Word Order Facts
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Kongo

Niger-Congo family · Bantu branch · Africa

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

Within the Bantu branch, all 9 other languages coded for Order of Degree Word and Adjective have the value “Degree word follows adjective (AdjDeg)”; Kongo has “Both orders occur with neither order dominant”.

Kongo: 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: Prepositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.noungenitive55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Noun-genitive (NGen). 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 worddegree wordno dominant order47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Both orders occur with neither order dominant. Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Kongo uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Kongo with Nkore-Kiga or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Niger-Congo family

Kongo matches the most frequent Niger-Congo value on 42 of the 57 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (74%). Among the 27 Niger-Congo languages profiled here, that rate ranks sixth from the top.

Where Kongo breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
FeatureKongoMost relatives
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard NegationSymmetric standard negation only: Type SymSymmetric and asymmetric standard negation: Type SymAsy (4 of 4, Bantu branch)
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'MixedDouble-object construction (13 of 14, Bantu branch)

Closest profiles

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

  • Nkore-Kiga Niger-Congo40 of 49
  • Luvale Niger-Congo39 of 49
  • Diola-Fogny Niger-Congo37 of 47
  • Swahili Niger-Congo42 of 54
  • Zulu Niger-Congo40 of 53

Outside the Niger-Congo family, the best match is Lango (Eastern Sudanic), with 34 of 51 features alike.

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Kongo for 57 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 50 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Kongo shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Fixed Stress LocationsInitial: stress is on the first syllable92 of 502
Rhythm TypesTrochaic: left-hand syllable in the foot is strong153 of 323
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsNo weight, or weight factor unknown261 of 500
Weight-Sensitive StressFixed stress (no weight-sensitivity)281 of 500
Vowel NasalizationContrastive nasal vowels absent180 of 244

Word structure 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number MarkingSubject person/number marking is syncretic60 of 198
Case SyncretismInflectional case marking is absent or minimal123 of 198

Nouns and pronouns 15

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender SystemsNon-sex-based gender system28 of 257
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns3rd person only, but also non-singular42 of 378
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural prefix126 of 1,066
The Associative PluralSpecial non-bound associative plural marker47 of 236
Systems of Gender AssignmentSemantic and formal assignment59 of 257
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesNo possessive affixes260 of 902
Asymmetrical Case-MarkingNo morphological case-marking81 of 261
Distributive NumeralsMarked by reduplication85 of 251
Position of Case AffixesNeither case affixes nor adpositional clitics379 of 1,031
Number of CasesNo morphological case-marking100 of 261
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal InflectionNo inclusive/exclusive opposition79 of 200
Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson-number stem114 of 261
Person Marking on AdpositionsAdpositions without person marking209 of 378
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent PronounsNo inclusive/exclusive opposition120 of 200
Politeness Distinctions in PronounsSecond person pronouns encode no politeness distinction136 of 207

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesCombination of tense-aspect strategies with none primary146 of 1,131
Imperative-Hortative SystemsThe language has a maximal system, but not a minimal one133 of 375
The ProhibitiveNormal imperative + special negative182 of 496
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
Coding of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
Situational PossibilityVerbal constructions158 of 234
The OptativeInflectional optative absent271 of 319

Word order 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Genitive and NounNoun-genitive (NGen)468 of 1,249
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePrepositions511 of 1,184
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 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 Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Negative MorphemesDouble negation119 of 1,157
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA precedes P96 of 379
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard NegationNon-assignable (no asymmetry found)114 of 297
Passive ConstructionsThere is a passive construction162 of 373
Alignment of Case Marking of PronounsNeutral79 of 172
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingNo zero realization of third person S forms181 of 380
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of both the A and P arguments193 of 378
Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun PhrasesNeutral98 of 190
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingAccusative alignment212 of 380
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs437 of 711
Nonperiphrastic Causative ConstructionsMorphological type but no compound type254 of 310

Complex sentences 1

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

Vocabulary 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Hand and ArmIdentity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm'228 of 617
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593