Marind
Trans-New Guinea family · Marind-Yaqay branch · Papunesia
Marind is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
On Polar Questions, WALS codes Marind as “Question particle and interrogative verb morphology”, a value held by 15 of the 955 languages coded, Pirahã and Ika among them.
The closest grammar profile to Marind in the atlas belongs to Lavukaleve, a Solomons East Papuan language: the two agree on 35 of the 57 features both have coded.
On The Optative, all 10 other Trans-New Guinea languages coded have the value “Inflectional optative absent”; Marind has “Inflectional optative present”.
Contrast Marind with Lavukaleve or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Marind, rarest first.
- Number of GendersFour12 of 257
- Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns'We' and 'I' identical10 of 200
- Lateral ConsonantsLaterals, but no /l/, no obstruent lateral29 of 567
- Order of Numeral and NounBoth orders of numeral and noun with neither order dominant65 of 1,154
- Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson stem with a nominal plural affix19 of 261
- Rhythm TypesIambic: right-hand syllable in the foot is strong31 of 323
Inside the Trans-New Guinea family
Marind matches the most frequent Trans-New Guinea value on 34 of the 63 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (54%). Among the 16 Trans-New Guinea languages profiled here, that rate ranks 15th from the top.
| Feature | Marind | Most relatives |
|---|---|---|
| Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems | Sex-based gender system | No gender system (8 of 8) |
| Systems of Gender Assignment | Semantic assignment | No gender system (8 of 8) |
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | Gender distinctions in 3rd person singular only | No gender distinctions (16 of 17) |
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Marind; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Marind for 63 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 51 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Marind shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 15
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed Stress Locations | Ultimate: stress is on the ultimate (last) syllable | 51 of 502 |
| Consonant Inventories | Moderately small | 122 of 563 |
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | Voicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives | 158 of 567 |
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | Average | 234 of 564 |
| Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems | /p t k b d g/ | 255 of 567 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Average vowel inventory (5-6) | 287 of 564 |
| Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress Systems | No weight, or weight factor unknown | 261 of 500 |
| Weight-Sensitive Stress | Fixed stress (no weight-sensitivity) | 281 of 500 |
| Syllable Structure | Moderately complex syllable structure | 274 of 486 |
| Tone | No tones | 307 of 527 |
| Glottalized Consonants | No glottalized consonants | 409 of 567 |
| Presence of Uncommon Consonants | None | 449 of 567 |
| Uvular Consonants | No uvulars | 470 of 567 |
| Absence of Common Consonants | All present | 503 of 567 |
| Front Rounded Vowels | None | 525 of 562 |
Word structure 2
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking | Subject person/number marking is syncretic | 60 of 198 |
| Case Syncretism | Inflectional case marking is absent or minimal | 123 of 198 |
Nouns and pronouns 8
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinal Numerals | Zero: Ordinal numerals do not exist | 33 of 321 |
| The Associative Plural | Special non-bound associative plural marker | 47 of 236 |
| Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes | Possessive prefixes | 255 of 902 |
| Asymmetrical Case-Marking | No morphological case-marking | 81 of 261 |
| Number of Cases | No morphological case-marking | 100 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 |
| Comitatives and Instrumentals | Differentiation | 213 of 322 |
Noun phrases 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Noun Phrase Conjunction | AND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical | 131 of 234 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 9
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Tense-aspect prefixes | 153 of 1,131 |
| Coding of Evidentiality | Separate particle | 65 of 418 |
| Situational Possibility | Affixes on verbs | 63 of 234 |
| The Prohibitive | Normal imperative + special negative | 182 of 496 |
| Epistemic Possibility | Other | 91 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 |
Word order 5
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Polar Question Particles | Question particle at end of sentence | 314 of 884 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object precedes verb (OV) | 712 of 1,518 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Postpositions | 577 of 1,184 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Genitive-noun (GenN) | 685 of 1,249 |
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 1,192 of 1,496 |
Simple clauses 11
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns | Neutral | 79 of 172 |
| 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 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is impossible | 211 of 386 |
| Alignment of Verbal Person Marking | Accusative alignment | 212 of 380 |
| Passive Constructions | There is no passive construction | 211 of 373 |