Order of Numeral and Noun
Word order · one world map for each value
WALS codes 1,154 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “Numeral follows noun (NNum)”, covers 608 of them (53%); the least frequent, “Numeral only modifies verb”, covers 2.
That value is most frequent in Africa (87% of the 305 languages coded there) and least frequent in South America (14% of 91).
All 30 Eastern Sudanic languages coded have “Numeral follows noun (NNum)”.
Austronesian is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 75 of 153.
Numeral precedes noun (NumN)479 languages · 42%
Numeral follows noun (NNum)608 languages · 53%
Both orders of numeral and noun with neither order dominant65 languages · 6%
Numeral only modifies verb2 languages · under 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 32 | 181 | 84 | 19 | 94 | 69 |
| Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 264 | 92 | 183 | 30 | 26 | 13 |
| Both orders of numeral and noun with neither order dominant | 9 | 18 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 7 |
| Numeral only modifies verb | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| All values | 305 | 291 | 284 | 58 | 125 | 91 |
Inside the largest families
| Family | Coded | Most frequent value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austronesian | 153 | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 49% |
| Niger-Congo | 149 | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 94% |
| Sino-Tibetan | 115 | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 72% |
| Afro-Asiatic | 68 | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 56% |
| Indo-European | 65 | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 95% |
| Trans-New Guinea | 61 | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 84% |
| Eastern Sudanic | 30 | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 100% |
| Pama-Nyungan | 29 | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 52% |
| Central Sudanic | 21 | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 81% |
| Uto-Aztecan | 21 | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 95% |
| Austro-Asiatic | 20 | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 65% |
| Oto-Manguean | 20 | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 100% |
| Altaic | 19 | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 100% |
| Mande | 14 | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 100% |
Languages to explore
The most fully coded languages with each value.
- Numeral precedes noun (NumN): English, French, Russian, Finnish, Spanish, Turkish
- Numeral follows noun (NNum): Amele, Hausa, Malagasy, Supyire, Maori, Greenlandic (West)
- Both orders of numeral and noun with neither order dominant: Abkhaz, Arabic (Egyptian), Mangarrayi, Nivkh, Acoma, Ika
- Numeral only modifies verb: Wari'