Word Order Facts
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Batak (Toba)

Austronesian family · Northwest Sumatra-Barrier Islands branch · Papunesia

Batak (Toba) puts its words in verb-object-subject order (VOS), one of only 25 with that basic order among the 1,376 languages WALS codes for this feature.

The closest grammar profile to Batak (Toba) in the atlas belongs to Khasi, an Austro-Asiatic language: the two agree on 29 of the 41 features both have coded.

Batak (Toba): order of head and dependent in 9 constructions← beforeafter →verbsubject80%13%Order of Subject and Verb: Subject follows verb (VS). 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 follows verb (VO). 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: Prepositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.noungenitive55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Noun-genitive (NGen). 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.nounnumeralnumeralno dominant order42%53%Order of Numeral and Noun: Both orders of numeral and noun with neither order dominant. Of 1,154 languages coded, 479 put the numeral before the noun and 608 after it.nounrelative clause17%70%Order of Relative Clause and Noun: Relative clause follows noun (NRel). Of 824 languages coded, 141 put the relative clause before the noun and 579 after it.adjectivedegree word47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj). Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Batak (Toba) uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Batak (Toba) with Khasi or with any other language

Uncommon values

Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Batak (Toba), rarest first.

Inside the Austronesian family

Batak (Toba) matches the most frequent Austronesian value on 31 of the 43 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (72%). Among the 38 Austronesian languages profiled here, that rate ranks sixth from the top.

Closest profiles

Languages that share the most coded values with Batak (Toba); the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Batak (Toba) for 43 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 41 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Batak (Toba) shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 16

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant InventoriesModerately small122 of 563
Fixed Stress LocationsPenultimate110 of 502
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in plosives alone189 of 567
Consonant-Vowel RatioAverage234 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems/p t k b d g/255 of 567
Rhythm TypesTrochaic: left-hand syllable in the foot is strong153 of 323
Vowel Quality InventoriesAverage vowel inventory (5-6)287 of 564
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
Presence of Uncommon ConsonantsNone449 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Absence of Common ConsonantsAll present503 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Word structure 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyApproximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing147 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural word170 of 1,066
Politeness Distinctions in PronounsSecond person pronouns encode a binary politeness distinction49 of 207
Definite ArticlesNeither definite nor indefinite article198 of 620
Position of Case AffixesNeither case affixes nor adpositional clitics379 of 1,031
Indefinite ArticlesNeither indefinite nor definite198 of 534
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive suffixes355 of 902

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Epistemic PossibilityOther91 of 240

Word order 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Subject and VerbSubject follows verb (VS)194 of 1,496
Order of Genitive and NounNoun-genitive (NGen)468 of 1,249
Order of Object, Oblique, and VerbVerb-object-oblique (VOX)210 of 500
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePrepositions511 of 1,184
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word follows noun (NDem)562 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject follows verb (VO)705 of 1,518
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word precedes adjective (DegAdj)227 of 481
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and ClauseInitial subordinator word398 of 659
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)879 of 1,367
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases not obligatorily initial615 of 902
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause follows noun (NRel)579 of 824

Simple clauses 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Comparative ConstructionsParticle Comparative22 of 167
Predicative PossessionTopic Possessive48 of 240
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have verbal encoding151 of 386
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is impossible211 of 386
Nominal and Locational PredicationDifferent269 of 386