EpsPsblNonaffNonV: Epistemic possibility is expressed through a strategy other than verbal affixes and verb constructions.

(1) tēm ʌāt-nə sībir məɣ-nə ʌüw toɣə jəmat jēɣʌi.

this time-loc Siberia ground-loc certainly very cold

‘(In my mind,) it is certain that it is very cold in Siberia at this time of the year.’ (L. N. K.)

(2) wɔ̄jək kənč-čə jɔ̄ɣ əťə pə ār ʌāŋki qɔ̄ʌəmtə-ʌ-ət.

game search-prs.ptc people probably lot squirrel kill-prs-3pl

‘The hunters probably caught a lot of squirrels.’ (L. N. K.)

In Surgut Khanty, the epistemic possibility is expressed by the indicative of the verb and the ńīči ‘probably’, ʌüw anta ‘perhaps’, ʌüw toɣә ‘presumably’, or jā ‘certainly’ adverbials. In most cases, it is only the context that determines whether the sentence expresses epistemic possibility or epistemic necessity.