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Maba

Maban family · Africa

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

On Position of Case Affixes, WALS codes Maba as “Case coded by tone”, a value held by 5 of the 1,031 languages coded, Nandi and Maasai among them.

The closest grammar profile to Maba in the atlas belongs to Kanuri, a Saharan language: the two agree on 49 of the 62 features both have coded.

On Number of Cases, WALS codes Maba as “3 case categories”, a value held by 9 of the 261 languages coded, Greek (Modern) and Paumarí among them.

Maba: order of head and dependent in 9 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.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.noungenitivegenitiveno dominant order55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Both orders occur with neither order dominant. 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.nounrelative clause17%70%Order of Relative Clause and Noun: Relative clause follows noun (NRel). Of 824 languages coded, 141 put the relative clause before the noun and 579 after it.adjectivedegree word47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj). Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Maba uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Maba with Kanuri or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Maba for 62 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 56 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Maba shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 13

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
ToneSimple tone system132 of 527
Vowel NasalizationContrastive nasal vowels present64 of 244
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives158 of 567
Syllable StructureComplex syllable structure151 of 486
Vowel Quality InventoriesLarge vowel inventory (7-14)184 of 564
Consonant InventoriesAverage201 of 563
Consonant-Vowel RatioAverage234 of 564
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 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyModerate preference for suffixing123 of 969
Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number MarkingSubject person/number marking is never syncretic81 of 198
Case SyncretismInflectional case marking is absent or minimal123 of 198

Nouns and pronouns 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson-number stem with a pronominal plural affix47 of 261
Person Marking on AdpositionsPerson marking for pronouns only83 of 378
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesNo possessive affixes260 of 902
Asymmetrical Case-MarkingSymmetrical case-marking79 of 261
Definite ArticlesDefinite word distinct from demonstrative216 of 620
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal InflectionNo inclusive/exclusive opposition79 of 200
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent PronounsNo inclusive/exclusive opposition120 of 200
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsNo gender distinctions254 of 378

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
The ProhibitiveSpecial imperative + special negative146 of 496
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal MarkingOverlap for either possibility or necessity66 of 207
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
Coding of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
The Morphological ImperativeSecond singular and second plural292 of 548
Imperative-Hortative SystemsThe language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system201 of 375
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131
The OptativeInflectional optative absent271 of 319

Word order 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and ClauseMore than one type of adverbial subordinators with none dominant93 of 659
Position of Polar Question ParticlesNo question particle355 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 Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word precedes adjective (DegAdj)227 of 481
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
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
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases not obligatorily initial615 of 902
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause follows noun (NRel)579 of 824
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Polar QuestionsInterrogative verb morphology164 of 955
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard NegationIn other grammatical categories: Subtype A/Cat82 of 297
Negative MorphemesNegative affix395 of 1,157
Passive ConstructionsThere is a passive construction162 of 373
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard NegationSymmetric and asymmetric standard negation: Type SymAsy130 of 297
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 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

Vocabulary 2

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