Typology
Alutor is a polysynthetic language.
| ŋan(.ina) | ulʲlʲaʔu.tku=ʔuttə-k | na-n.illitə-tkə-ni-na… | ||
| that+3PL | walk.into.woods.masked=stick-LOC | LOW.A-hang-IPF-3.SG.A+3P-3PL.P | ||
| 'Those things on a stick, which wear masks, hung ...' | ||||
The morphology is agglutinative, with extensive prefixes and suffixes.
| qəlʲippə | tətu-kki | ɣeqə-masla-ta | a-mal-ka. | |||
| bread+NOM+SG | eat.with.something-INF | ASSOC⟩butter⟨ASSOC | good | |||
| 'Bread (eaten) with butter is excellent.' | ||||||
The argument structure is ergative.
| ə-nannə | ɣəmmə | ina-ɣal-e. | ||
| he-ERG | me+ABS | 1SG.P-walk.past-3SG.A | ||
| 'He walked past me.' | ||||
The word order is variable, and it is difficult to say which typology is basic. The verb-absolutive orders AVO and VAO are perhaps most common.
| tita·qa | qutkinʲnʲaqu-nak | maŋ.ki·ʔana | ɣa-laʔu-lin | ənnə-ʔən. | ||||
| once | (name)-ERG+SG | somewhere | RES⟩see⟨RES+3SG.P | fishABS+SG | ||||
| 'Once Qutkinnyaqu saw a fish somewhere.' | ||||||||
| ɣa-nvə-lin | qutkinʲnʲaqu-nak | təlɣə-lŋən | ŋan.tiŋ. | |||
| RES⟩poke⟨RES+3SG.P | (name)-ERG+SG | finger-ABS+SG | there | |||
| 'Qutkinnyaqu stuck his finger there.' | ||||||
Read more about this topic: Alyutor Language