Yukaghir (Kolyma)

Yukaghir family · Eurasia

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

On Front Rounded Vowels, WALS codes Yukaghir (Kolyma) as “Mid only”, a value held by 6 of the 562 languages coded, Lepcha and Malakmalak among them.

The closest grammar profile to Yukaghir (Kolyma) in the atlas belongs to Dagur, an Altaic language: the two agree on 37 of the 46 features both have coded.

The order Yukaghir (Kolyma) uses in 8 pairings of a head word and its dependent. Bars: how all languages coded for each pairing split, before or after.

Contrast Yukaghir (Kolyma) with Dagur or with any other language

Uncommon values

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

Weight Factors in Weight-Sensitive Stress SystemsLong vowel + Coda: long vowels or closed syllables35 of 500
Uvular ConsonantsUvular stops and continuants48 of 567
Plurality in Independent Personal PronounsPerson stem with a pronominal plural affix23 of 261
Number of Cases8-9 case categories23 of 261
Relativization on ObliquesNot possible10 of 112
Case SyncretismInflectional case marking is syncretic for core cases only18 of 198

Closest profiles

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

Tuvan Altaic39 of 53
Chuvash Altaic45 of 62
Telugu Dravidian32 of 45
Even Altaic30 of 42

The rest of the profile

WALS codes Yukaghir (Kolyma) for 121 of the 144 profile features used on this site. The remaining 113 are listed here, grouped by topic; within each group the value Yukaghir (Kolyma) shares with the fewest languages comes first.

Sounds 15

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Weight-Sensitive Stress	Unbounded: Stress can be anywhere in the word	54 of 500
The Velar Nasal	Velar nasal, also initially	147 of 469
Voicing in Plosives and Fricatives	Voicing contrast in plosives alone	189 of 567
Consonant Inventories	Average	201 of 563
Consonant-Vowel Ratio	Average	234 of 564
Fixed Stress Locations	No fixed stress (mostly weight-sensitive stress)	220 of 502
Voicing and Gaps in Plosive Systems	/p t k b d g/	255 of 567
Vowel Quality Inventories	Average vowel inventory (5-6)	287 of 564
Syllable Structure	Moderately complex syllable structure	274 of 486
Tone	No tones	307 of 527
Lateral Consonants	/l/, no obstruent laterals	388 of 567
Glottalized Consonants	No glottalized consonants	409 of 567
Vowel Nasalization	Contrastive nasal vowels absent	180 of 244
Presence of Uncommon Consonants	None	449 of 567
Absence of Common Consonants	All present	503 of 567

Word structure 7

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun Phrases	Possessor has no marking	32 of 236
Reduplication	No productive reduplication	55 of 368
Locus of Marking in the Clause	P is dependent-marked	63 of 236
Syncretism in Verbal Person/Number Marking	Subject person/number marking is syncretic	60 of 198
Prefixing vs. Suffixing in Inflectional Morphology	Predominantly suffixing	406 of 969
Locus of Marking: Whole-language Typology	Inconsistent marking or other type	121 of 236
Zero Marking of A and P Arguments	Non-zero marking	219 of 235

Nouns and pronouns 23

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives	Different stems	37 of 201
Asymmetrical Case-Marking	Additive-quantitatively asymmetrical case-marking	53 of 261
The Associative Plural	Special bound associative plural marker	48 of 236
Distributive Numerals	No distributive numerals	62 of 251
Definite Articles	Neither definite nor indefinite article	198 of 620
Ordinal Numerals	First, two-th, three-th	110 of 321
Indefinite Articles	Neither indefinite nor definite	198 of 534
Position of Pronominal Possessive Affixes	Possessive suffixes	355 of 902
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Verbal Inflection	No inclusive/exclusive opposition	79 of 200
Position of Case Affixes	Case suffixes	452 of 1,031
Third Person Pronouns and Demonstratives	Unrelated	100 of 225
Coding of Nominal Plurality	Plural suffix	513 of 1,066
Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives	Two-way contrast	126 of 234
Person Marking on Adpositions	Adpositions without person marking	209 of 378
Number of Genders	None	145 of 257
Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems	No gender system	145 of 257
Systems of Gender Assignment	No gender system	145 of 257
Indefinite Pronouns	Interrogative-based indefinites	194 of 326
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns	No inclusive/exclusive opposition	120 of 200
Numeral Classifiers	Numeral classifiers are absent	260 of 400
Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns	Second person pronouns encode no politeness distinction	136 of 207
Comitatives and Instrumentals	Differentiation	213 of 322
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns	No gender distinctions	254 of 378

