Udihe
Altaic family · Tungusic branch · Eurasia
Udihe is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.
The closest grammar profile to Udihe in the atlas belongs to Yukaghir (Kolyma), a Yukaghir language: the two agree on 28 of the 41 features both have coded.
On Negative Morphemes, WALS codes Udihe as “Negative auxiliary verb”, a value held by 47 of the 1,157 languages coded, Finnish and Thai among them.
Contrast Udihe with Yukaghir (Kolyma) or with any other language
Uncommon values
Values that fewer than one in ten of the coded languages share with Udihe, rarest first.
- Third Person Zero of Verbal Person MarkingZero realization of some third person singular forms21 of 380
- Person Marking on AdpositionsPerson marking for pronouns and nouns23 of 378
- Occurrence of Nominal PluralityPlural only in human nouns, optional20 of 291
- Order of Relative Clause and NounMixed types of relative clause with none dominant64 of 824
- Number of Cases8-9 case categories23 of 261
- Distributive NumeralsMarked by mixed or other strategies23 of 251
Inside the Altaic family
Udihe matches the most frequent Altaic value on 29 of the 41 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (71%). Among the 15 Altaic languages profiled here, that rate ranks 13th from the top.
Closest profiles
Languages that share the most coded values with Udihe; the count is out of the features both languages are coded for.
The rest of the profile
WALS codes Udihe for 44 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 36 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Udihe shares with the fewest languages comes first.
Sounds 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| The Velar Nasal | Velar nasal, also initially | 147 of 469 |
Nouns and pronouns 6
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives | Different inflectional features | 21 of 201 |
| Asymmetrical Case-Marking | Symmetrical case-marking | 79 of 261 |
| The Associative Plural | Associative plural marker also used for additive plurals | 104 of 236 |
| Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives | Two-way contrast | 126 of 234 |
| Indefinite Pronouns | Interrogative-based indefinites | 194 of 326 |
| Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns | No gender distinctions | 254 of 378 |
Noun phrases 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal and Verbal Conjunction | Nominal and verbal conjunction are largely identical | 161 of 301 |
Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 7
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| The Prohibitive | Normal imperative + normal negative | 113 of 496 |
| Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking | Overlap for either possibility or necessity | 66 of 207 |
| 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 Morphological Imperative | Second singular and second plural | 292 of 548 |
| Situational Possibility | Verbal constructions | 158 of 234 |
| The Optative | Inflectional optative absent | 271 of 319 |
Word order 7
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Order of Adjective and Noun | Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN) | 373 of 1,367 |
| Position of Polar Question Particles | No question particle | 355 of 884 |
| 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 7
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Polar Questions | Interrogative intonation only | 173 of 955 |
| Verbal Person Marking | Person marking of only the A argument | 73 of 378 |
| Passive Constructions | There is a passive construction | 162 of 373 |
| Order of Person Markers on the Verb | A and P do not or do not both occur on the verb | 187 of 379 |
| Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give' | Indirect-object construction | 189 of 378 |
| Alignment of Verbal Person Marking | Accusative alignment | 212 of 380 |
| Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate Negation | Negative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation | 170 of 206 |
Complex sentences 4
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Utterance Complement Clauses | Balanced/deranked | 18 of 143 |
| 'Want' Complement Subjects | 'Want' is expressed as a desiderative verbal affix | 45 of 283 |
| Reason Clauses | Deranked | 42 of 169 |
| 'When' Clauses | Deranked | 51 of 174 |
Vocabulary 2
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Hand and Arm | Identity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm' | 228 of 617 |
| Finger and Hand | Different | 521 of 593 |
Other 1
| Feature | Value | Languages sharing it |
|---|---|---|
| Para-Linguistic Usages of Clicks | Clicks may express neither affective nor logical meanings | 25 of 143 |