Chuvash

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

On Imperative-Hortative Systems, all 9 other Altaic languages coded have the value “The language has a maximal system, but not a minimal one”; Chuvash has “The language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system”.

On Front Rounded Vowels, WALS codes Chuvash as “High and mid”, a value held by 23 of the 562 languages coded, Turkish and Tuvan among them.

The order Chuvash uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Chuvash with Tuvan or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Occurrence of Nominal PluralityPlural in all nouns, optional in inanimates15 of 291
Order of Object, Oblique, and VerbObject-oblique-verb (OXV)27 of 500
Third Person Pronouns and DemonstrativesRelated to non-remote demonstratives14 of 225
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsProminence: other factors are heavy for stress41 of 500
Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson stem with a pronominal plural affix23 of 261

Inside the Altaic family

Chuvash matches the most frequent Altaic value on 53 of the 66 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (80%). Among the 15 Altaic languages profiled here, that rate ranks eighth from the top.

Where Chuvash breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
Feature	Chuvash	Most relatives
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause	Final subordinator word	Initial subordinator word (4 of 5, Turkic branch)

Closest profiles

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

Tuvan Altaic38 of 45
Khalkha Altaic48 of 64
Turkish Altaic50 of 67
Brahui Dravidian34 of 45
Korean family of its own42 of 57

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Chuvash for 67 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 58 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Chuvash shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 16

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Weight-Sensitive Stress	Unbounded: Stress can be anywhere in the word	54 of 500
Consonant-Vowel Ratio	Moderately low	101 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
Vowel Quality Inventories	Large vowel inventory (7-14)	184 of 564
Consonant Inventories	Average	201 of 563
Fixed Stress Locations	No fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress)	220 of 502
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems	/p t k b d g/	255 of 567
The Velar Nasal	No velar nasal	235 of 469
Tone	No tones	307 of 527
Lateral Consonants	/l/, no obstruent laterals	388 of 567
Glottalized Consonants	No glottalized consonants	409 of 567
Presence of Uncommon Consonants	None	449 of 567
Uvular Consonants	No uvulars	470 of 567
Absence of Common Consonants	All present	503 of 567

Word structure 1

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology	Predominantly suffixing	406 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 15

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Distributive Numerals	Marked by suffix	32 of 251
Ordinal Numerals	One-th, two-th, three-th	41 of 321
Number of Cases	6-7 case categories	37 of 261
Asymmetrical Case-Marking	Symmetrical case-marking	79 of 261
Definite Articles	Neither definite nor indefinite article	198 of 620
Indefinite Articles	Neither indefinite nor definite	198 of 534
Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes	Possessive suffixes	355 of 902
Position of Case Affixes	Case suffixes	452 of 1,031
The Associative Plural	Associative plural marker also used for additive plurals	104 of 236
Coding of Nominal Plurality	Plural suffix	513 of 1,066
Number of Genders	None	145 of 257
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems	No gender system	145 of 257
Systems of Gender Assignment	No gender system	145 of 257
Indefinite Pronouns	Interrogative-based indefinites	194 of 326
Numeral Classifiers	Numeral classifiers are absent	260 of 400

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 6

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Situational Possibility	Affixes on verbs	63 of 234
Epistemic Possibility	Affixes on verbs	84 of 240
The Prohibitive	Normal imperative + special negative	182 of 496
The Morphological Imperative	Second singular and second plural	292 of 548
Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes	Tense-aspect suffixes	667 of 1,131
The Optative	Inflectional optative absent	271 of 319

Word order 11

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Order of Relative Clause and Noun	Relative clause precedes noun (RelN)	141 of 824
Order of Adjective and Noun	Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)	373 of 1,367
Position of Polar Question Particles	No question particle	355 of 884
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 3

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Polar Questions	Interrogative verb morphology	164 of 955
Negative Morphemes	Negative affix	395 of 1,157
Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions	Morphological type but no compound type	254 of 310

Vocabulary 6

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
M-T Pronouns	M-T pronouns, paradigmatic	27 of 230
M in First Person Singular	m in first person singular	53 of 230
Tea	Words derived from Sinitic cha	110 of 230
Numeral Bases	Decimal	125 of 196
M in Second Person Singular	No m in second person singular	152 of 230
N-M Pronouns	No N-M pronouns	194 of 230