Hunzib

Nakh-Daghestanian family · Avar-Andic-Tsezic branch · Eurasia

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

On Syllable Structure, all 7 other Nakh-Daghestanian languages coded have the value “Complex syllable structure”; Hunzib has “Moderately complex syllable structure”.

On Exponence of Tense-Aspect-Mood Inflection, WALS codes Hunzib as “TAM+polarity”, a value held by 5 of the 160 languages coded, Kayardild and Mangarrayi among them.

On Presence of Uncommon Consonants, WALS codes Hunzib as “Pharyngeals”, a value held by 21 of the 567 languages coded, Ingush and Lak among them.

The order Hunzib uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Hunzib with Archi or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Coding of EvidentialityPart of the tense system24 of 418
Productivity of the Antipassive Constructionpartially productive14 of 186
Asymmetrical Case-MarkingSyncretism in relevant NP-types21 of 261
Lateral Consonants/l/ and lateral obstruents47 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsUvular stops and continuants48 of 567
Number of Cases10 or more case categories24 of 261
Antipassive ConstructionsAntipassive with patient-like argument left implicit18 of 194
Number of GendersFive or more24 of 257

Inside the Nakh-Daghestanian family

Hunzib matches the most frequent Nakh-Daghestanian value on 65 of the 88 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (74%). Among the 7 Nakh-Daghestanian languages profiled here, that rate ranks fourth from the top.

Where Hunzib breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
Feature	Hunzib	Most relatives
Consonant-Vowel Ratio	Average	High (7 of 7)
Vowel Quality Inventories	Large vowel inventory (7-14)	Average vowel inventory (5-6) (6 of 7)

Closest profiles

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

Archi Nakh-Daghestanian36 of 49
Lezgian Nakh-Daghestanian73 of 106
Tamil Dravidian36 of 51
Ingush Nakh-Daghestanian60 of 90
Marathi Indo-European33 of 47

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Hunzib for 107 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 93 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Hunzib 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
Weight-Sensitive Stress	Right-edge: Stress on ultimate or penultimate syllable	65 of 500
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress Systems	Long vowel: long vowels are heavy for stress	65 of 500
Vowel Nasalization	Contrastive nasal vowels present	64 of 244
Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives	Voicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives	158 of 567
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
Absence of Common Consonants	All present	503 of 567
Front Rounded Vowels	None	525 of 562

Word structure 7

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Case Syncretism	Inflectional case marking is never syncretic	35 of 198
Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb	6-7 categories per word	31 of 145
Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking	Subject person/number marking is never syncretic	81 of 198
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology	Predominantly suffixing	406 of 969
Exponence of Selected Inflectional Formatives	Monoexponential case	71 of 162
Reduplication	Productive full and partial reduplication	278 of 368
Fusion of Selected Inflectional Formatives	Exclusively concatenative	125 of 165

Nouns and pronouns 22

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives	Different inflectional features	21 of 201
Ordinal Numerals	One-th, two-th, three-th	41 of 321
Systems of Gender Assignment	Semantic assignment	53 of 257
Third Person Pronouns and Demonstratives	Related for all demonstratives	52 of 225
Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes	No possessive affixes	260 of 902
Definite Articles	Neither definite nor indefinite article	198 of 620
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems	Sex-based gender system	84 of 257
Distributive Numerals	Marked by reduplication	85 of 251
Conjunctions and Universal Quantifiers	Formally different	40 of 116
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection	No person marking at all	70 of 200
Indefinite Articles	Neither indefinite nor definite	198 of 534
Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives	Three-way contrast	88 of 234
Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns	Person-number stem	114 of 261
Position of Case Affixes	Case suffixes	452 of 1,031
Occurrence of Nominal Plurality	Plural in all nouns, always obligatory	133 of 291
Coding of Nominal Plurality	Plural suffix	513 of 1,066
Person Marking on Adpositions	Adpositions without person marking	209 of 378
Indefinite Pronouns	Interrogative-based indefinites	194 of 326
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns	No inclusive/exclusive opposition	120 of 200
Numeral Classifiers	Numeral classifiers are absent	260 of 400
Comitatives and Instrumentals	Differentiation	213 of 322
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns	No gender distinctions	254 of 378

Noun phrases 3

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Adjectives without Nouns	Adjective may occur without noun, obligatorily marked by suffix	13 of 124
Nominal and Verbal Conjunction	Nominal and verbal conjunction are largely identical	161 of 301
Genitives, Adjectives and Relative Clauses	Highly differentiated	77 of 138

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 12

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
The Optative	Inflectional optative present	48 of 319
The Morphological Imperative	Second person number-neutral	89 of 548
Suppletion According to Tense and Aspect	Suppletion according to tense	36 of 193
The Prohibitive	Special imperative + special negative	146 of 496
Imperative-Hortative Systems	The language has a maximal system, but not a minimal one	133 of 375
Epistemic Possibility	Other	91 of 240
Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality	Only indirect evidentials	166 of 418
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking	No overlap	105 of 207
Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes	Tense-aspect suffixes	667 of 1,131
Situational Possibility	Verbal constructions	158 of 234
Suppletion in Imperatives and Hortatives	None (= no suppletive imperatives reported in the reference material)	153 of 193
Verbal Number and Suppletion	No singular-(dual)-plural pairs/triples	159 of 193

Word order 10

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause	Suffixal adverbial subordinators	64 of 659
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 Adposition and Noun Phrase	Postpositions	577 of 1,184
Order of Genitive and Noun	Genitive-noun (GenN)	685 of 1,249
Order of Subject and Verb	Subject precedes verb (SV)	1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 20

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases	Ergative - absolutive	32 of 190
Polar Questions	Interrogative verb morphology	164 of 955
Verbal Person Marking	Person marking of only the A argument	73 of 378
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking	No person marking of the S	96 of 380
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard Negation	In other grammatical categories: Subtype A/Cat	82 of 297
Nominal and Locational Predication	Identical	117 of 386
Negative Morphemes	Negative affix	395 of 1,157
Predicative Adjectives	Predicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding	132 of 386
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation	Symmetric and asymmetric standard negation: Type SymAsy	130 of 297
Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns	Neutral	79 of 172
Comparative Constructions	Locational Comparative	78 of 167
Order of Person Markers on the Verb	A and P do not or do not both occur on the verb	187 of 379
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'	Indirect-object construction	189 of 378
Applicative Constructions	No applicative construction	100 of 183
Other Roles of Applied Objects	No applicative construction	100 of 183
Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals	Zero copula is impossible	211 of 386
Alignment of Verbal Person Marking	Accusative alignment	212 of 380
Passive Constructions	There is no passive construction	211 of 373
Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions	Morphological type but no compound type	254 of 310
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate Negation	Negative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation	170 of 206

Complex sentences 5

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Reason Clauses	Deranked	42 of 169
Relativization on Obliques	Gap Strategy	55 of 112
'Want' Complement Subjects	The complement subject is left implicit	144 of 283
Purpose Clauses	Deranked	102 of 170
Relativization on Subjects	Gap	125 of 166

Vocabulary 1

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Numeral Bases	Decimal	125 of 196

Other 1

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Para-Linguistic Usages of Clicks	Clicks may express logical meanings ('yes' and/or 'no')	47 of 143