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Dagbani

Niger-Congo family · Oti-Volta branch · Africa

Dagbani is an SVO language, like 488 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

The closest grammar profile to Dagbani in the atlas belongs to Hausa, an Afro-Asiatic language: the two agree on 26 of the 42 features both have coded.

Within the Oti-Volta branch, all 5 other languages coded for Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions have the value “Interrogative phrases not obligatorily initial”; Dagbani has “Interrogative phrases obligatorily initial”.

Dagbani: order of head and dependent in 8 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 follows verb (VO). 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.noungenitive55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Genitive-noun (GenN). Of 1,249 languages coded, 685 put the genitive before the noun and 468 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.adjectivedegree word47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Degree word follows adjective (AdjDeg). Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Dagbani uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Dagbani with Hausa or with any other language

Uncommon values

Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Dagbani, rarest first.

Inside the Niger-Congo family

Dagbani matches the most frequent Niger-Congo value on 29 of the 42 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (69%). Among the 27 Niger-Congo languages profiled here, that rate ranks 12th from the top.

Where Dagbani breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
FeatureDagbaniMost relatives
Vowel NasalizationContrastive nasal vowels absentContrastive nasal vowels present (4 of 4, Oti-Volta branch)

Closest profiles

Languages that share the most coded values with Dagbani; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Dagbani for 42 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 38 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Dagbani shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 12

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant-Vowel RatioModerately high102 of 564
ToneSimple tone system132 of 527
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives158 of 567
Consonant InventoriesAverage201 of 563
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems/p t k b d g/255 of 567
Vowel Quality InventoriesAverage vowel inventory (5-6)287 of 564
Syllable StructureModerately complex syllable structure274 of 486
Lateral Consonants/l/, no obstruent laterals388 of 567
Glottalized ConsonantsNo glottalized consonants409 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Absence of Common ConsonantsAll present503 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Word structure 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyModerate preference for suffixing123 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Indefinite ArticlesNo indefinite article but definite article98 of 534
Indefinite PronounsGeneric-noun-based indefinites85 of 326
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesNo possessive affixes260 of 902
Definite ArticlesDefinite word distinct from demonstrative216 of 620
Occurrence of Nominal PluralityPlural in all nouns, always obligatory133 of 291
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Nominal and Verbal ConjunctionNominal and verbal conjunction are different125 of 301

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesCombination of tense-aspect strategies with none primary146 of 1,131

Word order 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word follows adjective (AdjDeg)192 of 481
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word follows noun (NDem)562 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject follows verb (VO)705 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 Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)879 of 1,367
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsObligatory pronouns in subject position82 of 711
Comparative ConstructionsExceed Comparative33 of 167
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'Double-object construction84 of 378
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have mixed encoding103 of 386
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is impossible211 of 386
Nominal and Locational PredicationDifferent269 of 386

Complex sentences 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
'Want' Complement SubjectsThe complement subject is expressed overtly72 of 283
Relativization on SubjectsGap125 of 166