Glottalized Consonants
Sounds · one world map for each value
WALS codes 567 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “No glottalized consonants”, covers 409 of them (72%); the least frequent, “Ejectives, implosives and glottalized resonants”, covers 3.
That value is most frequent in Australia (100% of the 32 languages coded there) and least frequent in North America (49% of 89).
All 16 Altaic languages coded have “No glottalized consonants”.
Afro-Asiatic is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 9 of 29.
No glottalized consonants409 languages · 72%
Ejectives only58 languages · 10%
Implosives only55 languages · 10%
Glottalized resonants only4 languages · 1%
Ejectives and implosives14 languages · 2%
Ejectives and glottalized resonants20 languages · 4%
Implosives and glottalized resonants4 languages · 1%
Ejectives, implosives and glottalized resonants3 languages · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No glottalized consonants | 69 | 115 | 89 | 32 | 44 | 60 |
| Ejectives only | 10 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 10 |
| Implosives only | 37 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Glottalized resonants only | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ejectives and implosives | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Ejectives and glottalized resonants | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 |
| Implosives and glottalized resonants | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ejectives, implosives and glottalized resonants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| All values | 130 | 146 | 93 | 32 | 89 | 77 |
Inside the largest families
| Family | Coded | Most frequent value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niger-Congo | 56 | No glottalized consonants | 66% |
| Austronesian | 45 | No glottalized consonants | 91% |
| Indo-European | 31 | No glottalized consonants | 94% |
| Afro-Asiatic | 29 | No glottalized consonants | 31% |
| Sino-Tibetan | 26 | No glottalized consonants | 88% |
| Trans-New Guinea | 23 | No glottalized consonants | 96% |
| Austro-Asiatic | 17 | No glottalized consonants | 47% |
| Altaic | 16 | No glottalized consonants | 100% |
| Eastern Sudanic | 16 | No glottalized consonants | 62% |
| Pama-Nyungan | 16 | No glottalized consonants | 100% |
| Oto-Manguean | 10 | No glottalized consonants | 80% |
| Tai-Kadai | 9 | No glottalized consonants | 67% |
| Uralic | 9 | No glottalized consonants | 100% |
| Uto-Aztecan | 9 | No glottalized consonants | 100% |
Languages to explore
The most fully coded languages with each value.
- No glottalized consonants: English, French, Russian, Finnish, Spanish, Turkish
- Ejectives only: Georgian, Lezgian, Abkhaz, Korean, Jakaltek, Lakhota
- Implosives only: Vietnamese, Tukang Besi, Krongo, Sango, Paumarí, Khmer
- Glottalized resonants only: Wari', Semelai
- Ejectives and implosives: Hausa, Oromo (Harar), Zulu, Iraqw, Maidu (Northeast), Ik
- Ejectives and glottalized resonants: Slave, Kutenai, Wichí, Wichita, Acoma, Squamish
- Implosives and glottalized resonants: Khmu', Lugbara, Sedang
- Ejectives, implosives and glottalized resonants: Nambikuára (Southern)