Basic SV word order (Surgut Khanty)

SV: The basic word order is SV, no additional word order exists.


(1) ńēwrem-ət (pästa-ɣə) qōwəʌ-ʌ-ət.

child-pl (fast-tra) run-prs.3pl

‘The children are running (fast).’


(2) (əj ʌāt-nə) əj īmi woʌ.

(a time-loc) a woman be.pst.3sg

‘There was a woman (one time).’


(3) īki ūsipəɣəʌ-ʌ.

man yawn-prs.3sg

‘A man is yawning.’


In Surgut Khanty, the verbal predicate is typically the last element of the sentence, everything else (the subject and other arguments) are put before it. The subject can be first element of the sentence or it can be preceded or followed by other arguments, which, however, does not affect the SV word order (1)–(2). The word order is not affected by the (lack of) volitionality of the verb either (1), (3).

Author: 

Márta Csepregi