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Lai

Sino-Tibetan family · Kuki-Chin branch · Eurasia

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

On Order of Demonstrative and Noun, WALS codes Lai as “Demonstrative simultaneously before and after noun”, a value held by 17 of the 1,225 languages coded, Malagasy and Beja among them.

Scored by how often each of its values recurs in the atlas, Lai has the third least common profile of the 409 languages compared on this measure.

The closest grammar profile to Lai in the atlas belongs to Yoruba, a Niger-Congo language: the two agree on 20 of the 40 features both have coded.

Lai: 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.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.noundemonstrativedemonstrativeDemonstrative before and after Noun45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Demonstrative simultaneously before and after noun. Of 1,225 languages coded, 551 put the demonstrative before the noun and 590 after it.nounnumeral42%53%Order of Numeral and Noun: Numeral follows noun (NNum). Of 1,154 languages coded, 479 put the numeral before the noun and 608 after it.nounrelative clauserelative clauseMixed17%70%Order of Relative Clause and Noun: Mixed types of relative clause with none dominant. 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 follows adjective (AdjDeg). Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Lai uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Lai with Yoruba or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Sino-Tibetan family

Lai matches the most frequent Sino-Tibetan value on 22 of the 43 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (51%). Among the 15 Sino-Tibetan languages profiled here, that rate ranks 14th from the top.

Where Lai breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
FeatureLaiMost relatives
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun PhrasesPossessor has no markingPossessor is dependent-marked (4 of 5)
Locus of Marking: Whole-language TypologyInconsistent marking or other typeConsistently dependent-marking (4 of 5)

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Lai for 43 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 32 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Lai shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Word structure 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyLittle or no inflectional morphology141 of 969
Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb8-9 categories per word24 of 145
Locus of Marking in the ClauseP is double-marked58 of 236
Exponence of Selected Inflectional FormativesMonoexponential case71 of 162
Exponence of Tense-Aspect-Mood Inflectionmonoexponential TAM127 of 160
Zero Marking of A and P ArgumentsNon-zero marking219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural word170 of 1,066
Numeral ClassifiersNumeral classifiers are obligatory78 of 400
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesNo possessive affixes260 of 902
Definite ArticlesNeither definite nor indefinite article198 of 620
Position of Case AffixesNeither case affixes nor adpositional clitics379 of 1,031
Indefinite ArticlesNeither indefinite nor definite198 of 534

Noun phrases 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Nominal and Verbal ConjunctionNominal and verbal conjunction are different125 of 301
Genitives, Adjectives and Relative ClausesHighly differentiated77 of 138

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesNo tense-aspect inflection152 of 1,131
The PerfectOther perfect80 of 222
The Past TenseNo grammatical marking of past/non-past distinction88 of 222
The Future TenseNo inflectional marking of future/non-future distinction112 of 222
Perfective/Imperfective AspectNo grammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction121 of 222

Word order 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and ClauseFinal subordinator word96 of 659
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at end of sentence314 of 884
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word follows adjective (AdjDeg)192 of 481
Order of Object and VerbObject precedes verb (OV)712 of 1,518
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral follows noun (NNum)608 of 1,154
Order of Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
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
Antipassive ConstructionsOblique patient30 of 194
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'Secondary-object construction65 of 378
Applicative ConstructionsBenefactive and other; both bases49 of 183
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955