Nom: Two categories are distinguished from a morphosyntactic perspective: 1. [Sa, Snona, Aa and Anona]; 2. [P]. This type is known as nominative or nominative–accusative.
(1) pox ńax-l.
boy laugh-prs.3sg
‘The boy is laughing.’ (S. O.)
(2) pox xūxǝl-ǝl.
boy run-prs.3sg
‘The boy is running.’ (S. O.)
(3) pox uli sijǝlǝ-l.
boy reindeer notice-prs.3sg
‘The boy notices the reindeer.’ (S. O.)
(4) pox pisma xanš-l.
boy letter write-prs.3sg
‘The boy is writing a letter.’ (S. O.)
In Synja Khanty, the typical sentence configuration is the nominative-accusative pattern. The non-volitional (1) and the volitional (2) nominal subjects of intransitive verbs are unmarked, just like the non-volitional subjects (3) and volitional (4) agents of transitive constructions. Nouns do not have marked accusative forms, but patients are typically located between the subject and the verb in active sentences (3)–(4). Perception and change-of-state intransitive verbs are often used in the passive voice. In the passive voice, the agent always takes a locative case ending (cf. Honti 1983, 1984: 93‒96, Kulonen 1989: 297‒302), however, the passive voice was not considered with this parameter.