Word Order Facts
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Yakut

Altaic family · Turkic branch · Eurasia

Yakut is an SOV language, like 564 of the 1,376 languages WALS codes for basic word order.

On Lateral Consonants, all 15 other Altaic languages coded have the value “/l/, no obstruent laterals”; Yakut has “Laterals, but no /l/, no obstruent lateral”.

On Front Rounded Vowels, WALS codes Yakut as “High and mid”, a value held by 23 of the 562 languages coded, Turkish and Chuvash among them.

Yakut: 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 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.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 Yakut uses in 7 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Yakut with Khalkha or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Inside the Altaic family

Yakut matches the most frequent Altaic value on 43 of the 50 features where at least three other members of the family are coded (86%). Among the 15 Altaic languages profiled here, that rate ranks third from the top.

Closest profiles

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

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Yakut for 50 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 46 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Yakut shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 12

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Consonant-Vowel RatioModerately low101 of 564
The Velar NasalVelar nasal, but not initially87 of 469
Voicing in Plosives and FricativesVoicing contrast in both plosives and fricatives158 of 567
Syllable StructureComplex syllable structure151 of 486
Vowel Quality InventoriesLarge vowel inventory (7-14)184 of 564
Consonant InventoriesAverage201 of 563
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems/p t k b d g/255 of 567
ToneNo tones307 of 527
Glottalized ConsonantsNo glottalized consonants409 of 567
Presence of Uncommon ConsonantsNone449 of 567
Uvular ConsonantsNo uvulars470 of 567
Absence of Common ConsonantsAll present503 of 567

Word structure 1

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

Nouns and pronouns 12

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Distributive NumeralsMarked by suffix32 of 251
Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson-number stem with a pronominal plural affix47 of 261
Conjunctions and Universal QuantifiersFormally similar, not involving interrogative expression33 of 116
Ordinal NumeralsFirst, two-th, three-th110 of 321
Position of Pronominal Possessive AffixesPossessive suffixes355 of 902
Position of Case AffixesCase suffixes452 of 1,031
Coding of Nominal PluralityPlural suffix513 of 1,066
Number of GendersNone145 of 257
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender SystemsNo gender system145 of 257
Systems of Gender AssignmentNo gender system145 of 257
Indefinite PronounsInterrogative-based indefinites194 of 326
Comitatives and InstrumentalsDifferentiation213 of 322

Noun phrases 1

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Noun Phrase ConjunctionWITH-languages: 'and' and 'with' are identical103 of 234

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 3

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Semantic Distinctions of EvidentialityBoth direct and indirect evidentials71 of 418
Position of Tense-Aspect AffixesTense-aspect suffixes667 of 1,131
The OptativeInflectional optative absent271 of 319

Word order 7

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
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 Genitive and NounGenitive-noun (GenN)685 of 1,249
Order of Subject and VerbSubject precedes verb (SV)1,192 of 1,496

Simple clauses 8

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
Predicative PossessionLocational Possessive48 of 240
Nominal and Locational PredicationIdentical117 of 386
Negative MorphemesNegative affix395 of 1,157
Predicative AdjectivesPredicative adjectives have nonverbal encoding132 of 386
Zero Copula for Predicate NominalsZero copula is impossible211 of 386
Reciprocal ConstructionsDistinct from reflexive99 of 175
Nonperiphrastic Causative ConstructionsMorphological type but no compound type254 of 310
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate NegationNegative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation170 of 206

Vocabulary 2

FeatureValueLanguages sharing it
TeaWords derived from Sinitic cha110 of 230
Numeral BasesDecimal125 of 196