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Itelmen

Chukotko-Kamchatkan family · Southern Chukotko-Kamchatkan branch · Eurasia

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

On Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase, WALS codes Itelmen as “No adpositions”, a value held by 30 of the 1,184 languages coded, Kayardild and Ngiyambaa among them.

The closest grammar profile to Itelmen in the atlas belongs to Georgian, a Kartvelian language: the two agree on 28 of the 43 features both have coded.

Itelmen: order of head and dependent in 8 constructions← beforeafter →verbsubject80%13%Order of Subject and Verb: Subject precedes verb (SV). 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 precedes verb (OV). Of 1,518 languages coded, 712 put the object before the verb and 705 after it.adpositionNo adpositions49%43%Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase: No adpositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.noungenitivegenitiveno dominant order55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Both orders occur with neither order dominant. Of 1,249 languages coded, 685 put the genitive before the noun and 468 after it.nounadjectiveadjectiveno dominant order27%64%Order of Adjective and Noun: No dominant order. 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 precedes noun (DemN). Of 1,225 languages coded, 551 put the demonstrative before the noun and 590 after it.nounnumeral42%53%Order of Numeral and Noun: Numeral precedes noun (NumN). Of 1,154 languages coded, 479 put the numeral before the noun and 608 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 Itelmen uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Itelmen with Georgian or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Itelmen for 47 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 39 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Itelmen shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Glottalized ConsonantsEjectives only58 of 567
Consonant InventoriesModerately large94 of 563
Consonant-Vowel RatioModerately high102 of 564
Syllable StructureComplex syllable structure151 of 486
The Velar NasalVelar nasal, also initially147 of 469
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 of 567
Vowel Quality InventoriesAverage vowel inventory (5-6)287 of 564
Presence of Uncommon ConsonantsNone449 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 MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Ordinal NumeralsFirst, second, three-th61 of 321
Definite ArticlesNeither definite nor indefinite article198 of 620
Indefinite ArticlesNeither indefinite nor definite198 of 534
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Number of GendersNone145 of 257
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender SystemsNo gender system145 of 257
Systems of Gender AssignmentNo gender system145 of 257
Comitatives and InstrumentalsDifferentiation213 of 322

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
Coding of EvidentialityNo grammatical evidentials181 of 418
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131

Word order 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Object, Oblique, and VerbMore than one order with none dominant167 of 500
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral precedes noun (NumN)479 of 1,154
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)542 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject precedes verb (OV)712 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
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases not obligatorily initial615 of 902
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Negative MorphemesDouble negation119 of 1,157
Reciprocal ConstructionsDistinct from reflexive99 of 175
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs437 of 711

Vocabulary 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
M-T PronounsM-T pronouns, paradigmatic27 of 230
M in First Person Singularm in first person singular53 of 230
M in Second Person SingularNo m in second person singular152 of 230
N-M PronounsNo N-M pronouns194 of 230