Absence of Common Consonants

Sounds · one world map for each value

WALS codes 567 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “All present”, covers 503 of them (89%); 2 values tie for least frequent, with 1 language each.

That value is most frequent in Eurasia (99% of the 146 languages coded there) and least frequent in Australia (9% of 32).

All 31 Indo-European languages coded have “All present”.

Trans-New Guinea is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 19 of 23.

All present503 languages · 89%

No bilabials4 languages · 1%

No fricatives48 languages · 8%

No nasals10 languages · 2%

No bilabials or nasals1 language · under 1%

No fricatives or nasals1 language · under 1%

One map per value; each dot is a language WALS codes with that value.

By macro-area

Value	Africa	Eurasia	Papunesia	Australia	North America	South America
All present	126	145	82	3	83	64
No bilabials	0	0	0	0	4	0
No fricatives	2	1	10	29	0	6
No nasals	2	0	1	0	1	6
No bilabials or nasals	0	0	0	0	1	0
No fricatives or nasals	0	0	0	0	0	1
All values	130	146	93	32	89	77

Inside the largest families

Family	Coded	Most frequent value	Share
Niger-Congo	56	All present	96%
Austronesian	45	All present	93%
Indo-European	31	All present	100%
Afro-Asiatic	29	All present	100%
Sino-Tibetan	26	All present	100%
Trans-New Guinea	23	All present	83%
Austro-Asiatic	17	All present	100%
Altaic	16	All present	100%
Eastern Sudanic	16	All present	88%
Pama-Nyungan	16	No fricatives	88%
Oto-Manguean	10	All present	100%
Tai-Kadai	9	All present	100%
Uralic	9	All present	100%
Uto-Aztecan	9	All present	100%

Languages to explore

The most fully coded languages with each value.

All present: English, French, Russian, Finnish, Spanish, Turkish
No bilabials: Oneida, Wichita, Tlingit
No fricatives: Lango, Kayardild, Mangarrayi, Martuthunira, Wari', Gooniyandi
No nasals: Pirahã, Epena Pedee, Quileute, Cubeo