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Sahu

North Halmaheran family · Papunesia

Sahu is an SVO language, like 488 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

On Fixed Stress Locations, WALS codes Sahu as “Antepenultimate”, a value held by 12 of the 502 languages coded, Georgian and Greek (Modern) among them.

The closest grammar profile to Sahu in the atlas belongs to Lango, an Eastern Sudanic language: the two agree on 30 of the 40 features both have coded.

Sahu: 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 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: Genitive-noun (GenN). 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 word follows noun (NDem). 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.adjectivedegree worddegree wordno dominant order47%40%Order of Degree Word and Adjective: Both orders occur with neither order dominant. Of 481 languages coded, 227 put the degree word before the adjective and 192 after it.
The order Sahu uses in 9 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Sahu with Lango or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the North Halmaheran family

Sahu matches the most frequent North Halmaheran value on 13 of the 16 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (81%).

Closest profiles

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

  • Bagirmi Central Sudanic28 of 41
  • Luvale Niger-Congo27 of 40
  • Zulu Niger-Congo26 of 40
  • Swahili Niger-Congo27 of 42

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Sahu for 43 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 39 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Sahu shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsNo weight, or weight factor unknown261 of 500
Weight-Sensitive StressFixed stress (no weight-sensitivity)281 of 500

Word structure 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Locus of Marking: Whole-language TypologyConsistently head-marking47 of 236
Locus of Marking in the ClauseP is head-marked71 of 236
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun PhrasesPossessor is head-marked78 of 236
Zero Marking of A and P ArgumentsNon-zero marking219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns3rd person only, but also non-singular42 of 378
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesNo possessive affixes260 of 902
Position of Case AffixesNeither case affixes nor adpositional clitics379 of 1,031
Person Marking on AdpositionsAdpositions without person marking209 of 378

Noun phrases 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
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 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesNo tense-aspect inflection152 of 1,131

Word order 12

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Degree Word and AdjectiveBoth orders occur with neither order dominant62 of 481
Position of Polar Question ParticlesNo question particle355 of 884
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePrepositions511 of 1,184
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word follows noun (NDem)562 of 1,225
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 Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
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
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsObligatory pronouns in subject position82 of 711
Polar QuestionsInterrogative intonation only173 of 955
Order of Person Markers on the VerbA precedes P96 of 379
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingNo zero realization of third person S forms181 of 380
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

Vocabulary 5

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Numeral BasesDecimal125 of 196
M in Second Person SingularNo m in second person singular152 of 230
M in First Person SingularNo m in first person singular177 of 230
N-M PronounsNo N-M pronouns194 of 230
M-T PronounsNo M-T pronouns200 of 230