Avar
Nakh-Daghestanian family · Avar-Andic-Tsezic branch · Eurasia
Avar is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
On Negative Morphemes, WALS codes Avar as “Negative auxiliary verb”, a value held by 47 of the 1,157 languages coded, Finnish and Thai among them.
On Presence of Uncommon Consonants, WALS codes Avar as “Pharyngeals”, a value held by 21 of the 567 languages coded, Ingush and Hunzib among them.
Contrast Avar with Archi or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Avar, rarest first.
- Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle in second position in sentence52 of 884
- Weight-Sensitive StressLeft-edge: Stress is on the first or second syllable37 of 500
- Lateral Consonants/l/ and lateral obstruents47 of 567
- Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsCombined: two of the above factors determine weight42 of 500
- Uvular ConsonantsUvular stops and continuants48 of 567
- Predicative PossessionGenitive Possessive22 of 240
Inside the Nakh-Daghestanian family
Avar matches the most frequent Nakh-Daghestanian value on 38 of the 48 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (79%). Among the 7 Nakh-Daghestanian languages profiled here, that rate ranks second from the top.
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Avar; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Avar for 50 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 41 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Avar shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 12
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant Inventories | Large | 57 of 563 |
| Glottalized Consonants | Ejectives only | 58 of 567 |
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | High | 69 of 564 |
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | Voicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives | 158 of 567 |
| Rhythm Types | Absent: no rhythmic stress | 98 of 323 |
| Syllable Structure | Complex syllable structure | 151 of 486 |
| Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems | Other | 242 of 567 |
| Fixed Stress Locations | No fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress) | 220 of 502 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Average vowel inventory (5-6) | 287 of 564 |
| Tone | No tones | 307 of 527 |
| 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 | Predominantly suffixing | 406 of 969 |
Nouns and pronouns 5
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinal Numerals | One-th, two-th, three-th | 41 of 321 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Case suffixes | 452 of 1,031 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural suffix | 513 of 1,066 |
| Numeral Classifiers | Numeral classifiers are absent | 260 of 400 |
| Comitatives and Instrumentals | Differentiation | 213 of 322 |
Noun phrases 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Action Nominal Constructions | Sentential | 25 of 168 |
| Genitives, Adjectives and Relative Clauses | Highly differentiated | 77 of 138 |
| Noun Phrase Conjunction | AND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical | 131 of 234 |
| Adjectives without Nouns | Adjective may occur without noun, and without marking | 73 of 124 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 5
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| The Optative | Inflectional optative present | 48 of 319 |
| The Prohibitive | Normal imperative + special negative | 182 of 496 |
| The Morphological Imperative | Second singular and second plural | 292 of 548 |
| Imperative-Hortative Systems | The language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system | 201 of 375 |
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Tense-aspect suffixes | 667 of 1,131 |
Word order 9
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN) | 373 of 1,367 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 479 of 1,154 |
| Order of Demonstrative and Noun | Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN) | 542 of 1,225 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object precedes verb (OV) | 712 of 1,518 |
| Order of Degree Word and Adjective | Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj) | 227 of 481 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Postpositions | 577 of 1,184 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Genitive-noun (GenN) | 685 of 1,249 |
| Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions | Interrogative phrases not obligatorily initial | 615 of 902 |
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 1,192 of 1,496 |
Simple clauses 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal and Locational Predication | Identical | 117 of 386 |
| Predicative Adjectives | Predicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding | 132 of 386 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is impossible | 211 of 386 |
| Polar Questions | Question particle | 585 of 955 |
Other 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Para-Linguistic Usages of Clicks | Clicks may express logical meanings ('yes' and/or 'no') | 47 of 143 |