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Ukrainian

Indo-European family · Slavic branch · Eurasia

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

Of the 39 Indo-European languages profiled here, Ukrainian follows the family’s usual values most closely.

Of its word-order pairings, the one Ukrainian shares with the fewest languages is Order of Adjective and Noun: “Modifying adjective precedes noun (AdjN)”, the value of 373 of the 1,367 languages coded.

The least common value coded for Ukrainian is “Marked by preceding word” on Distributive Numerals, held by 21 of the 251 languages coded.

Its closest grammar profile in the atlas is that of Russian: the two agree on 38 of the 41 features both have coded.

Ukrainian: order of head and dependent in 7 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.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 precedes noun (NumN). 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.
The order Ukrainian uses in 7 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Ukrainian with Russian or with any other language

Inside the Indo-European family

Ukrainian matches the most frequent Indo-European value on 33 of the 41 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (80%).

Closest profiles

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

Outside the Indo-European family, the best match is Evenki (Altaic), with 24 of 41 features alike.

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Ukrainian for 41 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 38 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Ukrainian shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Word structure 1

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

Nouns and pronouns 10

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Number of GendersThree26 of 257
Ordinal NumeralsFirst, second, three-th61 of 321
Systems of Gender AssignmentSemantic and formal assignment59 of 257
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesNo possessive affixes260 of 902
Definite ArticlesNeither definite nor indefinite article198 of 620
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender SystemsSex-based gender system84 of 257
Indefinite ArticlesNeither indefinite nor definite198 of 534
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Indefinite PronounsInterrogative-based indefinites194 of 326

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 7

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Suppletion According to Tense and AspectSuppletion in both tense and aspect24 of 193
The ProhibitiveNormal imperative + normal negative113 of 496
The Morphological ImperativeSecond singular and second plural292 of 548
Imperative-Hortative SystemsThe language has neither a maximal nor a minimal system201 of 375
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131
Suppletion in Imperatives and HortativesNone (= no suppletive imperatives reported in the reference material)153 of 193
Verbal Number and SuppletionNo singular-(dual)-plural pairs/triples159 of 193

Word order 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Position of Polar Question ParticlesQuestion particle at beginning of sentence129 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 Adverbial Subordinator and ClauseInitial subordinator word398 of 659
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 9

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Expression of Pronominal SubjectsObligatory pronouns in subject position82 of 711
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard NegationSymmetric standard negation only: Type Sym114 of 297
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard NegationNon-assignable (no asymmetry found)114 of 297
Negative MorphemesNegative particle502 of 1,157
Applicative ConstructionsNo applicative construction100 of 183
Other Roles of Applied ObjectsNo applicative construction100 of 183
Polar QuestionsQuestion particle585 of 955
Antipassive ConstructionsNo antipassive146 of 194
Productivity of the Antipassive Constructionno antipassive146 of 186

Vocabulary 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Hand and ArmIdentity: a single word denotes both 'hand' and 'arm'228 of 617
TeaWords derived from Sinitic cha110 of 230
Finger and HandDifferent521 of 593