Kurdish (Central)
Indo-European family · Iranian branch · Eurasia
Kurdish (Central) is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
On Presence of Uncommon Consonants, 26 of 30 other Indo-European languages coded have the value “None”; Kurdish (Central) has “Pharyngeals”.
On Indefinite Articles, WALS codes Kurdish (Central) as “Indefinite affix on noun”, a value held by 24 of the 534 languages coded, Lango and Nama among them.
Contrast Kurdish (Central) with Persian or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Kurdish (Central), rarest first.
- Order of Demonstrative and NounTwo or more of above types with none dominant67 of 1,225
- Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingZero realization of some third person singular forms21 of 380
- Uvular ConsonantsUvular stops only38 of 567
Inside the Indo-European family
Kurdish (Central) matches the most frequent Indo-European value on 25 of the 46 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (54%). Among the 39 Indo-European languages profiled here, that rate ranks 38th from the top.
| Feature | Kurdish (Central) | Most relatives |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes | Possessive suffixes | No possessive affixes (5 of 5, Iranian branch) |
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Kurdish (Central); the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Kurdish (Central) for 46 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 39 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Kurdish (Central) shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 12
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant Inventories | Moderately large | 94 of 563 |
| The Velar Nasal | Velar nasal, but not initially | 87 of 469 |
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | Voicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives | 158 of 567 |
| Syllable Structure | Complex syllable structure | 151 of 486 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Large vowel inventory (7-14) | 184 of 564 |
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | Average | 234 of 564 |
| Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems | /p t k b d g/ | 255 of 567 |
| Tone | No tones | 307 of 527 |
| Lateral Consonants | /l/, no obstruent laterals | 388 of 567 |
| Glottalized Consonants | No glottalized consonants | 409 of 567 |
| Absence of Common Consonants | All present | 503 of 567 |
| Front Rounded Vowels | None | 525 of 562 |
Word structure 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology | Moderate preference for suffixing | 123 of 969 |
Nouns and pronouns 8
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Definite Articles | Definite affix on noun | 92 of 620 |
| Person Marking on Adpositions | Person marking for pronouns only | 83 of 378 |
| Distributive Numerals | Marked by reduplication | 85 of 251 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Neither case affixes nor adpositional clitics | 379 of 1,031 |
| Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns | Person-number stem | 114 of 261 |
| Occurrence of Nominal Plurality | Plural in all nouns, always obligatory | 133 of 291 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural suffix | 513 of 1,066 |
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | No gender distinctions | 254 of 378 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 2
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Combination of tense-aspect strategies with none primary | 146 of 1,131 |
| The Morphological Imperative | Second singular and second plural | 292 of 548 |
Word order 10
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Noun-genitive (NGen) | 468 of 1,249 |
| Order of Numeral and Noun | Numeral precedes noun (NumN) | 479 of 1,154 |
| Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase | Prepositions | 511 of 1,184 |
| 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 Adverbial Subordinator and Clause | Initial subordinator word | 398 of 659 |
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective follows noun (NAdj) | 879 of 1,367 |
| Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions | Interrogative phrases not obligatorily initial | 615 of 902 |
| Order of Relative Clause and Noun | Relative clause follows noun (NRel) | 579 of 824 |
| Order of Subject and Verb | Subject precedes verb (SV) | 1,192 of 1,496 |
Simple clauses 6
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Person Markers on the Verb | A precedes P | 96 of 379 |
| Negative Morphemes | Negative affix | 395 of 1,157 |
| Passive Constructions | There is a passive construction | 162 of 373 |
| Verbal Person Marking | Person marking of both the A and P arguments | 193 of 378 |
| Alignment of Verbal Person Marking | Accusative alignment | 212 of 380 |
| Expression of Pronominal Subjects | Pronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs | 437 of 711 |