Noun phrases 8

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Adjectives without Nouns	Adjective may occur without noun, obligatorily marked by suffix	13 of 124
Action Nominal Constructions	Possessive-Accusative	29 of 168
Possessive Classification	Two classes	94 of 243
Nominal and Verbal Conjunction	Nominal and verbal conjunction are different	125 of 301
Genitives, Adjectives and Relative Clauses	Highly differentiated	77 of 138
Noun Phrase Conjunction	AND-languages: 'and' and 'with' are not identical	131 of 234
Obligatory Possessive Inflection	No obligatorily possessed nouns	201 of 244
Number of Possessive Nouns	None reported	233 of 243

Verbs: tense, mood, evidence 17

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Coding of Evidentiality	Verbal affix or clitic	131 of 418
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 Prohibitive	Normal imperative + special negative	182 of 496
The Past Tense	No grammatical marking of past/non-past distinction	88 of 222
Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality	Only indirect evidentials	166 of 418
The Future Tense	Inflectional marking of future/non-future distinction	110 of 222
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking	No overlap	105 of 207
The Perfect	No perfect	114 of 222
The Morphological Imperative	Second singular and second plural	292 of 548
Perfective/Imperfective Aspect	No grammatical marking of perfective/imperfective distinction	121 of 222
Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes	Tense-aspect suffixes	667 of 1,131
Suppletion According to Tense and Aspect	No suppletion in tense or aspect	123 of 193
Situational Possibility	Verbal constructions	158 of 234
Suppletion in Imperatives and Hortatives	None (= no suppletive imperatives reported in the reference material)	153 of 193
Verbal Number and Suppletion	No singular-(dual)-plural pairs/triples	159 of 193
The Optative	Inflectional optative absent	271 of 319

Word order 11

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Order of Adverbial Subordinator and Clause	Final subordinator word	96 of 659
Order of Relative Clause and Noun	Relative clause precedes noun (RelN)	141 of 824
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 Numeral and Noun	Numeral precedes noun (NumN)	479 of 1,154
Order of Demonstrative and Noun	Demonstrative word precedes noun (DemN)	542 of 1,225
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 20

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
Alignment of Case Marking of Full Noun Phrases	Nominative - accusative (standard)	46 of 190
Predicative Possession	Conjunctional Possessive	59 of 240
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard Negation	In other grammatical categories: Subtype A/Cat	82 of 297
Negative Morphemes	Negative affix	395 of 1,157
Alignment of Case Marking of Pronouns	Nominative - accusative (standard)	61 of 172
Predicative Adjectives	Predicative adjectives have verbal encoding	151 of 386
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation	Symmetric and asymmetric standard negation: Type SymAsy	130 of 297
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking	No zero realization of third person S forms	181 of 380
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
Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals	Zero copula is impossible	211 of 386
Alignment of Verbal Person Marking	Accusative alignment	212 of 380
Passive Constructions	There is no passive construction	211 of 373
Reciprocal Constructions	Distinct from reflexive	99 of 175
Expression of Pronominal Subjects	Pronominal subjects are expressed by affixes on verbs	437 of 711
Nominal and Locational Predication	Different	269 of 386
Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions	Morphological type but no compound type	254 of 310
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate Negation	Negative indefinites co-occur with predicate negation	170 of 206

Complex sentences 6

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Utterance Complement Clauses	Balanced/deranked	18 of 143
Reason Clauses	Deranked	42 of 169
'When' Clauses	Deranked	51 of 174
'Want' Complement Subjects	The complement subject is left implicit	144 of 283
Purpose Clauses	Deranked	102 of 170
Relativization on Subjects	Gap	125 of 166

Vocabulary 5

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
M-T Pronouns	M-T pronouns, paradigmatic	27 of 230
M in First Person Singular	m in first person singular	53 of 230
Numeral Bases	Decimal	125 of 196
M in Second Person Singular	No m in second person singular	152 of 230
N-M Pronouns	No N-M pronouns	194 of 230

Other 1

Feature	Value	Languages sharing it
Para-Linguistic Usages of Clicks	Clicks may express neither affective nor logical meanings	25 of 143