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Khanty

Uralic family · Ugric branch · Eurasia

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

The closest grammar profile to Khanty in the atlas belongs to Telugu, a Dravidian language: the two agree on 32 of the 42 features both have coded.

On Nominal and Verbal Conjunction, all 6 other Uralic languages coded have the value “Nominal and verbal conjunction are largely identical”; Khanty has “Nominal and verbal conjunction are different”.

On Number of Cases, WALS codes Khanty as “3 case categories”, a value held by 9 of the 261 languages coded, Greek (Modern) and Paumarí among them.

Khanty: order of head and dependent in 9 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.adpositionnoun phrase49%43%Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase: Postpositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.noungenitive55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Genitive-noun (GenN). 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 precedes noun (AdjN). 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.nounrelative clause17%70%Order of Relative Clause and Noun: Relative clause precedes noun (RelN). 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 Khanty uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Khanty with Telugu or with any other language

Inside the Uralic family

Khanty matches the most frequent Uralic value on 38 of the 56 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (68%). Among the 7 Uralic languages profiled here, that rate ranks second from the top.

Where Khanty breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
FeatureKhantyMost relatives
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'MixedIndirect-object construction (5 of 5)

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Khanty for 57 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 53 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Khanty shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 14

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
The Velar NasalVelar nasal, but not initially87 of 469
Consonant InventoriesModerately small122 of 563
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesNo voicing contrast182 of 567
Consonant-Vowel RatioAverage234 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 of 567
Vowel Quality InventoriesAverage vowel inventory (5-6)287 of 564
Syllable StructureModerately complex syllable structure274 of 486
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 MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Distributive NumeralsMarked by suffix32 of 251
Ordinal NumeralsFirst, second, three-th61 of 321
Asymmetrical Case-MarkingAdditive-quantitatively asymmetrical case-marking53 of 261
Comitatives and InstrumentalsIdentity76 of 322
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive suffixes355 of 902
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
The Associative PluralAssociative plural marker also used for additive plurals104 of 236
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Indefinite PronounsInterrogative-based indefinites194 of 326

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Noun Phrase ConjunctionAND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical131 of 234

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
The ProhibitiveNormal imperative + special negative182 of 496
Epistemic PossibilityOther91 of 240
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal MarkingNo overlap105 of 207
The Morphological ImperativeSecond singular and second plural292 of 548
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131
Situational PossibilityVerbal constructions158 of 234
The OptativeInflectional optative absent271 of 319

Word order 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause precedes noun (RelN)141 of 824
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)373 of 1,367
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 Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
Order of Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
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 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Predicative PossessionHave-Possessive63 of 240
Nominal and Locational PredicationIdentical117 of 386
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding132 of 386
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is possible175 of 386
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs437 of 711
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate NegationNegative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation170 of 206

Complex sentences 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
'Want' Complement SubjectsThe complement subject is left implicit144 of 283

Vocabulary 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Numeral BasesDecimal125 of 196

Other 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Para-Linguistic Usages of ClicksClicks may express neither affective nor logical meanings25 of 143