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Arrernte (Mparntwe)

Pama-Nyungan family · Central Pama-Nyungan branch · Australia

Arrernte (Mparntwe) is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

On Predicative Possession, 5 of 6 other Pama-Nyungan languages coded have the value “Conjunctional Possessive”; Arrernte (Mparntwe) has “Locational Possessive”.

On Nominal and Verbal Conjunction, WALS codes Arrernte (Mparntwe) as “Both expressed by juxtaposition”, a value held by 15 of the 301 languages coded, Hixkaryana and Tiwi among them.

Arrernte (Mparntwe): order of head and dependent in 7 constructions← beforeafter →verbsubject80%13%Order of Subject and Verb: Subject precedes verb (SV). Of 1,496 languages coded, 1,192 put the subject before the verb and 194 after it.verbobject47%46%Order of Object and Verb: Object precedes verb (OV). Of 1,518 languages coded, 712 put the object before the verb and 705 after it.adpositionnoun phrase49%43%Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase: Postpositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.nounadjective27%64%Order of Adjective and Noun: Modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj). Of 1,367 languages coded, 373 put the adjective before the noun and 879 after it.noundemonstrative45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Demonstrative word follows noun (NDem). Of 1,225 languages coded, 551 put the demonstrative before the noun and 590 after it.nounnumeral42%53%Order of Numeral and Noun: Numeral follows noun (NNum). Of 1,154 languages coded, 479 put the numeral before the noun and 608 after it.nounrelative clause17%70%Order of Relative Clause and Noun: Relative clause follows noun (NRel). Of 824 languages coded, 141 put the relative clause before the noun and 579 after it.
The order Arrernte (Mparntwe) uses in 7 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Arrernte (Mparntwe) with Diyari or with any other language

Uncommon values

Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Arrernte (Mparntwe), rarest first.

Inside the Pama-Nyungan family

Arrernte (Mparntwe) matches the most frequent Pama-Nyungan value on 42 of the 61 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (69%). Among the 12 Pama-Nyungan languages profiled here, that rate ranks ninth from the top.

Where Arrernte (Mparntwe) breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
FeatureArrernte (Mparntwe)Most relatives
Indefinite PronounsGeneric-noun-based indefinitesInterrogative-based indefinites (4 of 4, Central Pama-Nyungan branch)

Closest profiles

Languages that share the most coded values with Arrernte (Mparntwe); the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Arrernte (Mparntwe) for 63 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 56 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Arrernte (Mparntwe) shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 12

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant InventoriesLarge57 of 563
Consonant-Vowel RatioHigh69 of 564
Vowel Quality InventoriesSmall vowel inventory (2-4)93 of 564
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesNo voicing contrast182 of 567
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 of 567
Syllable StructureModerately complex syllable structure274 of 486
ToneNo tones307 of 527
Lateral Consonants/l/, no obstruent laterals388 of 567
Glottalized ConsonantsNo glottalized consonants409 of 567
Presence of Uncommon ConsonantsNone449 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Word structure 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Locus of Marking: Whole-language TypologyConsistently dependent-marking46 of 236
Locus of Marking in the ClauseP is dependent-marked63 of 236
Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb4-5 categories per word52 of 145
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun PhrasesPossessor is dependent-marked98 of 236
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969
Exponence of Selected Inflectional FormativesMonoexponential case71 of 162
ReduplicationProductive full and partial reduplication278 of 368
Fusion of Selected Inflectional FormativesExclusively concatenative125 of 165
Exponence of Tense-Aspect-Mood Inflectionmonoexponential TAM127 of 160
Zero Marking of A and P ArgumentsNon-zero marking219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Case AffixesPostpositional clitics123 of 1,031
Occurrence of Nominal PluralityPlural in all nouns, always optional55 of 291
Definite ArticlesDefinite word distinct from demonstrative216 of 620
Distance Contrasts in DemonstrativesThree-way contrast88 of 234
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive suffixes355 of 902
Third Person Pronouns and DemonstrativesUnrelated100 of 225
Pronominal and Adnominal DemonstrativesSame forms143 of 201

Noun phrases 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Possessive ClassificationTwo classes94 of 243
Noun Phrase ConjunctionAND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical131 of 234
Obligatory Possessive InflectionNo obligatorily possessed nouns201 of 244
Number of Possessive NounsNone reported233 of 243

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131

Word order 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word follows noun (NDem)562 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject precedes verb (OV)712 of 1,518
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral follows noun (NNum)608 of 1,154
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)879 of 1,367
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause follows noun (NRel)579 of 824
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'Mixed40 of 378
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsObligatory pronouns in subject position82 of 711
Nominal and Locational PredicationIdentical117 of 386
Negative MorphemesNegative affix395 of 1,157
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding132 of 386
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is possible175 of 386
Comparative ConstructionsLocational Comparative78 of 167
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955

Complex sentences 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
'Want' Complement SubjectsThe complement subject is left implicit144 of 283

Vocabulary 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Finger and HandIdentical72 of 593
Hand and ArmDifferent389 of 617
M in Second Person SingularNo m in second person singular152 of 230
M in First Person SingularNo m in first person singular177 of 230
N-M PronounsNo N-M pronouns194 of 230
M-T PronounsNo M-T pronouns200 of 230