Lithuanian
Indo-European family · Baltic branch · Eurasia
Lithuanian is an SVO language, like 488 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
Of its word-order pairings, the one Lithuanian shares with the fewest languages is Order of Adjective and Noun: “Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)”, the value of 373 of the 1,367 languages coded.
The least common value coded for Lithuanian is “Laterals, but no /l/, no obstruent lateral” on Lateral Consonants, held by 29 of the 567 languages coded.
Its closest grammar profile in the atlas is that of Russian: the two agree on 52 of the 66 features both have coded.
Compared with English, Lithuanian has the same value on 36 of the 66 features both are coded for (55%).
Contrast Lithuanian with Russian or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Lithuanian, rarest first.
- Politeness Distinctions in PronounsSecond person pronouns encode multiple politeness distinctions15 of 207
- Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsLexical: lexical stress, diacritic weight38 of 500
- Distributive NumeralsMarked by preceding word21 of 251
- Reciprocal ConstructionsMixed16 of 175
Inside the Indo-European family
Lithuanian matches the most frequent Indo-European value on 45 of the 66 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (68%). Among the 39 Indo-European languages profiled here, that rate ranks 20th from the top.
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Lithuanian; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
Outside the Indo-European family, the best match is Estonian (Uralic), with 27 of 41 features alike.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Lithuanian for 66 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 59 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Lithuanian shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 14
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant Inventories | Large | 57 of 563 |
| Weight-Sensitive Stress | Unbounded: Stress can be anywhere in the word | 54 of 500 |
| Rhythm Types | Undetermined: no clear foot type | 37 of 323 |
| Consonant-Vowel Ratio | Moderately high | 102 of 564 |
| Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives | Voicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives | 158 of 567 |
| Syllable Structure | Complex syllable structure | 151 of 486 |
| 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 |
| Vowel Quality Inventories | Average vowel inventory (5-6) | 287 of 564 |
| Glottalized Consonants | No glottalized consonants | 409 of 567 |
| Presence of Uncommon Consonants | None | 449 of 567 |
| Uvular Consonants | No uvulars | 470 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 | Predominantly suffixing | 406 of 969 |
Nouns and pronouns 13
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Comitatives and Instrumentals | Mixed | 33 of 322 |
| Number of Cases | 6-7 case categories | 37 of 261 |
| Ordinal Numerals | First, second, three-th | 61 of 321 |
| Asymmetrical Case-Marking | Additive-quantitatively asymmetrical case-marking | 53 of 261 |
| Definite Articles | Neither definite nor indefinite article | 198 of 620 |
| Indefinite Articles | Neither indefinite nor definite | 198 of 534 |
| Position of Case Affixes | Case suffixes | 452 of 1,031 |
| Intensifiers and Reflexive Pronouns | Intensifiers and reflexive pronouns are formally differentiated | 74 of 168 |
| Occurrence of Nominal Plurality | Plural in all nouns, always obligatory | 133 of 291 |
| Coding of Nominal Plurality | Plural suffix | 513 of 1,066 |
| Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives | Two-way contrast | 126 of 234 |
| Indefinite Pronouns | Interrogative-based indefinites | 194 of 326 |
| Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives | Same forms | 143 of 201 |
Noun phrases 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Noun Phrase Conjunction | AND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical | 131 of 234 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 9
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking | Overlap for both possibility and necessity | 36 of 207 |
| The Prohibitive | Normal imperative + normal negative | 113 of 496 |
| Epistemic Possibility | Verbal constructions | 65 of 240 |
| Coding of Evidentiality | Verbal affix or clitic | 131 of 418 |
| Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality | Only indirect evidentials | 166 of 418 |
| The Morphological Imperative | Second singular and second plural | 292 of 548 |
| Imperative-Hortative Systems | The language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system | 201 of 375 |
| Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes | Tense-aspect suffixes | 667 of 1,131 |
| Situational Possibility | Verbal constructions | 158 of 234 |
Word order 11
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Position of Polar Question Particles | Question particle at beginning of sentence | 129 of 884 |
| Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions | Interrogative phrases obligatorily initial | 264 of 902 |
| 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 Demonstrative and Noun | Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN) | 542 of 1,225 |
| Order of Object and Verb | Object follows verb (VO) | 705 of 1,518 |
| Order of Degree Word and Adjective | Degree word precedes adjective (DegAdj) | 227 of 481 |
| Order of Genitive and Noun | Genitive-noun (GenN) | 685 of 1,249 |
| Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause | Initial subordinator word | 398 of 659 |
| 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 7
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals | Zero copula is possible | 175 of 386 |
| Polar Questions | Question particle | 585 of 955 |
| Expression of Pronominal Subjects | Pronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs | 437 of 711 |
| Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate Negation | Negative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation | 170 of 206 |
Vocabulary 3
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Tea | Others | 36 of 230 |
| Hand and Arm | Identity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm' | 228 of 617 |
| Finger and Hand | Different | 521 of 593 |