Japanese
日本語 — Japanese. Verb-final and consistently head-final, with postpositions, prenominal relative clauses and a topic particle doing work that English gives to word order.
This is read-only. A copy is an ordinary language of yours, editable everywhere, and it remembers that it started here.
Where the answers came from
37 answers are from a database — WALS, Grambank or PHOIBLE — and every one is checked against the published coding. 262 are from a reference grammar, and those carry the mark below wherever they appear.
from a grammar — no published coding exists for that question, so the answer is a judgement rather than a citation.
Written from: Shibatani, The Languages of Japan (1990); Hasegawa, Japanese: A Linguistic Introduction (2015)
Sentences
ProtoLingua reproduces 54% of a speaker's own translation of these seven sentences, counted word part by word part, in order.
This measures ProtoLingua rather than Japanese. The databases record where a marker sits and whether it exists, never what it is, and the app carries one suffix per category — so a language that packs several categories into one ending loses a mark on every inflected word. The translation uses the same words as the entry, so the comparison is of word order, agreement, case, tense and the marker forms.
NounPronounVerbAdjectiveAdverbAdpositionConjunctionDeterminerInterjection
grammatical marker
The big cat quickly jumped into the green grass.
ookii
ookii
big
big
neko
neko
cat
cat
wa
wa
TOP
—
ga
ɡa
NOM
—
midori
midori
green
green
kusa
kusa
grass
grass
ni
ni
into
into
quickly
—
quickly
quickly
tobu-ta
tobu-ta
jump-PST
jumped
A speaker would say: ookii neko ga midori no kusa ni hayaku tonda — 60% of it comes out.
I am going home.
watashi
wataʃi
i
I
wa
wa
TOP
—
ga
ɡa
NOM
—
ie
ie
home
home
iku-te iru
iku-te iru
go-PROG
going
A speaker would say: watashi wa ie ni iku — 57% of it comes out.
She did not see the two birds.
kanojo
—
she
She
wa
wa
TOP
—
ga
ɡa
NOM
—
futatsu
—
two
two
tori
tori
bird
birds
o
o
ACC
—
miru-ta-nai
miru-ta-nai
see-PST-NEG
see
A speaker would say: kanojo wa futatsu no tori o minakatta — 56% of it comes out.
Did the old woman give the child a book?
toshiyori
toʃijori
old
old
onna
onna
woman
woman
wa
wa
TOP
—
ga
ɡa
NOM
—
kodomo
kodomo
child
child
hon
hon
book
book
o
o
ACC
—
ageru-ta
aɡeru-ta
give-PST
give
ka
ka
Q
—
A speaker would say: toshiyori no onna wa kodomo ni hon o ageta ka — 70% of it comes out.
My brother is a farmer.
my
—
My
My
ani
ani
brother
brother
wa
wa
TOP
—
ga
ɡa
NOM
—
nouka
nouka
farmer
farmer
o
o
ACC
—
is
—
is
is
A speaker would say: watashi no ani wa nouka da — 43% of it comes out.
The man who saw me left.
me
—
me
me
o
o
ACC
—
miru-ta
miru-ta
see-PST
saw
otoko
otoko
man
man
wa
wa
TOP
—
ga
ɡa
NOM
—
deru-ta
deru-ta
leave-PST
left
A speaker would say: watashi o mita otoko wa deta — 33% of it comes out.
I know that she left.
watashi
wataʃi
i
I
wa
wa
TOP
—
ga
ɡa
NOM
—
kanojo
—
she
she
ga
ɡa
NOM
—
deru-ta
deru-ta
leave-PST
left
to
to
COMP
that
shiru
ʃiru
know
know
A speaker would say: watashi wa kanojo ga deta to shitteiru — 56% of it comes out.
Rendered from the answers that govern an ordinary clause — order, adpositions, case, tense, agreement, plural, and where modifiers sit. The answers below that exist to demonstrate one feature each are left out of the rendering, because switching all of them on at once puts every marker on every word. The vocabulary is two dozen words, so anything with no word yet stays in English.
