The Mande languages
Language family · Africa
WALS includes 28 Mande languages in 2 branches; all of them are in Africa.
All 14 members coded for basic word order are subject-object-verb (SOV).
The most solid shared trait: all 16 members coded for Order of Adjective and Noun have modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj).
One of them, Bambara, has a full page on this site.
Word order against the world
Members with at least 30 coded features, compared with every language WALS codes for each pairing.
dependent before the headboth or otherafter the head
- Genitive and nounMande100% · none of 5All WALS55% · 37% of 1,249
- Adjective and nounMandenone · 100% of 5All WALS27% · 64% of 1,367
- Demonstrative and nounMandenone · 80% of 5All WALS45% · 48% of 1,225
- Numeral and nounMandenone · 100% of 5All WALS42% · 53% of 1,154
Shared and split traits
| Feature | Most frequent value | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj) | 16 of 16 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Postpositions | 15 of 15 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Genitive-noun (GenN) | 15 of 15 |
| Order of Subject, Object and Verb | Subject-object-verb (SOV) | 14 of 14 |
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 14 of 14 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object precedes verb (OV) | 14 of 14 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 14 of 14 |
| Order of Object, Oblique, and Verb | Object-verb-oblique (OVX) | 11 of 11 |
| Feature | Largest group | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Imperative-Hortative Systems | The language has a minimal system, but not a maximal one | 4 of 9 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural suffix | 6 of 13 |
| Order of Relative Clause and Noun | Relative clause follows noun (NRel) | 4 of 8 |
| Order of Demonstrative and Noun | Demonstrative word follows noun (NDem) | 6 of 11 |
| Position of Polar Question Particles | Question particle at end of sentence | 7 of 10 |
Members
| Language | Branch | Basic order | Features coded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bambara | Western Mande | SOV | 75 |
| Bobo Madaré (Northern) | Western Mande | not coded | 21 |
| Dan | Eastern Mande | SOV | 34 |
| Kpelle | Western Mande | not coded | 30 |
| Maninka (Western) | Western Mande | not coded | 26 |
| Mano | Eastern Mande | not coded | 23 |
| Mauka | Western Mande | not coded | 26 |
| Mende | Western Mande | SOV | 36 |
| Vai | Western Mande | SOV | 34 |
Not listed: 19 further Mande languages with fewer than 20 coded features.