Tone
Sounds · one world map for each value
WALS codes 527 languages for this feature. The most frequent value, “No tones”, covers 307 of them (58%); the least frequent, “Complex tone system”, covers 88.
That value is most frequent in Australia (100% of the 32 languages coded there) and least frequent in Africa (12% of 127).
All 16 Pama-Nyungan languages coded have “No tones”.
Afro-Asiatic is the most divided, its largest group reaching only 14 of 29.
No tones307 languages · 58%
Simple tone system132 languages · 25%
Complex tone system88 languages · 17%
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 tones | 15 | 93 | 63 | 32 | 53 | 51 |
| Simple tone system | 68 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 21 | 12 |
| Complex tone system | 44 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 2 |
| All values | 127 | 138 | 81 | 32 | 84 | 65 |
Inside the largest families
| Family | Coded | Most frequent value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niger-Congo | 55 | Simple tone system | 51% |
| Austronesian | 42 | No tones | 90% |
| Indo-European | 30 | No tones | 90% |
| Afro-Asiatic | 29 | Simple tone system | 48% |
| Sino-Tibetan | 25 | Complex tone system | 64% |
| Trans-New Guinea | 20 | Simple tone system | 55% |
| Austro-Asiatic | 16 | No tones | 75% |
| Pama-Nyungan | 16 | No tones | 100% |
| Altaic | 15 | No tones | 100% |
| Eastern Sudanic | 15 | Simple tone system | 73% |
| Oto-Manguean | 10 | Complex tone system | 80% |
| Tai-Kadai | 9 | Complex tone system | 100% |
| Uto-Aztecan | 9 | No tones | 78% |
| Nakh-Daghestanian | 8 | No tones | 88% |