The answers
Syntax
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| In a plain statement, what order do the subject, the verb and the object come in? | SOV — subject, object, verb (Japanese, Turkish, Hindi) | WALS 81A, Grambank GB130 |
| Do words like "in", "to" and "with" come before or after the noun? | After — postpositions ("the house in") | WALS 85A, Grambank GB074, Grambank GB075 |
| Where do phrases like "in the garden" or "with a knife" sit? | Always before the verb | WALS 84A |
| In a question like "what did she see?", where does the question word go? | Where the answer would go — "she saw what" | WALS 93A |
| Does an adjective come before or after the noun it describes? | Before the noun | WALS 87A, Grambank GB193 |
| Does a numeral come before or after the noun? | Before ("two birds") | WALS 89A, Grambank GB024 |
| Do articles and demonstratives come before or after the noun? | Before ("the cat") | WALS 88A, Grambank GB025 |
| Does a possessor come before or after the thing possessed? | Before ("my brother", "the farmer's dog") | WALS 86A, Grambank GB065 |
| Where does the negative particle go? | After the verb ("go not") | WALS 143A |
| Where does a relative clause go? | Before the noun — "who-saw-me man". Japanese, Mandarin, Turkish | WALS 90A |
| What happens to the missing argument inside the clause? | Nothing at all — the hole is simply left. Japanese, Mandarin | from a grammar |
| How far down can relativisation reach? | Down to obliques — "the house I live in". English, Basque | from a grammar |
| Which side of the main clause does it go? | Before — "when she arrived, I left" | from a grammar |
| How is a yes/no question formed? | A question particle (Japanese ka, Mandarin ma, Polish czy) | WALS 116A, Grambank GB260 |
| Where does the question particle go? | At the end of the sentence | WALS 92A, Grambank GB262, Grambank GB263 |
| In "she gave the child a book", which one is treated as the object? | The book. The child is marked like a direction — "to the child" | WALS 105A |
| Where does a manner adverb like "quickly" sit? | Before the verb | from a grammar |
| Can a clause modify a noun? ("the man who saw me") | Yes | from a grammar |
| Can a clause be the object of a verb? ("I know that she left") | Yes | from a grammar |
| How is such a clause joined on? | A little word introduces it — "that", "to", Japanese "to" | from a grammar |
| Where does the complementiser sit? | At the end of its clause — "she left that" | from a grammar |
| What is the complementiser? | to | from a grammar |
| What is the relativiser? | — | from a grammar |
| Can a clause set the circumstances? ("when she arrived, I left") | Yes | from a grammar |
| How is a circumstance clause marked? | A special verb form carries the link. Turkish -ip, Japanese -te | from a grammar |
| What is the general-purpose subordinator? | -te | from a grammar |
| What turns a clause into a noun? | koto | from a grammar |
| Does a subordinate verb carry the same marking as a main verb? | Yes — fully marked, exactly like a main verb | from a grammar |
| Do subordinate clauses have their own word order? | No | from a grammar |
| Can unlike things be joined — a noun and a clause? | No — only like with like | from a grammar |
| Can a repeated verb be left out of the second half? | Yes — "I ate rice and she, bread" | from a grammar |
| How is a comparison made? | With a case or adposition — "big from the dog". Arabic, Turkish | from a grammar |
| What marks the standard of comparison? | yori | from a grammar |
| How is a superlative made? | A separate marker — "the biggest" | from a grammar |
| What is the superlative marker? | ichiban | from a grammar |
| How is "as big as" expressed? | A dedicated equative marker | from a grammar |
| What is the equative marker? | onaji | from a grammar |
| How does the language say "himself"? | A reflexive pronoun — English, German | from a grammar |
| What is the reflexive marker? | jibun | from a grammar |
| How does the language say "each other"? | A separate reciprocal marker | from a grammar |
| What is the reciprocal marker? | otagai | from a grammar |
| Which arguments can bind a reflexive? | Only a subject — the commonest arrangement | from a grammar |
| Must a reflexive and its antecedent share a clause? | No — it may look up into a higher clause. Icelandic, Japanese | from a grammar |
| How is "I have a book" expressed? | "As for me, a book exists" — Japanese, Mandarin | from a grammar |
| Are body parts and kin possessed differently from objects? | No — one construction for everything | from a grammar |
| Is a temporary possession marked differently from a lasting one? | No — one construction for both | from a grammar |
