Word Order Facts
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Nandi

Eastern Sudanic family · Eastern Nilotic branch · Africa

Nandi puts its words in verb-subject-object order (VSO), one of only 95 with that basic order among the 1,376 languages WALS codes for this feature.

On Order of Demonstrative and Noun, WALS codes Nandi as “Demonstrative suffix on noun”, a value held by 28 of the 1,225 languages coded, Ik and Dinka among them.

On Imperative-Hortative Systems, all 7 other Eastern Sudanic languages coded have the value “The language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system”; Nandi has “The language has a maximal system, but not a minimal one”.

On Position of Case Affixes, WALS codes Nandi as “Case coded by tone”, a value held by 5 of the 1,031 languages coded, Maasai and Maba among them.

Nandi: order of head and dependent in 8 constructions← beforeafter →verbsubject80%13%Order of Subject and Verb: Subject follows verb (VS). 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 follows verb (VO). 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: Prepositions. Of 1,184 languages coded, 577 put the noun phrase before the adposition and 511 after it.noungenitive55%37%Order of Genitive and Noun: Noun-genitive (NGen). 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 follows noun (NAdj). Of 1,367 languages coded, 373 put the adjective before the noun and 879 after it.noundemonstrative45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Demonstrative suffix on 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 clause17%70%Order of Relative Clause and Noun: Relative clause follows noun (NRel). Of 824 languages coded, 141 put the relative clause before the noun and 579 after it.
The order Nandi uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Nandi with Maasai or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Eastern Sudanic family

Nandi matches the most frequent Eastern Sudanic value on 38 of the 59 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (64%). Among the 11 Eastern Sudanic languages profiled here, that rate ranks second from the top.

Where Nandi breaks with a clear majority of its relatives
FeatureNandiMost relatives
Definite ArticlesDefinite affix on nounNeither definite nor indefinite article (5 of 5, Eastern Nilotic branch)

Closest profiles

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

  • Maasai Eastern Sudanic30 of 42
  • Diola-Fogny Niger-Congo29 of 45
  • Luo Eastern Sudanic27 of 42
  • Luvale Niger-Congo32 of 52
  • Kiribati Austronesian26 of 42

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Nandi for 61 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 54 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Nandi shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 13

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant-Vowel RatioLow58 of 564
Consonant InventoriesSmall89 of 563
ToneSimple tone system132 of 527
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesNo voicing contrast182 of 567
Vowel Quality InventoriesLarge vowel inventory (7-14)184 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 of 567
Syllable StructureModerately complex syllable structure274 of 486
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 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyApproximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing147 of 969
Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb4-5 categories per word52 of 145
Exponence of Selected Inflectional FormativesMonoexponential case71 of 162
Exponence of Tense-Aspect-Mood Inflectionmonoexponential TAM127 of 160

Nouns and pronouns 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Pronominal and Adnominal DemonstrativesDifferent stems37 of 201
Ordinal NumeralsFirst, two-th, three-th110 of 321
Distance Contrasts in DemonstrativesThree-way contrast88 of 234
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive suffixes355 of 902
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Person Marking on AdpositionsAdpositions without person marking209 of 378
Comitatives and InstrumentalsDifferentiation213 of 322
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal PronounsNo gender distinctions254 of 378

Noun phrases 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Adjectives without NounsMarked by preceding word18 of 124
Genitives, Adjectives and Relative ClausesAdjectives and relative clauses collapsed33 of 138
Possessive ClassificationNo possessive classification125 of 243
Obligatory Possessive InflectionNo obligatorily possessed nouns201 of 244
Number of Possessive NounsNone reported233 of 243

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesCombination of tense-aspect strategies with none primary146 of 1,131
The Morphological ImperativeSecond singular and second plural292 of 548
The OptativeInflectional optative absent271 of 319

Word order 11

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Subject and VerbSubject follows verb (VS)194 of 1,496
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at end of sentence314 of 884
Order of Genitive and NounNoun-genitive (NGen)468 of 1,249
Order of Object, Oblique, and VerbVerb-object-oblique (VOX)210 of 500
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePrepositions511 of 1,184
Order of Object and VerbObject follows verb (VO)705 of 1,518
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral follows noun (NNum)608 of 1,154
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and ClauseInitial subordinator word398 of 659
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective follows noun (NAdj)879 of 1,367
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases not obligatorily initial615 of 902
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause follows noun (NRel)579 of 824

Simple clauses 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Comparative ConstructionsExceed Comparative33 of 167
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA precedes P96 of 379
Negative MorphemesNegative affix395 of 1,157
Verbal Person MarkingPerson marking of both the A and P arguments193 of 378
Alignment of Verbal Person MarkingAccusative alignment212 of 380
Passive ConstructionsThere is no passive construction211 of 373
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs437 of 711

Complex sentences 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Relativization on SubjectsGap125 of 166
Utterance Complement ClausesBalanced114 of 143