Action Nominal Constructions
Noun phrases · one world map for each value
WALS codes 168 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “No action nominals”, covers 42 of them (25%); the least frequent, “Other: Minor patterns”, covers 6.
That value is most frequent in North America (62% of the 21 languages coded there) and least frequent in Africa (4% of 27).
Among families with at least eight coded languages, Nakh-Daghestanian is the most uniform: 9 of 11 have “Sentential”.
Austronesian is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 2 of 10.
Sentential25 languages · 15%
Possessive-Accusative29 languages · 17%
Ergative-Possessive21 languages · 12%
Double-Possessive: All major arguments treated as possessors7 languages · 4%
Other: Minor patterns6 languages · 4%
Mixed: Several patterns in the same language14 languages · 8%
Not both A and P in the same construction24 languages · 14%
No action nominals42 languages · 25%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sentential | 0 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Possessive-Accusative | 9 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Ergative-Possessive | 1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Double-Possessive: All major arguments treated as possessors | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other: Minor patterns | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mixed: Several patterns in the same language | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Not both A and P in the same construction | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| No action nominals | 1 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 5 |
| All values | 27 | 68 | 22 | 8 | 21 | 22 |
Inside the largest families
| Family | Coded | Most frequent value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indo-European | 20 | Ergative-Possessive | 55% |
| Nakh-Daghestanian | 11 | Sentential | 82% |
| Niger-Congo | 11 | Possessive-Accusative | 45% |
| Austronesian | 10 | Other: Minor patterns | 20% |
| Afro-Asiatic | 9 | Mixed: Several patterns in the same language | 33% |
Languages to explore
The most fully coded languages with each value.
- Sentential: Lezgian, Basque, Korean, Burushaski, Pirahã, Lavukaleve
- Possessive-Accusative: Turkish, Amele, Evenki, Tagalog, Khalkha, Hindi
- Ergative-Possessive: French, Russian, Spanish, Indonesian, Georgian, German
- Double-Possessive: All major arguments treated as possessors: Finnish, Japanese, Tukang Besi, Latvian, Bambara, Maltese
- Other: Minor patterns: Chamorro, Burmese, Warao, Swedish, Icelandic, Samoan
- Mixed: Several patterns in the same language: English, Kannada, Supyire, Maori, Arabic (Egyptian), Hebrew (Modern)
- Not both A and P in the same construction: Hungarian, Hausa, Greenlandic (West), Chukchi, Yoruba, Guaraní
- No action nominals: Mandarin, Slave, Yaqui, Maybrat, Kayardild, Ngiyambaa