| Is a possession that has ended marked differently from a current one? | No — the tense of the clause does it | from a grammar |
| How is one part of a sentence emphasised? | By a focus particle | from a grammar |
| What is the focus marker? | ga | from a grammar |
| Is there a dedicated position for the topic? | Yes — the topic comes first, whatever its role | from a grammar |
| How is "there is a cat" expressed? | A dedicated existential verb | from a grammar |
| Do multiple negatives reinforce rather than cancel? | Yes — "I didn't see nobody" means I saw nobody | from a grammar |
| How is a negative command formed? | A dedicated prohibitive form — Latin "noli", Greek "mē" | from a grammar |
| Is the word joining two nouns the same as the one joining two clauses? | No — joining nouns takes a different word | from a grammar |
| Where does a degree word like "very" go? | Before the adjective — very big | from a grammar |
| How does the language say "the house is big"? | Some adjectives take a copula and others behave as verbs | from a grammar |
| Is "she is a doctor" built the same way as "she is in the house"? | Different — a location takes another verb or none | from a grammar |
| Is the word for "and" also the word for "all"? | No — separate words | from a grammar |
| Can an adjective stand without its noun — "the big one"? | Yes, with nothing added | from a grammar |
| Is the emphatic "herself" the same word as the reflexive one? | Yes — one word does both | from a grammar |
| Are there nouns that must always be possessed? | No — any noun can stand alone | from a grammar |
| In "she went to the market to buy bread", does "buy" carry its own tense? | No — it gives up tense and agreement | from a grammar |
| The word that opens a purpose clause | tame ni | from a grammar |
| In "I left because she arrived", does "arrived" carry its own tense? | Yes — it is marked like any other verb | from a grammar |
| How does the language say "I want her to leave"? | There is no second clause: an affix on the verb means "want to" | from a grammar |
| The "want to" marker | -tai | from a grammar |
| In "her leaving surprised me", what is "her"? | A possessor, and any object a possessor too | from a grammar |
| In "she made him leave", how is "leave" joined on? | It simply follows, unmarked | from a grammar |
Grammar
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Does the language distinguish singular from plural? | No | WALS 33A, Grambank GB044 |
| Does it distinguish "the" from "a"? | No | WALS 37A, Grambank GB020 |
| How does it keep subjects and objects apart? | Nominative–accusative (Latin, Japanese, Turkish) | WALS 98A, Grambank GB409 |
| What tenses does the verb distinguish? | Past against everything else | from a grammar |
| Does it distinguish "is going" from "goes"? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Does the verb agree with its subject? | No | from a grammar |
| Does "be" appear as a verb — "my brother is a farmer"? | Yes, "be" is a real verb | WALS 120A |
| Which voices does the verb have? | Active and passive — "the bird was seen" | from a grammar |
| How is voice marked on the verb? | A suffix | from a grammar |
| What marks the passive? | -rare | from a grammar |
| Can a passive say who did it? | Yes, introduced by an adposition — "by the cat" | from a grammar |
| Which adposition introduces the agent? | ni | from a grammar |
| What number distinctions are there? | No number marking at all | from a grammar |
| Does the language sort nouns into classes? | No | Grambank GB051, Grambank GB052 |
| Do adjectives and verbs change to match the noun's class? | No | from a grammar |
| Which moods does the verb distinguish? | Statement and command | from a grammar |
| Must a speaker say how they know? | No — it is optional or absent | from a grammar |
| Is there a way to say "make someone do it" on the verb? | Yes — a causative form | from a grammar |
| Can the verb promote an oblique to object? | No | from a grammar |
| What aspects does the verb distinguish? | Ongoing against not | from a grammar |
| Does "we" distinguish whether the hearer is included? | No — one word for both | WALS 39A, WALS 40A |
| Does the verb change according to who is being addressed? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Does negating a sentence change anything else about the verb? | Yes — tense, aspect or agreement is marked differently under negation | from a grammar |
| How many cases does the language distinguish? | Ten or more — Finnish, Hungarian, and much of the Caucasus | from a grammar |
| Where is the relationship between words marked — on the head or on the dependent? | On the dependent — case on the noun, as Latin and Russian do | from a grammar |
