Ekari
Trans-New Guinea family · Paniai Lakes branch · Papunesia
Ekari is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
On Numeral Bases, WALS codes Ekari as “Other base”, a value held by 5 of the 196 languages coded, Supyire and Ngiti among them.
The closest grammar profile to Ekari in the atlas belongs to Asmat, an Asmat-Kamrau Bay language: the two agree on 45 of the 62 features both have coded.
Contrast Ekari with Asmat or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Ekari, rarest first.
- Lateral ConsonantsLaterals, but no /l/, no obstruent lateral29 of 567
- Coding of EvidentialityPart of the tense system24 of 418
- Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsMissing /g/34 of 567
- Weight-Sensitive StressLeft-edge: Stress is on the first or second syllable37 of 500
- Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsLexical: lexical stress, diacritic weight38 of 500
- Absence of Common ConsonantsNo fricatives48 of 567
- Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson stem with a pronominal plural affix23 of 261
- Number of CasesExclusively borderline morphological case-marking24 of 261
Inside the Trans-New Guinea family
Ekari matches the most frequent Trans-New Guinea value on 45 of the 67 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (67%). Among the 16 Trans-New Guinea languages profiled here, that rate ranks sixth from the top.
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Ekari; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Ekari for 67 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 57 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Ekari shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 13
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | Low | 58 of 564 |
| Syllable Structure | Simple syllable structure | 61 of 486 |
| Consonant Inventories | Small | 89 of 563 |
| Tone | Simple tone system | 132 of 527 |
| Rhythm Types | Absent: no rhythmic stress | 98 of 323 |
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | No voicing contrast | 182 of 567 |
| Fixed Stress Locations | No fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress) | 220 of 502 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Average vowel inventory (5-6) | 287 of 564 |
| Glottalized Consonants | No glottalized consonants | 409 of 567 |
| Vowel Nasalization | Contrastive nasal vowels absent | 180 of 244 |
| Presence of Uncommon Consonants | None | 449 of 567 |
| Uvular Consonants | No uvulars | 470 of 567 |
| Front Rounded Vowels | None | 525 of 562 |
Word structure 10
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun Phrases | Possessor has no marking | 32 of 236 |
| Locus of Marking in the Clause | P is head-marked | 71 of 236 |
| Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking | Subject person/number marking is syncretic | 60 of 198 |
| Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb | 4-5 categories per word | 52 of 145 |
| Exponence of Selected Inflectional Formatives | No case | 75 of 162 |
| Locus of Marking: Whole-language Typology | Inconsistent marking or other type | 121 of 236 |
| Case Syncretism | Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal | 123 of 198 |
| Fusion of Selected Inflectional Formatives | Exclusively concatenative | 125 of 165 |
| Exponence of Tense-Aspect-Mood Inflection | monoexponential TAM | 127 of 160 |
| Zero Marking of A and P Arguments | Non-zero marking | 219 of 235 |
Nouns and pronouns 5
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Asymmetrical Case-Marking | Additive-quantitatively asymmetrical case-marking | 53 of 261 |
| Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection | No inclusive/exclusive opposition | 79 of 200 |
| Person Marking on Adpositions | Adpositions without person marking | 209 of 378 |
| Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns | No inclusive/exclusive opposition | 120 of 200 |
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | No gender distinctions | 254 of 378 |
Noun phrases 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Obligatory Possessive Inflection | Obligatorily possessed nouns exist | 43 of 244 |
| Possessive Classification | Two classes | 94 of 243 |
| Noun Phrase Conjunction | WITH-languages: 'and' and 'with' are identical | 103 of 234 |
| Number of Possessive Nouns | None reported | 233 of 243 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 8
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| The Prohibitive | Normal imperative + normal negative | 113 of 496 |
| Situational Possibility | Affixes on verbs | 63 of 234 |
| Epistemic Possibility | Affixes on verbs | 84 of 240 |
| Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality | Only indirect evidentials | 166 of 418 |
| Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking | No overlap | 105 of 207 |
| The Morphological Imperative | Second singular and second plural | 292 of 548 |
| Imperative-Hortative Systems | The language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system | 201 of 375 |
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Tense-aspect suffixes | 667 of 1,131 |
Word order 3
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Object and Verb | Object precedes verb (OV) | 712 of 1,518 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral follows noun (NNum) | 608 of 1,154 |
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 1,192 of 1,496 |
Simple clauses 12
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Comparative Constructions | Conjoined Comparative | 34 of 167 |
| Predicative Possession | Conjunctional Possessive | 59 of 240 |
| Order of Person Markers on the Verb | A precedes P | 96 of 379 |
| Nominal and Locational Predication | Identical | 117 of 386 |
| Predicative Adjectives | Predicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding | 132 of 386 |
| Negative Morphemes | Negative particle | 502 of 1,157 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is possible | 175 of 386 |
| Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking | No zero realization of third person S forms | 181 of 380 |
| Verbal Person Marking | Person marking of both the A and P arguments | 193 of 378 |
| Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases | Neutral | 98 of 190 |
| Alignment of Verbal Person Marking | Accusative alignment | 212 of 380 |
| Passive Constructions | There is no passive construction | 211 of 373 |
Vocabulary 2
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Hand and Arm | Identity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm' | 228 of 617 |
| Finger and Hand | Different | 521 of 593 |