Yapese
Austronesian family · Yapese branch · Papunesia
Yapese puts its words in verb-subject-object order (VSO), one of only 95 with that basic order among the 1,376 languages WALS codes for this feature.
On Glottalized Consonants, 41 of 44 other Austronesian languages coded have the value “No glottalized consonants”; Yapese has “Ejectives and glottalized resonants”.
On Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions, WALS codes Yapese as “Mixed, some interrogative phrases obligatorily initial, some not”, a value held by 23 of the 902 languages coded, Indonesian and Tukang Besi among them.
Contrast Yapese with Chamorro or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Yapese, rarest first.
- Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingZero realization of some third person singular forms21 of 380
- Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of only the P argument24 of 378
- Presence of Uncommon Consonants'Th' sounds40 of 567
- Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsCombined: two of the above factors determine weight42 of 500
Inside the Austronesian family
Yapese matches the most frequent Austronesian value on 36 of the 55 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (65%). Among the 38 Austronesian languages profiled here, that rate ranks 19th from the top.
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Yapese; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Yapese for 55 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 48 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Yapese shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 14
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm Types | Undetermined: no clear foot type | 37 of 323 |
| Weight-Sensitive Stress | Right-edge: Stress on ultimate or penultimate syllable | 65 of 500 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Large vowel inventory (7-14) | 184 of 564 |
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | Voicing contrast in plosives alone | 189 of 567 |
| Consonant Inventories | Average | 201 of 563 |
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | Average | 234 of 564 |
| Fixed Stress Locations | No fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress) | 220 of 502 |
| Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems | /p t k b d g/ | 255 of 567 |
| Syllable Structure | Moderately complex syllable structure | 274 of 486 |
| Tone | No tones | 307 of 527 |
| Lateral Consonants | /l/, no obstruent laterals | 388 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 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Little or no inflectional morphology | 141 of 969 |
Nouns and pronouns 9
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Numeral Classifiers | Numeral classifiers are optional | 62 of 400 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural word | 170 of 1,066 |
| Indefinite Articles | Indefinite word distinct from numeral for 'one' | 102 of 534 |
| Person Marking on Adpositions | Person marking for pronouns only | 83 of 378 |
| Indefinite Pronouns | Generic-noun-based indefinites | 85 of 326 |
| Definite Articles | Definite word distinct from demonstrative | 216 of 620 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Neither case affixes nor adpositional clitics | 379 of 1,031 |
| Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes | Possessive suffixes | 355 of 902 |
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | No gender distinctions | 254 of 378 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 3
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | No tense-aspect inflection | 152 of 1,131 |
| The Morphological Imperative | No second-person imperatives | 122 of 548 |
| The Prohibitive | Normal imperative + special negative | 182 of 496 |
Word order 11
| 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 |
| Position of Polar Question Particles | No question particle | 355 of 884 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 479 of 1,154 |
| 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 Degree Word and Adjective | Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj) | 227 of 481 |
| 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 |
| Order of Relative Clause and Noun | Relative clause follows noun (NRel) | 579 of 824 |
Simple clauses 8
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Polar Questions | Interrogative intonation only | 173 of 955 |
| Periphrastic Causative Constructions | Sequential type but no purposive type | 35 of 118 |
| Negative Morphemes | Negative particle | 502 of 1,157 |
| Comparative Constructions | Locational Comparative | 78 of 167 |
| Order of Person Markers on the Verb | A and P do not or do not both occur on the verb | 187 of 379 |
| Alignment of Verbal Person Marking | Accusative alignment | 212 of 380 |
| Passive Constructions | There is no passive construction | 211 of 373 |
| Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions | Morphological type but no compound type | 254 of 310 |
Vocabulary 2
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Hand and Arm | Identity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm' | 228 of 617 |
| Finger and Hand | Different | 521 of 593 |