| How does a noun get its gender? | By meaning alone — what the noun refers to decides | from a grammar |
| Is there a way to say "X and those with X"? | Yes, with a marker of its own | from a grammar |
| Does the verb itself show whether "we" includes the hearer? | No — only the pronoun makes the distinction | from a grammar |
| What else changes when a clause is negated? | A distinction the verb normally makes disappears | from a grammar |
| How do the subject and object cases differ in form? | Both are marked, and neither is built from the other | from a grammar |
| Do pronouns take the same cases as ordinary nouns? | The same — no split | from a grammar |
| Does a command use a special form of the verb? | Yes — a form used only for commands | from a grammar |
| Is there a form for "may it be so" — a wish? | No | from a grammar |
| Does the past distinguish how long ago? | No — one past | from a grammar |
| Is the future a tense, or a mood? | A tense — grouped with past and present | from a grammar |
| Is there a perfect — a past with present relevance? | No | from a grammar |
| What does the article system track? | There is no article | from a grammar |
| Do possessed nouns change form? | No | from a grammar |
| Does the verb say whether the next clause has the same subject? | No | from a grammar |
| Does the verb agree with the object as well as the subject? | No | from a grammar |
| What kind of classifier does counting need? | A numeral classifier — "three FLAT rice-paper". Mandarin, Thai, Japanese | from a grammar |
| Is plural marking optional? | Yes — used only when it matters | from a grammar |
| Can part of a sentence be negated on its own? | No — negation is always the whole clause | from a grammar |
| Does negation take two parts? | No — one marker | from a grammar |
| Who can be commanded? | The hearer only | from a grammar |
| Are there verbs with irregular negative forms? | None | from a grammar |
Morphology
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What marks the subject of a clause that has an object? | ga | from a grammar |
| What marks the object? | o | from a grammar |
| What is the question particle? | ka | from a grammar |
| How much does the language bind onto a word? | Agglutinative — affixes stack, one meaning each (Turkish, Swahili) | WALS 20A |
| How is the plural attached? | A suffix on the word | from a grammar |
| What is the plural marker? | -tachi | from a grammar |
| How is case attached? | A separate case particle after the noun | WALS 51A, Grambank GB070 |
| How is tense attached? | A suffix on the word | WALS 69A |
| What marks the past? | -ta | from a grammar |
| What marks the present, or the non-past? | — | from a grammar |
| What marks the future? | — | from a grammar |
| How is the progressive attached? | A suffix on the word | from a grammar |
| What marks the progressive? | -te iru | from a grammar |
| How is subject agreement attached? | Not expressed at all | WALS 26A |
| Is the negator a separate word or part of the verb? | A suffix on the verb | WALS 112A |
| What is the negator? | -nai | from a grammar |
| How is definiteness attached? | Not expressed at all | from a grammar |
| Do third-person pronouns distinguish gender? | No — one word for he, she and it | from a grammar |
| Is there more than one word for "you"? | Several levels — Javanese, Thai | from a grammar |
| How many degrees of distance do demonstratives have? | Three — here, there, yonder. Spanish, Japanese, Latin | from a grammar |
| Do demonstratives mark elevation or direction? | No | from a grammar |
| What does the counting system group by? | Tens | from a grammar |
| Where do numerals sit relative to what they count? | Before — three dogs | from a grammar |
| Are there separate ordinal numbers? | Yes — first, second, third | from a grammar |
| How are new words most often made? | By affix — happy, unhappiness | from a grammar |
| How is "one who does X" formed? | -sha | from a grammar |
| How is a diminutive formed? | -ko | from a grammar |
| How is an abstract noun formed from an adjective? | -sa | from a grammar |
| Are there infixes — pieces inserted inside a word? | No | from a grammar |
| Are the commonest words irregular in a way no rule explains? | Yes — go/went, good/better | from a grammar |
| Where do clitics attach? | To a particular kind of word | from a grammar |
| Where does a possessive marker attach? | Nowhere — a possessor is a separate word only | from a grammar |
| Do adpositions change form for their object? | No — the adposition is invariant | from a grammar |
| How is "someone" or "something" formed? | From the question word — "who" doubles as "someone" | from a grammar |
