Word Order Facts
Menu

Dumo

Skou family · Western Skou branch · Papunesia

Dumo is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

Scored by how often each of its values recurs in the atlas, Dumo has the tenth most ordinary profile of the 409 languages compared on this measure.

The closest grammar profile to Dumo in the atlas belongs to Kobon, a Trans-New Guinea language: the two agree on 35 of the 46 features both have coded.

On Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns, WALS codes Dumo as “Gender distinctions in 3rd person plus 1st and/or 2nd person”, a value held by 18 of the 378 languages coded, Spanish and Abkhaz among them.

Dumo: order of head and dependent in 6 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.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.
The order Dumo uses in 6 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Dumo with Kobon or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Skou family

Dumo matches the most frequent Skou value on 13 of the 13 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (100%).

Closest profiles

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

  • Daga Trans-New Guinea29 of 42
  • Supyire Niger-Congo32 of 47
  • Rama Chibchan30 of 44
  • Suena Trans-New Guinea27 of 41

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Dumo for 47 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 44 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Dumo shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 12

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant-Vowel RatioLow58 of 564
Consonant InventoriesSmall89 of 563
ToneComplex tone system88 of 527
Vowel Quality InventoriesLarge vowel inventory (7-14)184 of 564
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in plosives alone189 of 567
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 of 567
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
Absence of Common ConsonantsAll present503 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Word structure 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Locus of Marking in the ClauseP has no marking42 of 236
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun PhrasesPossessor is head-marked78 of 236
Locus of Marking: Whole-language TypologyInconsistent marking or other type121 of 236
Zero Marking of A and P ArgumentsNon-zero marking219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Case AffixesNeither case affixes nor adpositional clitics379 of 1,031
Person Marking on AdpositionsAdpositions without person marking209 of 378
Numeral ClassifiersNumeral classifiers are absent260 of 400

Noun phrases 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Possessive ClassificationTwo classes94 of 243
Obligatory Possessive InflectionNo obligatorily possessed nouns201 of 244
Number of Possessive NounsNone reported233 of 243

Word order 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at end of sentence314 of 884
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 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
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases not obligatorily initial615 of 902
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsObligatory pronouns in subject position82 of 711
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of only the A argument73 of 378
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard NegationSymmetric standard negation only: Type Sym114 of 297
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard NegationNon-assignable (no asymmetry found)114 of 297
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingNo zero realization of third person S forms181 of 380
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA and P do not or do not both occur on the verb187 of 379
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingAccusative alignment212 of 380
Passive ConstructionsThere is no passive construction211 of 373
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955

Vocabulary 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
N-M PronounsN-M pronouns, paradigmatic25 of 230
M in Second Person Singularm in second person singular78 of 230
M in First Person SingularNo m in first person singular177 of 230
M-T PronounsNo M-T pronouns200 of 230