M-T Pronouns
Vocabulary · one world map for each value
WALS codes 230 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “No M-T pronouns”, covers 200 of them (87%); the least frequent, “M-T pronouns, non-paradigmatic”, covers 3.
That value is most frequent in South America (100% of the 27 languages coded there) and least frequent in Eurasia (55% of 49).
All 10 Austronesian languages coded have “No M-T pronouns”.
Trans-New Guinea is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 11 of 14.
No M-T pronouns200 languages · 87%
M-T pronouns, paradigmatic27 languages · 12%
M-T pronouns, non-paradigmatic3 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 M-T pronouns | 29 | 27 | 35 | 22 | 60 | 27 |
| M-T pronouns, paradigmatic | 2 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| M-T pronouns, non-paradigmatic | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| All values | 31 | 49 | 39 | 22 | 62 | 27 |
Inside the largest families
| Family | Coded | Most frequent value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trans-New Guinea | 14 | No M-T pronouns | 79% |
| Austronesian | 10 | No M-T pronouns | 100% |
| Indo-European | 10 | M-T pronouns, paradigmatic | 90% |
| Niger-Congo | 10 | No M-T pronouns | 80% |
| Pama-Nyungan | 9 | No M-T pronouns | 100% |
| Afro-Asiatic | 8 | No M-T pronouns | 100% |
| Hokan | 8 | No M-T pronouns | 100% |
Languages to explore
From the same chapter
- M in First Person Singular 230 languages