| Is "this" the same word standing alone as it is before a noun? | Different words entirely | from a grammar |
| Is the third-person pronoun related to a demonstrative? | Related to the demonstratives generally | from a grammar |
| Is there a way to say "two each"? | Yes, by saying the numeral twice | from a grammar |
| How does a pronoun become plural? | A plural marker used only on pronouns | from a grammar |
| Does a verb change shape for how many are doing it? | No | from a grammar |
| How is "she can leave" — ability or circumstance — marked? | A separate word, as English does | from a grammar |
| The form for ability or circumstance | dekiru | from a grammar |
| How is "she may leave" — possibility — marked? | A separate word | from a grammar |
| The form for possibility | kamoshirenai | from a grammar |
| How is "she must leave" — obligation — marked? | A separate word | from a grammar |
| The form for obligation | nakereba naranai | from a grammar |
Phonology
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What may a syllable look like? | (C)V(N) | from a grammar |
| Fewest syllables in a word | 1 | from a grammar |
| Most syllables in a word | 6 | from a grammar |
| Which syllable is stressed? | No fixed rule | from a grammar |
| Does vowel length change a word's meaning? | Yes — long and short are different vowels | PHOIBLE segments |
| Does consonant length change a word's meaning? | Yes — geminates are distinct | from a grammar |
| Does pitch on a syllable change a word's meaning? | No tone | PHOIBLE segments |
| Where does stress fall? | No stress at all | from a grammar |
| Can stress alone tell two words apart? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Are there nasal vowels distinct from oral ones? | Yes — French, Portuguese, Hindi | PHOIBLE segments |
| How do stops contrast? | Voiced against voiceless — /b/ against /p/. English, French | from a grammar |
| Are there ejective or implosive consonants? | No | PHOIBLE segments |
| Are there retroflex consonants? | No | PHOIBLE segments |
| Are there uvular consonants? | No | PHOIBLE segments |
| Are there clicks? | No | PHOIBLE segments |
| Do the vowels in a word have to match? | No | from a grammar |
| What happens to a voiced consonant at the end of a word? | Nothing — it stays voiced | from a grammar |
| How many consonants may start a syllable? | One only — Japanese, Hawaiian | from a grammar |
| How may a syllable end? | One consonant | from a grammar |
| Can a consonant be a syllable on its own? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Is there a minimum size a word must reach? | Yes — a word must be at least two syllables or one heavy one | from a grammar |
| Does the language repeat part of a word to change its meaning? | No | from a grammar |
| What makes a syllable heavy? | Either a long vowel or a closing consonant | from a grammar |
| What is the rhythm of the language? | Mora-timed — the unit is smaller than the syllable. Japanese by some accounts | from a grammar |
| Do unstressed vowels weaken? | Yes — they centralise or drop | from a grammar |
| What does the pitch do at the end of a statement? | Falls | from a grammar |
| What does the pitch do in a yes/no question? | Rises | from a grammar |
| How large is the sound inventory meant to be? | Average — around 25 to 35 | from a grammar |
| How many vowels? | Five — the world's commonest system | from a grammar |
| Are some vowels transparent to harmony? | No | from a grammar |
| Do neighbouring consonants become more alike? | In place — "in-possible" becomes "impossible" | from a grammar |
| Is a vowel inserted to break up an awkward cluster? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Are sounds dropped in fast or casual speech? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Which syllable carries the accent, when it is fixed? | The first — Finnish, Hungarian, Czech | from a grammar |
| Do long words carry a secondary stress? | No | from a grammar |
| Do tones change when they meet? | No | from a grammar |
| What happens to a borrowed word with foreign sounds? | It is remade in native sounds | from a grammar |
| Does the writing show predictable sound changes? | No — spelling keeps the underlying form | from a grammar |
| Does syllable weight matter? | Yes — a long vowel makes a syllable heavy | from a grammar |
| How long is a typical word? | Two or three | from a grammar |
| May a word begin with a vowel? | Yes | from a grammar |
Writing system
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What does one glyph stand for? | A whole word or idea (Chinese characters, Egyptian hieroglyphs) | from a grammar |
