizer is a verbal affix No 533 0
Simple Clauses - Predication Morphological relativizer is homophonous with nominalizer The same morpheme marks a relative clause and is a nominalizer on verbs (and/or other word classes) No 533 0
Simple Clauses - Desiderative expressions Grammaticalized verbal desiderative Indicates that the subject desires to carry out the action denoted by the verb (distinct from verb 'want', but may be grammaticalized from it) No 530 0
Simple Clauses - Other Clause chaining Clauses can be grouped such that only one bears most of the verb morphology, and the others are marked as to whether they share a subject with this reference clause. No 442 0
Simple Clauses - Other Morphologically marked switch-reference system There are special markers to indicate same vs. different subject when two clauses are combined No 567 0
Simple Clauses - Other Morphologically marked distinction between simultaneous and sequential clauses Morphology (usually on verb) distinguishes between clauses denoting events that occur at the same time or in sequence No 417 0
Morphology - General Does verb root reduplication have an iterative function? Yes 372 1
Morphology - General Does noun root reduplication have a plural/pluractional function? No 203 0
Morphology - General Does adjective root reduplication mean ‘real’ X? No 203 0
Morphology - General Does verb root reduplication have a distributive function? No 371 0
Morphology - General Does verb root reduplication have a pluractional function? No 371 0
Morphology - General Does noun root reduplication have an iterative function? No 203 0
Morphology - General Does adjective root reduplication mean ‘fake’ X? No 203 0
Morphology - General Does adjective root reduplication mean ‘very’ X? Yes 203 1
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Does the language have ergative and instrumental syncretism? Yes 167 1
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Does the language have a distinct genitive case? Yes 148 1
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Is the locative related to the ergative with vowel change? No 148 0
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Is case marked on just one word in an NP? Yes 148 1
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Is case marked on all (non-pronominal) words in an NP? No 148 0
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Are any subordinate verbs (or whole clauses) marked with case to indicate their function? No 426 0
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Does ergative mark discourse functions of focus/unexpectedness? Yes 168 1
Nominal Categories - Derivation Is there a evidence for derivational morphology being distinct from inflectional on nouns? yes to any of HG 95-97 entails yes to this; yep; this is more general but not just about derivation (would also include proprietive, for example, not necessarily derivation that changes word class) Yes 426 1
Nominal Categories - Number Does the language have a minimal/augment system? No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Does the language have a unit augment system? No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Does the language mark dual on nouns? No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Does the language mark plural on nouns? No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Does the language have group/collective nominal suffixes? No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Does the language have suppletive plural verbs? No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Number Does the language have suppletive plural adjectives? No 213 0
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Does the language have bound pronouns? yes to any of HG 173-175 entails yes to this; not necessarily? - CB Yes 87 1
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Are the bound pronouns distinct from the free pronouns? No 87 0
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Does the language mark moiety distinctions in pronouns? No 87 0
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Does the language mark generational distinctions in pronouns? No 87 0
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Are 'who' and 'what' distinct words? Yes 230 1
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Is there an inclusive/exclusive distinction in the dual? Yes 87 1
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Is there an inclusive/exclusive distinction in the plural? Yes 87 1
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Is there a gender distinction in third person dual pronouns? No 87 0
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Are there clitic pronouns? Yes 87 1
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Are there object clitic pronouns? Yes 87 1
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Are there distinct possessive and IO pronouns? Yes 215 1
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories When there are both object and subject clitic pronouns, does the object pronoun follow the subject one? Yes 218 1
Simple Clauses - Discourse Is there a focus position? include the position in the ‘form’ notes No 159 0
Simple Clauses - Discourse Is there a topic position? include the position in the ‘form’ notes No 159 0
Simple Clauses - Negation Is verbal negation a separate word? related to, and maybe equivalent to, HG 206-207 (not equivalent if verbal negation is being treated separately from clausal negation) Yes 124 1
Simple Clauses - Negation Does the negative marker precede the verb? related to, and maybe equivalent to, HG 203 (not equivalent if verbal negation is being treated separately from clausal negation) Yes 124 1
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Are there second position clausal clitics? Yes 87 1
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Is tense marked on pronouns? No 87 0
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Are there predicative clitics (e.g. Darkinyung grammar p35) No 97 0
Simple Clauses - Tense Does the language have tense/mood/etc particles (free words)? Yes 124 1
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Is reflexive/reciprocal marked on the verb? =yes to any of HG 188-190; not necessarily; e.g. YN has a reflexive marker but it doesn’t go on the verb. Yes 412 1
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Does reflexive/reciprocal change the conjugation class? No 412 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Is there a reflexive/reciprocal particle? No 412 0
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Is the passive typically used only with adversative semantics? N/A 513 0
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Is there an inchoative suffix? No 430 0
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Is there a distinct present tense verbal suffix? No 354 0
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Is there a continuous aspect suffix? Maybe 365 1
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Is there a punctual aspect suffix? Maybe 363 1
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Can tense and aspect cooccur? Yes 365 1
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Is tense marked on nouns? No 66 0
Verbal Categories - Mood Do positive commands take the same morphology as negative commands? Yes 385 1
Verbal Categories - Mood Is a negative command formed from a nominalised verb (eg. "no talking!")? No 385 0
Verbal Categories - Other Is the verb ‘say’ the same as the verb ‘do’? Yes 101 1
Verbal Categories - Other Does the language have body part compound verbs? Yes 341 1
Verbal Categories - Other Are there verbal agreement clitics? Yes 87 1
Verbal Categories - Other Is there a verb 'be'? No 467 0
Verbal Categories - Other Are there verb conjugation classes? Yes 344 1
Verbal Categories - Other Is there a conjugation for uninflecting verbs? Yes 344 1
Verbal Categories - Other Is there a grammatical category of associated motion? Yes 341 1
Verbal Categories - Other Does the language have kinship verbs? That is, are the words which designate kinship relations such as ‘mother’ and ‘father’ verbs in the language? No 133 0
Verbal Categories - VerbalNumber Does the language have suppletive plural nouns? No 213 0
Word Order Are there discontinuous NP constituents? No 76 0
Word Order Is word order fixed in noun phrases? No 76 0
Word Order Is word order fixed in verb phrases? No 11 0
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: second position clitics Pronominal subjects are clitics that can attach to verbs, nominal constituents, etc. Yes 87 1
Phonology - Segmental Prestopped segments list which segments in the ‘form’ column No 26 0


Ethnographic Information
Current Population (speakers) Former Population Estimate Subsistence Preference Density Sedentism Ecotome Marriage Pattern Notes Source
large HG medium mobile