Case Syncretism
Word structure · one world map for each value
WALS codes 198 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal”, covers 123 of them (62%); the least frequent, “Inflectional case marking is syncretic for core cases only”, covers 18.
That value is most frequent in Papunesia (85% of the 33 languages coded there) and least frequent in Eurasia (31% of 51).
Among families with at least eight coded languages, Niger-Congo is the most uniform: 12 of 13 have “Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal”.
Sino-Tibetan is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 5 of 8.
Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal123 languages · 62%
Inflectional case marking is syncretic for core cases only18 languages · 9%
Core and non-core22 languages · 11%
Inflectional case marking is never syncretic35 languages · 18%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal | 29 | 16 | 28 | 5 | 24 | 21 |
| Inflectional case marking is syncretic for core cases only | 2 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Core and non-core | 1 | 16 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Inflectional case marking is never syncretic | 3 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
| All values | 35 | 51 | 33 | 14 | 36 | 29 |
Inside the largest families
| Family | Coded | Most frequent value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austronesian | 15 | Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal | 87% |
| Niger-Congo | 13 | Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal | 92% |
| Indo-European | 11 | Core and non-core | 82% |
| Trans-New Guinea | 11 | Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal | 82% |
| Afro-Asiatic | 8 | Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal | 75% |
| Sino-Tibetan | 8 | Inflectional case marking is never syncretic | 62% |
Languages to explore
The most fully coded languages with each value.
- Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal: Indonesian, Mandarin, Japanese, Amele, Abkhaz, Korean
- Inflectional case marking is syncretic for core cases only: English, Basque, Greenlandic (West), Fijian, Oromo (Harar), Yaqui
- Core and non-core: French, Russian, Finnish, Spanish, Georgian, Lezgian
- Inflectional case marking is never syncretic: Turkish, Hungarian, Evenki, Hausa, Kannada, Khalkha