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An isolating language is a type of language with a morpheme per word ratio close to one, and with no inflectional morphology whatsoever. In the extreme case, each word contains a single morpheme. Examples of widely spoken isolating languages are Yorubacite-ref-eajor-1-0[1] in West Africa and Vietnamesecite-ref-brit-2-0[2]cite-ref-silglos-3-0[3] (especially its colloquial register) in Southeast Asia.

A closely related concept is that of an analytic language, which uses unbound morphemes or syntactical constructions to indicate grammatical relationships. Isolating and analytic languages tend to overlap in linguistic scholarship.cite-ref-brit-2-1[2]

Isolating languages contrast with synthetic languages, also called inflectional languages, where words often consist of multiple morphemes.cite-ref-4[4] Synthetic languages are subdivided into the classifications fusional, agglutinative, and polysynthetic, which are based on how the morphemes are combined.cite-ref-5[5]

• Explanation

• Examples

• See also

• References

• Further reading

Although historically, languages were divided into three basic types (isolating, inflectional, agglutinative), the traditional morphological types can be categorized by two distinct parameters:

• morpheme per word ratio (how many morphemes there are per word)

• degree of fusion between morphemes (how separable the inflectional morphemes of words are according to units of meaning represented)

A language is said to be more isolating than another if it has a lower morpheme per word ratio.

To illustrate the relationship between words and morphemes, the English term "city" is a single word, consisting of only one morpheme (city). This word has a 1:1 morpheme per word ratio. In contrast, "handshakes" is a single word consisting of three morphemes (hand, shake, -s). This word has a 3:1 morpheme per word ratio. On average, words in English have a morpheme per word ratio substantially greater than one.

It is perfectly possible for a language to have one inflectional morpheme yet more than one unit of meaning. For example, the Russian word vídyat/видят "they see" has a morpheme per word ratio of 2:1 since it has two morphemes. The root vid-/вид- conveys the imperfective aspect meaning, and the inflectional morpheme -yat/-ят inflects for four units of meaning (third-person subject, plural subject, present/future tense, indicative mood). Effectively, it has four units of meaning in one inseparable morpheme: -yat/-ят.

Languages with a higher tendency toward isolation generally exhibit a morpheme-per-word ratio close to 1:1. In an ideal isolating language, visible morphology would be entirely absent, as words would lack any internal structure in terms of smaller, meaningful units called morphemes. Such a language would not use bound morphemes like affixes.

The morpheme-to-word ratio operates on a spectrum, ranging from lower ratios that skew toward the isolating end to higher ratios on the synthetic end of the scale. A larger overall ratio suggests that a language leans more toward being synthetic rather than isolating. cite-ref-6[6]cite-ref-7[7]

Some isolating languages include:

• Classical Chinesecite-ref-8[8]

• Vietnamesecite-ref-brit-2-2[2]cite-ref-silglos-3-1[3]

• Yorubacite-ref-eajor-1-1[1]

• Khmer language

• Thai language

• Central Flores languages

• Malay trade and creole languages of Eastern Indonesia, including:cite-ref-9[9]

• Ambonese Malay

• Kupang Malay

• Larantuka Malay

• Manado Malay

• North Moluccan Malay

• Papuan Malaycite-ref-10[10]

• Analytic language

• Free morpheme

• Linguistic typology

• Synthetic language

• Zero-marking language

cite-note-eajor-11. ↑ "A Computerized Identification System for Verb Sorting and Arrangement in a Natural Language: Case Study of the Nigerian Yoruba Language" (PDF). eajournals.org. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

cite-note-brit-22. ↑ "Analytic language". Encyclopedia Britannica. 20 July 1998.

cite-note-silglos-33. ↑ "Isolating Language". Glossary of Linguistic Terms. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

cite-note-44. ↑ citerefwhaley1997Whaley, Lindsay J. (1997). "Chapter 7: Morphemes". Introduction to Typology: The Unity and Diversity of Language. SAGE Publications, Inc. ISBN 9780803959620.

cite-note-55. ↑ "Lecture No. 13". bucknell.edu. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

cite-note-66. ↑ "Morphological Typology" (PDF). studiumdigitale.uni-frankfurt.de. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

cite-note-77. ↑ "Polysynthetic language". Japan Module. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

cite-note-88. ↑ "Isolating language". Sorosoro. 5 September 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2023.

cite-note-99. ↑ citerefpaauw2009Paauw, Scott H. (2009). The Malay contact varieties of eastern Indonesia: A typological comparison (PDF). The State University of New York at Buffalo. OCLC 6002898562. Retrieved 8 August 2021.

cite-note-1010. ↑ citerefkluge2017Kluge, Angela (2017). A Grammar of Papuan Malay. Studies in Diversity Linguistics 11. Berlin: Language Science Press. p. 22. doi:10.5281/zenodo.376415. ISBN 978-3-944675-86-2.

• Sapir, Edward (1921). Chapter 6: "Types of linguistic structure". In Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech.