Khanty language

19 consonants are reconstructed for Proto-Khanty, listed with the traditional UPA transcription shown above and an IPA transcription shown below.

A major consonant isogloss among the Khanty varieties is the reflexation of the lateral consonants, *ɬ (from Proto-Uralic *s and *š) and *l (from Proto-Uralic *l and *ð).[13] These generally merge, however with varying results: /l/ in the Obdorsk and Far Eastern dialects, /ɬ/ in the Kazym and Surgut dialects, and /t/ elsewhere. The Vasjugan dialect still retains the distinction word-initially, having instead shifted *ɬ > /j/ in this position. Similarly, the palatalized lateral *ľ developed to /lʲ/ in Far Eastern and Obdorsk, /ɬʲ/ in Kazym and Surgut, and /tʲ/ elsewhere. The retroflex lateral *ḷ remains in Far Eastern, but in /t/-dialects develops into a new plain /l/.

Other dialect isoglosses include the development of original *ć to a palatalized stop /tʲ/ in Eastern and Southern Khanty, but to a palatalized sibilant /sʲ ~ ɕ/ in Northern, and the development of original *č similarly to a sibilant /ʂ/ (= UPA: š) in Northern Khanty, partly also in Southern Khanty.

The Vakh dialect is divergent. It has rigid vowel harmony and a tripartite (ergative–accusative) case system: The subject of a transitive verb takes the instrumental case suffix -nə-, while the object takes the accusative case suffix. The subject of an intransitive verb, however, is not marked for case and might be said to be absolutive. The transitive verb agrees with the subject, as in nominative–accusative systems.

Vakh has the richest vowel inventory, with five reduced vowels /ĕ ø̆ ə̆ ɑ̆ ŏ/ and full /i y ɯ u e ø o æ ɑ/. Some researchers also report /œ ɔ/.[15][16]

The Kazym dialect distinguishes 18 consonants.

The vowel inventory is much simpler. Eight vowels are distinguished in initial syllables: six full /i e a ɒ o u/ and four reduced /ĭ ă ŏ ŭ/. In unstressed syllables, four values are found: /ɑ ə ĕ ĭ/.[18][19]

A similarly simple vowel inventory is found in the Nizyam, Sherkal, and Berjozov dialects, which have full /e a ɒ u/ and reduced /ĭ ɑ̆ ŏ ŭ/. Aside from the full vs. reduced contrast rather than one of length, this is identical to that of the adjacent Sosva dialect of Mansi.[15]

The Obdorsk dialect has retained full close vowels and has a nine-vowel system: full vowels /i e æ ɑ o u/ and reduced vowels /æ̆ ɑ̆ ŏ/).[15] It however has a simpler consonant inventory, having the lateral approximants /l lʲ/ in place of the fricatives /ɬ ɬʲ/ and having fronted *š *ṇ to /s n/.

The nominal suffixes include dual -ŋən, plural -(ə)t, dative -a, locative/instrumental -nə.

For example:[20]

xot "house" (cf. Finnish koti "home", or Hungarian "ház")

xotŋəna "to the two houses"

xotətnə "at the houses" (cf. Hungarian otthon, Finnish kotona "at home", an exceptional form using the old, locative meaning of the essive case ending -na).

Singular, dual, and plural possessive suffixes may be added to singular, dual, and plural nouns, in three persons, for 3³ = 27 forms. A few, from məs "cow", are:

məsem "my cow"

məsemən "my 2 cows"

məsew "my cows"

məstatən "the 2 of our cows"

məsŋətuw "our 2 cows"

The personal pronouns are, in the nominative case:

The cases of ma are accusative manət and dative manəm.

The demonstrative pronouns and adjectives are:

tamə "this", tomə "that", sit "that yonder": tam xot "this house".

Basic interrogative pronouns are:

xoy "who?", muy "what?"

Khanty numerals, compared with Hungarian and Finnish, are:

The formation of multiples of ten shows Slavic influence in Khanty, whereas Hungarian uses the collective derivative suffix -van (-ven) closely related to the suffix of the adverbial participle which is -va (-ve) today but used to be -ván (-vén). Note also the regularity of [xot]-[haːz] "house" and [sot]-[saːz] "hundred".

NOM: Nominative case

ACC: Accusative case

DAT: Dative case

LAT: Lative case, collapse of differentiated local cases. Used to indicate the relative location.

LOC: Locative case Used to indicate place and direction.[23]

ABL: Ablative case, external case meaning: moving away from something.[24]

APRX: Aproximative case, used to indicate a path towards.[25]

TRSL: Translative case, used to indicate transformation.[26]

INSC: Instructive case, related to Instrumental case, as in something is an instrument to an action.[27]

COM: Comitatative case, meaning with something.[28]

ABE: Abessive, ised to indicate that something is without x.[29]

Khanty verbs have to agree with the subject in person and number. There are two paradigms for conjugation. One where the verb only agrees with the subject (subjective conjugation column in the verbal suffixes table) and one where the verb agrees with both subject and object (objective conjugation in the same table). In a sentence with a subject and an object the subjective conjugation puts the object in focus. The same kind of sentence with objective conjugation leaves the object topically. [32]

A table of verb suffixes in Khanty

Khanty has the tenses present and past, the moods indicative and imperative and two voices, passive and active. [33] Generally, the present tense is marked and the past is unmarked, but for some verbs present and past are distinguished by vowel alternation or consonant insertion.[34] The order of suffixes is always tense-(passive.)number-person.[35]

Non-finite verb forms are: infinitve, converb, and four particle verb forms.[36] Infinitive can complement a modal verb or a motion verb such as go. Standing alone it means necessity or possibility.[37]

The participles are present, past, negative and conditional. The first two are in use while the latter two are seemingly going extinct.[38]

Yes/no questions are marked only by intonation. Indirect yes/no questions are constructed with “or” For example:[39] S/he asked if Misha was tired [or not]. Wh-questions most often contain a wh-word in the focus position.[40]

Negation is marked by the particle əntə, that appears adjecent to the verb and between the particles of particle verbs. [41] This is different from some other uralic languages as those thend to have a negation verb or at least a negation particle that is declined in some way.

On the phrasal level, the traditional relations are typical for an OV language. For example: PPs can come after the verb. Manner adverbs precede the verb. The verb phrase precedes the auxiliary. The possessor precedes the possessed.[43]

On the sentence level, case alignment in Surgut Khanty clauses follows a nominative-accusative pattern.[44] Both the subject and the object can be dropped if they are pragmatically inferable.[45] This is possible even in the same sentence.

Khanty is a verb final language, but this is not absolute as about 10% of sentences have other phrases behind the verb.[46] While the word order in matrix clauses is more variable, in embedded clauses it is quite strict.[47] The constraints are due to grammatical relations and discourse information. In older sources these phrases have content that was already introduced in the discourse while in newer sources newly introduced content can also be placed post verbally. Schön and Gugán speculate that this is because of contact with other languages, namely Russian.[48]

Imperative clauses have the same structure as declarative sentences, apart from complex predicates where the verb may precede the preverb. Prohibitive sentences include a prohibitive particle.[49]

In Khanty passive voice is achieved by moving other phrases than the subject into subject position, focus on the agent and indefiniteness of the agent.[50]

In Khanty names or pronouns can only be dropped if they are obvious from the context and marked on the verb.[51]