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West Makian

North Halmaheran family · Papunesia

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

Scored by how often each of its values recurs in the atlas, West Makian has the third most ordinary profile of the 409 languages compared on this measure.

The closest grammar profile to West Makian in the atlas belongs to Taba, an Austronesian language: the two agree on 38 of the 44 features both have coded.

West Makian: 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: Genitive-noun (GenN). 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.
The order West Makian uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast West Makian with Taba or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the North Halmaheran family

West Makian matches the most frequent North Halmaheran value on 12 of the 13 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (92%).

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes West Makian for 45 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 43 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value West Makian shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 13

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant InventoriesModerately small122 of 563
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in plosives alone189 of 567
Consonant-Vowel RatioAverage234 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems/p t k b d g/255 of 567
Vowel Quality InventoriesAverage vowel inventory (5-6)287 of 564
Syllable StructureModerately complex syllable structure274 of 486
ToneNo tones307 of 527
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

Nouns and pronouns 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive prefixes255 of 902
Position of Case AffixesNeither case affixes nor adpositional clitics379 of 1,031
Person Marking on AdpositionsAdpositions without person marking209 of 378
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsNo gender distinctions254 of 378

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesNo tense-aspect inflection152 of 1,131

Word order 12

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Polar Question ParticlesNo question particle355 of 884
Order of Object, Oblique, and VerbVerb-object-oblique (VOX)210 of 500
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 Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and ClauseInitial subordinator word398 of 659
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 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Polar QuestionsInterrogative intonation only173 of 955
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of only the A argument73 of 378
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingNo zero realization of third person S forms181 of 380
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA and P do not or do not both occur on the verb187 of 379
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingAccusative alignment212 of 380
Passive ConstructionsThere is no passive construction211 of 373
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 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Purpose ClausesBalanced38 of 170
'When' ClausesBalanced84 of 174
Reason ClausesBalanced90 of 169
Utterance Complement ClausesBalanced114 of 143