It is one of the languages of the Clear Lake Linguistic Area, along with Patwin, East and Southeastern Pomo, and Wappo.

Where the other languages only have one series of plosives, Lake Miwok has four: plain, aspirated, ejective and voiced.

Lake Miwok has also added the affricates č, c, čʼ, cʼ, ƛʼ and the liquids r and ł.

[4] In her Lake Miwok grammar, Callaghan reports that one speaker distinguishes between 1st person dual inclusive ʔoc and exclusive ʔic.

Except for the 3d person singular, they have the same shape as the nominative pronominal clitics, but show no allomorphy.