Kiribati
Austronesian family · Oceanic branch · Papunesia
Kiribati puts its words in verb-object-subject order (VOS), one of only 25 with that basic order among the 1,376 languages WALS codes for this feature.
Within the Oceanic branch, all 6 other languages coded for Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns have the value “Inclusive and exclusive differentiated”; Kiribati has “No inclusive/exclusive opposition”.
Contrast Kiribati with Fijian or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Kiribati, rarest first.
- Coding of Nominal PluralityMorphological plural with no method primary60 of 1,066
- Person Marking on AdpositionsPerson marking for pronouns and nouns23 of 378
- Negative MorphemesNegative word, unclear if verb or particle73 of 1,157
- Absence of Common ConsonantsNo fricatives48 of 567
- Distributive NumeralsMarked by prefix23 of 251
- Expression of Pronominal SubjectsSubject pronouns in different position67 of 711
Inside the Austronesian family
Kiribati matches the most frequent Austronesian value on 47 of the 71 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (66%). Among the 38 Austronesian languages profiled here, that rate ranks 17th from the top.
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Kiribati; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
Outside the Austronesian family, the best match is Hmong Njua (Hmong-Mien), with 38 of 61 features alike.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Kiribati for 71 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 63 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Kiribati shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 14
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | Low | 58 of 564 |
| Consonant Inventories | Small | 89 of 563 |
| Lateral Consonants | No laterals | 95 of 567 |
| The Velar Nasal | Velar nasal, also initially | 147 of 469 |
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | No voicing contrast | 182 of 567 |
| Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems | Other | 242 of 567 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Average vowel inventory (5-6) | 287 of 564 |
| Syllable Structure | Moderately complex syllable structure | 274 of 486 |
| Tone | No tones | 307 of 527 |
| 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 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Approximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing | 147 of 969 |
| Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking | No subject person/number marking | 57 of 198 |
| Case Syncretism | Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal | 123 of 198 |
| Reduplication | Productive full and partial reduplication | 278 of 368 |
Nouns and pronouns 10
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Numeral Classifiers | Numeral classifiers are obligatory | 78 of 400 |
| The Associative Plural | Special non-bound associative plural marker | 47 of 236 |
| Asymmetrical Case-Marking | No morphological case-marking | 81 of 261 |
| Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection | No person marking at all | 70 of 200 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Neither case affixes nor adpositional clitics | 379 of 1,031 |
| Number of Cases | No morphological case-marking | 100 of 261 |
| Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes | Possessive suffixes | 355 of 902 |
| Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns | Person-number stem | 114 of 261 |
| Third Person Pronouns and Demonstratives | Unrelated | 100 of 225 |
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | No gender distinctions | 254 of 378 |
Noun phrases 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal and Verbal Conjunction | Nominal and verbal conjunction are different | 125 of 301 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 9
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Tense-aspect prefixes | 153 of 1,131 |
| The Prohibitive | Normal imperative + special negative | 182 of 496 |
| Epistemic Possibility | Other | 91 of 240 |
| Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality | No grammatical evidentials | 181 of 418 |
| Coding of Evidentiality | No grammatical evidentials | 181 of 418 |
| 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 |
| Situational Possibility | Verbal constructions | 158 of 234 |
| The Optative | Inflectional optative absent | 271 of 319 |
Word order 12
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject follows verb (VS) | 194 of 1,496 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Noun-genitive (NGen) | 468 of 1,249 |
| Order of Degree Word and Adjective | Degree word follows adjective (AdjDeg) | 192 of 481 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 479 of 1,154 |
| Order of Object, Oblique, and Verb | Verb-object-oblique (VOX) | 210 of 500 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Prepositions | 511 of 1,184 |
| Order of Demonstrative and Noun | Demonstrative word follows noun (NDem) | 562 of 1,225 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object follows verb (VO) | 705 of 1,518 |
| Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause | Initial subordinator word | 398 of 659 |
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj) | 879 of 1,367 |
| Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions | Interrogative phrases not obligatorily initial | 615 of 902 |
| Order of Relative Clause and Noun | Relative clause follows noun (NRel) | 579 of 824 |
Simple clauses 9
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give' | Double-object construction | 84 of 378 |
| Order of Person Markers on the Verb | A precedes P | 96 of 379 |
| Passive Constructions | There is a passive construction | 162 of 373 |
| 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 |
| Periphrastic Causative Constructions | Purposive type but no sequential type | 68 of 118 |
| Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions | Morphological type but no compound type | 254 of 310 |
Complex sentences 3
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| 'When' Clauses | Balanced | 84 of 174 |
| 'Want' Complement Subjects | The complement subject is left implicit | 144 of 283 |
| Reason Clauses | Balanced | 90 of 169 |
Vocabulary 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Numeral Bases | Decimal | 125 of 196 |