Number of Basic Colour Categories
Vocabulary · one world map for each value
WALS codes 119 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “6 or between 6 and 7 categories”, covers 34 of them (29%); the least frequent, “8 or between 8 and 9 categories”, covers 6.
That value is most frequent in South America (38% of the 32 languages coded there) and least frequent in Eurasia (13% of 15).
Among families with at least eight coded languages, Niger-Congo is the most uniform: 8 of 12 have “3, between 3 and 4, or 4 categories”.
Trans-New Guinea is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 3 of 8.
3, between 3 and 4, or 4 categories20 languages · 17%
Between 4 and 5, 5, or between 5 and 6 categories26 languages · 22%
6 or between 6 and 7 categories34 languages · 29%
7 or between 7 and 8 categories14 languages · 12%
8 or between 8 and 9 categories6 languages · 5%
9, between 9 and 10, or 10 categories8 languages · 7%
More than 10 categories11 languages · 9%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3, between 3 and 4, or 4 categories | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| Between 4 and 5, 5, or between 5 and 6 categories | 1 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| 6 or between 6 and 7 categories | 3 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 7 | 12 |
| 7 or between 7 and 8 categories | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| 8 or between 8 and 9 categories | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 9, between 9 and 10, or 10 categories | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| More than 10 categories | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| All values | 16 | 15 | 24 | 5 | 27 | 32 |
Inside the largest families
| Family | Coded | Most frequent value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niger-Congo | 12 | 3, between 3 and 4, or 4 categories | 67% |
| Indo-European | 10 | More than 10 categories | 50% |
| Trans-New Guinea | 8 | Between 4 and 5, 5, or between 5 and 6 categories | 38% |
Languages to explore
The most fully coded languages with each value.
- 3, between 3 and 4, or 4 categories: Pirahã, Campa (Axininca), Waorani, Kuku-Yalanji, Lele, Murrinh-Patha
- 6 or between 6 and 7 categories: Shipibo-Konibo, Murle, Huastec
- 7 or between 7 and 8 categories: Slave, Chinantec (Lealao), Teribe
- 8 or between 8 and 9 categories: Mandarin, O'odham, Tlapanec
- 9, between 9 and 10, or 10 categories: Huave (San Mateo del Mar)
- More than 10 categories: English, French, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, German