The Altaic languages
Language family · Eurasia
WALS includes 65 Altaic languages in 3 branches; all of them are in Eurasia.
All 28 members coded for basic word order are subject-object-verb (SOV).
The most solid shared trait: all 31 members coded for Order of Subject and Verb have subject precedes verb (SV).
Of these, 13 have a full page on this site.
Word order against the world
Members with at least 30 coded features, compared with every language WALS codes for each pairing.
dependent before the headboth or otherafter the head
- Subject and verbAltaic100% · none of 18All WALS80% · 13% of 1,496
- Object and verbAltaic100% · none of 18All WALS47% · 46% of 1,518
- Noun phrase and adpositionAltaic100% · none of 17All WALS49% · 43% of 1,184
- Genitive and nounAltaic100% · none of 16All WALS55% · 37% of 1,249
- Adjective and nounAltaic100% · none of 19All WALS27% · 64% of 1,367
- Demonstrative and nounAltaic100% · none of 13All WALS45% · 48% of 1,225
- Numeral and nounAltaic100% · none of 13All WALS42% · 53% of 1,154
- Relative clause and nounAltaic93% · none of 14All WALS17% · 70% of 824
- Degree word and adjectiveAltaic100% · none of 10All WALS47% · 40% of 481
Shared and split traits
| Feature | Most frequent value | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 31 of 31 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object precedes verb (OV) | 31 of 31 |
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Tense-aspect suffixes | 30 of 30 |
| Order of Subject, Object and Verb | Subject-object-verb (SOV) | 28 of 28 |
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Predominantly suffixing | 27 of 27 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Postpositions | 24 of 24 |
| Tea | Words derived from Sinitic cha | 23 of 23 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Genitive-noun (GenN) | 22 of 22 |
| Feature | Largest group | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Occurrence of Nominal Plurality | Plural in all nouns, always optional | 3 of 10 |
| Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause | Initial subordinator word | 5 of 12 |
| Front Rounded Vowels | None | 7 of 16 |
| Polar Questions | Question particle | 11 of 22 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is impossible | 5 of 10 |
Members
| Language | Branch | Basic order | Features coded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azerbaijani | Turkic | SOV | 40 |
| Bashkir | Turkic | not coded | 48 |
| Buriat | Mongolic | SOV | 39 |
| Chuvash | Turkic | SOV | 67 |
| Dagur | Mongolic | SOV | 47 |
| Even | Tungusic | SOV | 44 |
| Evenki | Tungusic | SOV | 131 |
| Kalmyk | Mongolic | not coded | 31 |
| Karachay-Balkar | Turkic | SOV | 31 |
| Karakalpak | Turkic | not coded | 24 |
| Khalaj | Turkic | not coded | 25 |
| Khalkha | Mongolic | SOV | 130 |
| Kirghiz | Turkic | not coded | 40 |
| Manchu | Tungusic | SOV | 37 |
| Mangghuer | Mongolic | SOV | 42 |
| Moghol | Mongolic | not coded | 27 |
| Nanai | Tungusic | not coded | 36 |
| Tatar | Turkic | SOV | 40 |
| Turkish | Turkic | SOV | 140 |
| Tuvan | Turkic | SOV | 55 |
| Udihe | Tungusic | SOV | 44 |
| Uyghur | Turkic | not coded | 22 |
| Uzbek | Turkic | SOV | 52 |
| Yakut | Turkic | SOV | 50 |
Not listed: 41 further Altaic languages with fewer than 20 coded features.