Isolating CV languages?

[Cael]

From my understanding most languages with CVC syllables tend to be isolating or fusional; and those languages with CV syllables tend to be agglutinating or polysynthetic. Does anyone here know of a language that is CV and isolating or CVC and agglutinating?

[Aurora Rossa]

The Polynesian languages, like Hawai'ian and Māori, are mostly isolating and have pretty much nothing but CV. Plenty of agglutinating languages are CVC, probably most of them really. Look at Turkish and Quechua for some obvious examples.

[finlay]

what

[Cael]

what

what what?

[Trebor]

From my understanding most languages with CVC syllables tend to be isolating or fusional; and those languages with CV syllables tend to be agglutinating or polysynthetic.

What are some representative example languages?

Does anyone here know of a language that is CV and isolating or CVC and agglutinating?

Yoruba (Kwa, Niger-Congo; Nigeria) has syllables of V, CV, or SN (syllabic nasal), and is more isolating than English. I don't believe that even /n/ is possible as a coda.

[clawgrip]

Japanese and Korean are CVC and agglutinating. Technically Japanese is CCVC where C2 can only be /j/ and C3 only /ɴ/ or /Q/ or whatever you call it.

[----]

Does anyone here know of a language that is CV and isolating or CVC and agglutinating?

Yoruba (Kwa, Niger-Congo; Nigeria) has syllables of V, CV, or SN (syllabic nasal), and is more isolating than English. I don't believe that even /n/ is possible as a coda.

That's correct, Yoruba disallows any coda consonants whatsoever (orthographic syllable final <n> simply marks nasalization). Technically /n/ isn't even a phoneme in Yoruba but that is another conversation.

[Kuturere Reo]

The Polynesian languages, like Hawai'ian and Māori, are mostly isolating and have pretty much nothing but CV.

Well Polynesian is actually (C)V rather than CV - although consonant loss could have produced the present state from an hypothetical pre-pre-Polynesian CVC.

[clawgrip]

I assumed that CV and CVC mentioned in the OP included things like (C)V and (C)V(C). Is there any language that is always CVC in every syllable?

[Radius Solis]

I assumed that CV and CVC mentioned in the OP included things like (C)V and (C)V(C). Is there any language that is always CVC in every syllable?

All languages permit open syllables, with the only exception I've ever heard claimed being for Arrernte which supposedly has VC(C) as its only syllable pattern. Which is so completely whack that it's hard to credit. On the other hand, languages that permit only CV probably exist, though I can't think offhand of any completely perfect examples.

[Nortaneous]

No, Arrernte really is VC(C), it's just that it drops word-inital schwa and tacks a schwa onto the end of every phrase, or maybe word, I forget.

Anyway, to answer OP's question: Africa, Polynesia, most of western North America, and I am honestly surprised that there's anyone here who still hasn't heard of Saanich or Nuxalk.

edit: Why is Saanich spelled with <aa>? Are there any other words that have <aa> at all where the spelling isn't taken completely from a language where <aa> is a thing? 'Saanich' comes from W̱SÁNEĆ /x_wsen@tS/, so unless there was an earlier orthography with <aa>...

[Curlyjimsam]

http://wals.info/feature/combined/12A/22A doesn't suggest any particular correlation between syllable structure type and morphological type.

[Trebor]

http://wals.info/feature/combined/12A/22A doesn't suggest any particular correlation between syllable structure type and morphological type.

If one looks even at Bantu alone, one will see that this agglutinative subgroup of Niger-Congo generally has phonotactics limiting syllables to the shapes vowel, vowel+nasal, stop/fricative/affricate/etc.+vowel, prenasalized stop/etc.+vowel, stop/fricative/affricate/etc.+vowel+nasal, and prenasalized stop/etc.+vowel+nasal.

[Cael]

From my understanding most languages with CVC syllables tend to be isolating or fusional; and those languages with CV syllables tend to be agglutinating or polysynthetic.

What are some representative example languages?

I was thinking of langauges like English, Chinese for CVC/isolating and the Native American languages for agglutinanting/CV languages

P.S. Thanks to everyone for your replies. I have gained some good insight.

[Trebor]

I was thinking of langauges like English, Chinese for CVC/isolating and the Native American languages for agglutinanting/CV languages

Ahh, OK. But there are counterexamples not to be overlooked--in the latter category, Georgian and the Inuit languages come to mind.

[8Deer]

From my understanding most languages with CVC syllables tend to be isolating or fusional; and those languages with CV syllables tend to be agglutinating or polysynthetic.

What are some representative example languages?

I was thinking of langauges like English, Chinese for CVC/isolating and the Native American languages for agglutinanting/CV languages.

Huh? Don't most Native American languages tend to not be CV?

EDIT: See this map: http://wals.info/feature/12A?s=20&z1=30 ... 6f&v3=cd00

[Kereb]

man in the pacific northwest you're lucky to get V at all

[Cael]

From my understanding most languages with CVC syllables tend to be isolating or fusional; and those languages with CV syllables tend to be agglutinating or polysynthetic.

What are some representative example languages?

I was thinking of langauges like English, Chinese for CVC/isolating and the Native American languages for agglutinanting/CV languages.

Huh? Don't most Native American languages tend to not be CV?

EDIT: See this map: http://wals.info/feature/12A?s=20&z1=30 ... 6f&v3=cd00

I guess they are. That was a big misconception on my part

[Hallow XIII]

Uh, Hmong?

[Nortaneous]

Hmong could be analyzed as sort of having coda /N/ if you cross your eyes and squint. Nuosu, on the other hand, has no coda consonants at all under even the most ridiculous somewhat-plausible analysis.