| Which way does the writing run? | Left to right | from a grammar |
| Are there spaces between words? | No | from a grammar |
| Is the end of a sentence marked? | Yes | from a grammar |
| What marks the end of a sentence? | 。 | from a grammar |
| Does the script have two cases? | No — one set of letters | from a grammar |
| How are words separated? | Not at all — Thai, Chinese, Japanese | from a grammar |
| Is vowel length written? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Is tone written? | No | from a grammar |
| How are numbers written? | With digits, positionally | from a grammar |
| Which way do multi-digit numbers run? | The same way as the text | from a grammar |
| How much punctuation is there? | A full set — stops, commas, quotes, questions | from a grammar |
| Is there a mark for a new section or paragraph? | No | from a grammar |
| How closely does spelling follow sound? | Loosely — spelling records history rather than sound. English, French, Tibetan | from a grammar |
| Are there conventional abbreviations? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Where did the script come from? | Borrowed from a neighbour and adapted | from a grammar |
| What was it first written on? | Paper or parchment — free-flowing | from a grammar |
| Do letters join or merge when adjacent? | No | from a grammar |
| Do letters change shape by position in the word? | No | from a grammar |
| Does the direction alternate line by line? | No — every line runs the same way | from a grammar |
| Has the spelling been reformed? | Once | from a grammar |
| Is there a calligraphic tradition? | Yes — writing is an art form in its own right | from a grammar |
| Is there a shorthand or cursive for fast writing? | No | from a grammar |
| What is the script called? | kanji with kana | from a grammar |
Transliteration
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Should the spelling recover the SPELLING, or the SOUND? | The sound — write what is heard, and accept that it cannot be read back | from a grammar |
| How should a sound with no Latin letter be written? | The nearest letter there is — ʃ as "s". Simple, and loses the distinction | from a grammar |
| Show hyphens between morphemes? | No | from a grammar |
| What gets a capital letter? | Nothing — no capitals at all | from a grammar |
| Mark the stressed syllable? | No | from a grammar |
| Write words in IPA instead of in your own symbols? | No | from a grammar |
| How are foreign names written? | Respelt in the native system | from a grammar |
| Are romanised proper nouns marked? | No | from a grammar |
| May diacritics be dropped when typing? | Yes — the bare letters are acceptable | from a grammar |
| Is there more than one accepted romanisation? | Several, by country or era | from a grammar |
| Is tone written with numbers rather than marks? | No | from a grammar |
Semantics
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| How many basic colour words does the language have? | The full set -- black, white, red, green, yellow, blue and more | from a grammar |
| What does the counting system group by? | Tens | WALS 131A, Grambank GB333, Grambank GB334, Grambank GB335 |
| Who raises a child? | Its parents, in their own household | from a grammar |
| Do they name relatives at all? | Yes — some relations are still recognised and named | from a grammar |
| Which relatives share a word? | Eskimo -- close family distinguished, cousins lumped (English) | from a grammar |
| Where does the PATH of a movement get said? | In the verb itself -- "exit running" (Spanish, Turkish, Japanese) | from a grammar |
| Which way does the future lie? | Ahead is the future, behind is the past (English) | from a grammar |
| Are some things possessed differently from others? | No | Grambank GB059 |
| Does counting a noun require a classifier? | Yes | WALS 55A, Grambank GB057 |
| Are there ideophones — words that depict rather than describe? | A large open class covering sound, movement, texture and feeling | from a grammar |
| How do ideophones fit into a sentence? | Like adverbs | from a grammar |
| Do ideophones break the ordinary sound rules? | Yes — they use sounds and shapes no other word may | from a grammar |
| How is location described? | Relative to the speaker — left, right, in front | from a grammar |
| Is the future ahead and the past behind? | No — the past is ahead, because it can be seen | from a grammar |
| Is a repeated time said differently from a single one? | No — the same construction, and context does the rest | from a grammar |
| How is time divided? | Hours and minutes | from a grammar |
| Are nouns and verbs clearly different classes? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Are adjectives their own word class? | Yes, but a small closed set — Igbo has about eight | from a grammar |
