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Yelî Dnye

Yele family · Papunesia

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

WALS lists no other language in the family it assigns to Yelî Dnye.

The closest grammar profile to Yelî Dnye in the atlas belongs to Kobon, a Trans-New Guinea language: the two agree on 27 of the 42 features both have coded.

Yelî Dnye: order of head and dependent in 7 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.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.
The order Yelî Dnye uses in 7 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Yelî Dnye with Kobon or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Yelî Dnye for 42 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 36 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Yelî Dnye shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 15

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant InventoriesLarge57 of 563
Syllable StructureSimple syllable structure61 of 486
Consonant-Vowel RatioModerately high102 of 564
Fixed Stress LocationsInitial: stress is on the first syllable92 of 502
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesNo voicing contrast182 of 567
Vowel Quality InventoriesLarge vowel inventory (7-14)184 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 of 567
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
ToneNo tones307 of 527
Lateral Consonants/l/, no obstruent laterals388 of 567
Glottalized ConsonantsNo glottalized consonants409 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Nouns and pronouns 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural word170 of 1,066
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive prefixes255 of 902
Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson-number stem114 of 261
Number of GendersNone145 of 257
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender SystemsNo gender system145 of 257
Systems of Gender AssignmentNo gender system145 of 257
Comitatives and InstrumentalsDifferentiation213 of 322
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsNo gender distinctions254 of 378

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect prefixes153 of 1,131

Word order 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
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 Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
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 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 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Person Markers on the VerbP precedes A57 of 379
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of both the A and P arguments193 of 378
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