Word Order Facts
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Rukai (Tanan)

Austronesian family · Rukai branch · Papunesia

WALS records no dominant basic order of subject, object and verb for Rukai (Tanan), a group that holds 189 of the 1,376 languages it codes for this feature.

The closest grammar profile to Rukai (Tanan) in the atlas belongs to Abkhaz, a Northwest Caucasian language: the two agree on 21 of the 40 features both have coded.

Of the 38 Austronesian languages profiled here, Rukai (Tanan) departs most often from the family’s usual values.

On Negative Morphemes, WALS codes Rukai (Tanan) as “Negative auxiliary verb”, a value held by 47 of the 1,157 languages coded, Finnish and Thai among them.

Rukai (Tanan): order of head and dependent in 9 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.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.noundemonstrative45%48%Order of Demonstrative and Noun: Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN). Of 1,225 languages coded, 551 put the demonstrative before the noun and 590 after it.nounnumeral42%53%Order of Numeral and Noun: Numeral precedes noun (NumN). 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 precedes adjective (DegAdj). Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Rukai (Tanan) uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Rukai (Tanan) with Abkhaz or with any other language

Uncommon values

Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Rukai (Tanan), rarest first.

Inside the Austronesian family

Rukai (Tanan) matches the most frequent Austronesian value on 17 of the 40 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (42%).

Closest profiles

Languages that share the most coded values with Rukai (Tanan); the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Rukai (Tanan) for 40 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 35 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Rukai (Tanan) shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 12

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Vowel Quality InventoriesSmall vowel inventory (2-4)93 of 564
Consonant-Vowel RatioModerately high102 of 564
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives158 of 567
Consonant InventoriesAverage201 of 563
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems/p t k b d g/255 of 567
Syllable StructureModerately complex syllable structure274 of 486
ToneNo tones307 of 527
Lateral Consonants/l/, no obstruent laterals388 of 567
Glottalized ConsonantsNo glottalized consonants409 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Absence of Common ConsonantsAll present503 of 567
Front Rounded VowelsNone525 of 562

Word structure 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyApproximately equal amounts of suffixing and prefixing147 of 969
ReduplicationProductive full and partial reduplication278 of 368

Nouns and pronouns 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural prefix126 of 1,066
Position of Case AffixesNeither case affixes nor adpositional clitics379 of 1,031
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive suffixes355 of 902
Numeral ClassifiersNumeral classifiers are absent260 of 400

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect prefixes153 of 1,131
The PerfectOther perfect80 of 222
The Past TensePast/non-past distinction marked; no remoteness distinction94 of 222
Perfective/Imperfective AspectGrammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction101 of 222
The Future TenseInflectional marking of future/non-future distinction110 of 222

Word order 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Subject and VerbSubject follows verb (VS)194 of 1,496
Order of Genitive and NounNoun-genitive (NGen)468 of 1,249
Position of Polar Question ParticlesNo question particle355 of 884
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral precedes noun (NumN)479 of 1,154
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePrepositions511 of 1,184
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)542 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject follows verb (VO)705 of 1,518
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveDegree word precedes adjective (DegAdj)227 of 481
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases not obligatorily initial615 of 902

Simple clauses 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Polar QuestionsInterrogative intonation only173 of 955
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsPronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs437 of 711
Nonperiphrastic Causative ConstructionsMorphological type but no compound type254 of 310