Numeral Bases
Vocabulary · one world map for each value
WALS codes 196 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “Decimal”, covers 125 of them (64%); the least frequent, “Extended body-part system”, covers 4.
That value is most frequent in Eurasia (77% of the 60 languages coded there) and least frequent in South America (42% of 26).
All 8 Afro-Asiatic languages coded have “Decimal”.
Niger-Congo is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 10 of 17.
Decimal125 languages · 64%
Hybrid vigesimal-decimal22 languages · 11%
Pure vigesimal20 languages · 10%
Other base5 languages · 3%
Extended body-part system4 languages · 2%
Restricted20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decimal | 29 | 46 | 17 | 0 | 22 | 11 |
| Hybrid vigesimal-decimal | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Pure vigesimal | 4 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Other base | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Extended body-part system | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Restricted | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 10 |
| All values | 40 | 60 | 30 | 6 | 34 | 26 |
Inside the largest families
| Family | Coded | Most frequent value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austronesian | 18 | Decimal | 83% |
| Niger-Congo | 17 | Decimal | 59% |
| Indo-European | 14 | Decimal | 86% |
| Afro-Asiatic | 8 | Decimal | 100% |
| Sino-Tibetan | 8 | Decimal | 75% |
Languages to explore
The most fully coded languages with each value.
- Decimal: English, French, Russian, Finnish, Spanish, Turkish
- Hybrid vigesimal-decimal: Georgian, Lezgian, Basque, Abkhaz, Greenlandic (West), Burushaski
- Pure vigesimal: Chukchi, Yoruba, Krongo, Ainu, Alamblak, Warao
- Other base: Supyire, Ngiti, Ekari
- Extended body-part system: Kobon, Una
- Restricted: Hixkaryana, Kayardild, Mangarrayi, Martuthunira, Pirahã, Wari'