Nivkh

a family of its own in WALS · Eurasia

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

The closest grammar profile to Nivkh in the atlas belongs to Guugu Yimidhirr, a Pama-Nyungan language: the two agree on 29 of the 42 features both have coded.

On Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard Negation, WALS codes Nivkh as “In finiteness and reality status: Subtypes A/Fin and A/NonReal”, a value held by 9 of the 297 languages coded, Korean and Chukchi among them.

On Ordinal Numerals, WALS codes Nivkh as “First, two, three”, a value held by 12 of the 321 languages coded, Tukang Besi and Lango among them.

The order Nivkh uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Nivkh with Guugu Yimidhirr or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Order of Numeral and NounBoth orders of numeral and noun with neither order dominant65 of 1,154
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in fricatives alone38 of 567
Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson stem with a nominal plural affix19 of 261
Third Person Pronouns and DemonstrativesRelated for non-human reference17 of 225
Utterance Complement ClausesDeranked11 of 143
Uvular ConsonantsUvular stops and continuants48 of 567
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsOptional pronouns in subject position61 of 711
Number of Cases8-9 case categories23 of 261

Closest profiles

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

Tamil Dravidian38 of 57
Awtuw Sepik30 of 44
Ladakhi Sino-Tibetan46 of 71
Lahu Sino-Tibetan40 of 61

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Nivkh for 115 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 104 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Nivkh shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 16

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Consonant Inventories	Moderately large	94 of 563
Consonant-Vowel Ratio	Moderately high	102 of 564
Fixed Stress Locations	Initial: stress is on the first syllable	92 of 502
Tone	Simple tone system	132 of 527
Syllable Structure	Complex syllable structure	151 of 486
The Velar Nasal	Velar nasal, also initially	147 of 469
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems	Other	242 of 567
Vowel Quality Inventories	Average vowel inventory (5-6)	287 of 564
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress Systems	No weight, or weight factor unknown	261 of 500
Weight-Sensitive Stress	Fixed stress (no weight-sensitivity)	281 of 500
Lateral Consonants	/l/, no obstruent laterals	388 of 567
Glottalized Consonants	No glottalized consonants	409 of 567
Vowel Nasalization	Contrastive nasal vowels absent	180 of 244
Presence of Uncommon Consonants	None	449 of 567
Absence of Common Consonants	All present	503 of 567
Front Rounded Vowels	None	525 of 562

Word structure 12

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Reduplication	Full reduplication only	35 of 368
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology	Moderate preference for suffixing	123 of 969
Inflectional Synthesis of the Verb	8-9 categories per word	24 of 145
Case Syncretism	Inflectional case marking is never syncretic	35 of 198
Locus of Marking: Whole-language Typology	Consistently head-marking	47 of 236
Locus of Marking in the Clause	P is head-marked	71 of 236
Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking	Subject person/number marking is syncretic	60 of 198
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun Phrases	Possessor is head-marked	78 of 236
Exponence of Selected Inflectional Formatives	No case	75 of 162
Fusion of Selected Inflectional Formatives	Exclusively concatenative	125 of 165
Exponence of Tense-Aspect-Mood Inflection	monoexponential TAM	127 of 160
Zero Marking of A and P Arguments	Non-zero marking	219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 20

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Distributive Numerals	Marked by mixed or other strategies	23 of 251
Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives	Different inflectional features	21 of 201
Occurrence of Nominal Plurality	Plural in all nouns, always optional	55 of 291
Numeral Classifiers	Numeral classifiers are obligatory	78 of 400
Person Marking on Adpositions	Person marking for pronouns only	83 of 378
Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes	Possessive prefixes	255 of 902
Asymmetrical Case-Marking	Symmetrical case-marking	79 of 261
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns	Inclusive and exclusive differentiated	63 of 200
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection	No person marking at all	70 of 200
Conjunctions and Universal Quantifiers	Formally similar, involving interrogative expression	43 of 116
Position of Case Affixes	Case suffixes	452 of 1,031
The Associative Plural	Associative plural marker also used for additive plurals	104 of 236
Coding of Nominal Plurality	Plural suffix	513 of 1,066
Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives	Two-way contrast	126 of 234
Number of Genders	None	145 of 257
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems	No gender system	145 of 257
Systems of Gender Assignment	No gender system	145 of 257
Indefinite Pronouns	Interrogative-based indefinites	194 of 326
Comitatives and Instrumentals	Differentiation	213 of 322
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns	No gender distinctions	254 of 378