| How is the body divided into named parts? | Finely — separate words for hand and arm, foot and leg | from a grammar |
| Is there one verb for eating and drinking, or two? | Two | from a grammar |
| How are siblings named? | By both | from a grammar |
| Are maternal and paternal grandparents named differently? | No | from a grammar |
| Are left and right named after anything? | They are simply words | from a grammar |
| How does the language take in foreign words? | Freely, adapted to its own sounds | from a grammar |
| Which languages does it borrow from, and for what? | Chinese, then English | from a grammar |
| How many basic colour terms are there? | Eleven or more | from a grammar |
| Is blue distinguished from green? | Yes | from a grammar |
| How rich is the vocabulary for smell? | Poor — smells are described by their source | from a grammar |
| Is "with a friend" the same word as "with a knife"? | No — company and instrument take different words | from a grammar |
| Are red and yellow separate colours? | Separate words | from a grammar |
Pragmatics
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What is the topic marker? | wa | from a grammar |
| How does the language mark respect for the person being addressed? | Whole speech levels -- the verb itself changes (Korean, Javanese) | WALS 45A, Grambank GB415 |
| Must a speaker say how they know what they are asserting? | No -- a plain statement says nothing about the source | WALS 78A, Grambank GB322, Grambank GB323 |
| How does a sentence say "this is what we are talking about"? | A separate particle (Japanese wa) | from a grammar |
| How does a sentence say "this bit is the news"? | A focus particle | from a grammar |
| May a pronoun be left out when it is obvious who is meant? | Subject and object both (Japanese, Mandarin) | WALS 101A |
| Is there a separate way of speaking to particular people? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Are there little words whose whole job is managing the conversation? | Yes | from a grammar |
| How are people addressed? | By title and role — teacher, elder brother | from a grammar |
| Are some names or words forbidden in some company? | No | from a grammar |
| What does a greeting ask about? | The time of day | from a grammar |
| How is a request usually made? | As a question — "could you" | from a grammar |
| Do listeners signal attention while someone else speaks? | Yes, frequently — Japanese aizuchi | from a grammar |
| What does silence mean in conversation? | Respect or consideration | from a grammar |
| Does "yes" agree with the question or with the fact? | With the question | from a grammar |
| Do speakers use clicks outside words? | No | from a grammar |
| How many distinct registers are there? | Several — Javanese has three or more, with different vocabulary | from a grammar |
| Is there a separate language or register for ritual? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Do speakers use different forms depending on who they are? | Yes | from a grammar |
| Is there a distinct way of speaking to children? | Both | from a grammar |
| Is reported speech marked as such? | Yes — a quotative particle or verb | from a grammar |
| How is turn-taking managed? | One speaker finishes, then the next begins | from a grammar |
What it is
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Who or what uses this? | People — a language that could have evolved on Earth | from a grammar |
| What channel does a message travel down? | Sound made with a vocal tract — every spoken human language | from a grammar |
| Can the channel carry more than one thing at once? | No — one thing at a time, in a line | from a grammar |
| Are signals built from smaller, meaningless pieces? | Yes — meaningless units combine into meaningful ones | from a grammar |
| Can it refer to what is not here and now? | Yes — the past, the distant, the hypothetical | from a grammar |
| Can new messages be made that have never been made before? | Yes — the set of possible messages has no end | from a grammar |
| Is the link between signal and meaning a convention? | Yes — arbitrary, agreed rather than resembling | from a grammar |
| Do signals fall into distinct categories? | Yes — discrete, one signal or another | from a grammar |
| Is it learned rather than inherited? | Yes — learned from others, and it drifts | from a grammar |
| Can they see? | Yes — sight is a main sense | from a grammar |
| How long does one of them live? | Decades, as people do | from a grammar |
| Is there anyone else to talk to? | Many neighbours, and constant contact | from a grammar |