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Tamang (Eastern)

Sino-Tibetan family · Bodic branch · Eurasia

Tamang (Eastern) is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

The closest grammar profile to Tamang (Eastern) in the atlas belongs to Evenki, an Altaic language: the two agree on 27 of the 40 features both have coded.

On Numeral Bases, 6 of 7 other Sino-Tibetan languages coded have the value “Decimal”; Tamang (Eastern) has “Pure vigesimal”.

Tamang (Eastern): order of head and dependent in 8 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 precedes verb (OV). 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: Postpositions. 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 precedes noun (AdjN). 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 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 precedes noun (RelN). Of 824 languages coded, 141 put the relative clause before the noun and 579 after it.
The order Tamang (Eastern) uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Tamang (Eastern) with Evenki or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Sino-Tibetan family

Tamang (Eastern) matches the most frequent Sino-Tibetan value on 26 of the 40 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (65%). Among the 15 Sino-Tibetan languages profiled here, that rate ranks ninth from the top.

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Tamang (Eastern) for 40 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 37 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Tamang (Eastern) shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 13

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
ToneSimple tone system132 of 527
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesNo voicing contrast182 of 567
Consonant InventoriesAverage201 of 563
Consonant-Vowel RatioAverage234 of 564
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive SystemsOther242 of 567
Vowel Quality InventoriesAverage vowel inventory (5-6)287 of 564
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 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional MorphologyPredominantly suffixing406 of 969

Nouns and pronouns 6

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Definite ArticlesDemonstrative word used as marker of definiteness69 of 620
Position of Case AffixesPostpositional clitics123 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural word170 of 1,066
The Associative PluralSpecial bound associative plural marker48 of 236
Indefinite ArticlesNumeral for 'one' is used as indefinite article112 of 534
Conjunctions and Universal QuantifiersFormally similar, involving interrogative expression43 of 116

Noun phrases 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Genitives, Adjectives and Relative ClausesHighly differentiated77 of 138
Adjectives without NounsAdjective may occur without noun, and without marking73 of 124

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131

Word order 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Order of Relative Clause and NounRelative clause precedes noun (RelN)141 of 824
Order of Adjective and NounModifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)373 of 1,367
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at end of sentence314 of 884
Order of Demonstrative and NounDemonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)542 of 1,225
Order of Object and VerbObject precedes verb (OV)712 of 1,518
Order of Adposition and Noun PhrasePostpositions577 of 1,184
Order of Numeral and NounNumeral follows noun (NNum)608 of 1,154
Order of Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
Position of Interrogative Phrases in Content QuestionsInterrogative phrases not obligatorily initial615 of 902
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 4

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give'Indirect-object construction189 of 378
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate NegationNegative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation170 of 206