Negative Morphemes
Simple clauses · one world map for each value
WALS codes 1,157 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “Negative particle”, covers 502 of them (43%); the least frequent, “Variation between negative word and affix”, covers 21.
That value is most frequent in Australia (80% of the 81 languages coded there) and least frequent in South America (23% of 115).
All 8 Tucanoan languages coded have “Negative affix”.
Hokan is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 4 of 13.
Negative affix395 languages · 34%
Negative particle502 languages · 43%
Negative auxiliary verb47 languages · 4%
Negative word, unclear if verb or particle73 languages · 6%
Variation between negative word and affix21 languages · 2%
Double negation119 languages · 10%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Negative affix | 110 | 120 | 50 | 9 | 35 | 71 |
| Negative particle | 115 | 79 | 130 | 65 | 87 | 26 |
| Negative auxiliary verb | 10 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| Negative word, unclear if verb or particle | 15 | 24 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Variation between negative word and affix | 4 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Double negation | 52 | 12 | 24 | 3 | 17 | 11 |
| All values | 306 | 258 | 247 | 81 | 150 | 115 |
Inside the largest families
| Family | Coded | Most frequent value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niger-Congo | 156 | Negative affix | 46% |
| Austronesian | 120 | Negative particle | 55% |
| Sino-Tibetan | 93 | Negative affix | 67% |
| Afro-Asiatic | 64 | Negative particle | 48% |
| Indo-European | 61 | Negative particle | 67% |
| Trans-New Guinea | 55 | Negative particle | 45% |
| Pama-Nyungan | 44 | Negative particle | 82% |
| Eastern Sudanic | 34 | Negative particle | 56% |
| Altaic | 26 | Negative affix | 58% |
| Uto-Aztecan | 22 | Negative particle | 86% |
| Central Sudanic | 19 | Negative particle | 84% |
| Oto-Manguean | 17 | Negative particle | 59% |
| Penutian | 14 | Negative particle | 64% |
| Hokan | 13 | Double negation | 31% |
Languages to explore
The most fully coded languages with each value.
- Negative affix: Turkish, Japanese, Lezgian, Abkhaz, Persian, Kannada
- Negative particle: English, French, Russian, Spanish, Mandarin, Hungarian
- Negative auxiliary verb: Finnish, Thai, Sanuma, Grebo, Nenets, Zoque (Copainalá)
- Negative word, unclear if verb or particle: Indonesian, Maori, Vietnamese, Yoruba, Wari', Rapanui
- Variation between negative word and affix: Lavukaleve, Armenian (Eastern), Paumarí, Pitjantjatjara, Ijo (Kolokuma), Nasioi
- Double negation: Evenki, Oromo (Harar), Krongo, Burmese, Guaraní, Maricopa