Noun phrases 2

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Action Nominal Constructions	Sentential	25 of 168
Nominal and Verbal Conjunction	Nominal and verbal conjunction are different	125 of 301

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 16

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Coding of Evidentiality	Verbal affix or clitic	131 of 418
Epistemic Possibility	Affixes on verbs	84 of 240
Imperative-Hortative Systems	The language has a maximal system, but not a minimal one	133 of 375
The Past Tense	No grammatical marking of past/non-past distinction	88 of 222
Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality	Only indirect evidentials	166 of 418
The Future Tense	Inflectional marking of future/non-future distinction	110 of 222
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking	No overlap	105 of 207
The Perfect	No perfect	114 of 222
The Morphological Imperative	Second singular and second plural	292 of 548
Perfective/Imperfective Aspect	No grammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction	121 of 222
Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes	Tense-aspect suffixes	667 of 1,131
Suppletion According to Tense and Aspect	No suppletion in tense or aspect	123 of 193
Situational Possibility	Verbal constructions	158 of 234
Suppletion in Imperatives and Hortatives	None (= no suppletive imperatives reported in the reference material)	153 of 193
Verbal Number and Suppletion	No singular-(dual)-plural pairs/triples	159 of 193
The Optative	Inflectional optative absent	271 of 319

Word order 9

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Order of Relative Clause and Noun	Relative clause precedes noun (RelN)	141 of 824
Order of Adjective and Noun	Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)	373 of 1,367
Position of Polar Question Particles	Question particle at end of sentence	314 of 884
Order of Demonstrative and Noun	Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)	542 of 1,225
Order of Object and Verb	Object precedes verb (OV)	712 of 1,518
Order of Adposition and Noun Phrase	Postpositions	577 of 1,184
Order of Genitive and Noun	Genitive-noun (GenN)	685 of 1,249
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content Questions	Interrogative phrases not obligatorily initial	615 of 902
Order of Subject and Verb	Subject precedes verb (SV)	1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 21

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'	Secondary-object construction	65 of 378
Verbal Person Marking	No person marking of any argument	82 of 378
Alignment of Verbal Person Marking	Neutral alignment (no verbal person marking)	84 of 380
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking	No person marking of the S	96 of 380
Negative Morphemes	Negative affix	395 of 1,157
Predicative Adjectives	Predicative adjectives have verbal encoding	151 of 386
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation	Symmetric and asymmetric standard negation: Type SymAsy	130 of 297
Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals	Zero copula is possible	175 of 386
Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns	Neutral	79 of 172
Order of Person Markers on the Verb	A and P do not or do not both occur on the verb	187 of 379
Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases	Neutral	98 of 190
Applicative Constructions	No applicative construction	100 of 183
Other Roles of Applied Objects	No applicative construction	100 of 183
Passive Constructions	There is no passive construction	211 of 373
Reciprocal Constructions	Distinct from reflexive	99 of 175
Polar Questions	Question particle	585 of 955
Nominal and Locational Predication	Different	269 of 386
Antipassive Constructions	No antipassive	146 of 194
Productivity of the Antipassive Construction	no antipassive	146 of 186
Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions	Morphological type but no compound type	254 of 310
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate Negation	Negative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation	170 of 206

Complex sentences 3

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Reason Clauses	Deranked	42 of 169
'When' Clauses	Deranked	51 of 174
Purpose Clauses	Deranked	102 of 170

Vocabulary 5

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Numeral Bases	Decimal	125 of 196
M in Second Person Singular	No m in second person singular	152 of 230
M in First Person Singular	No m in first person singular	177 of 230
N-M Pronouns	No N-M pronouns	194 of 230
M-T Pronouns	No M-T pronouns	200 of 230