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Universal 102: Postp ⇒ (Poss N ⇒ G N)
- Original
- If a language has Postp word order, then if the possessive adjective precedes the noun, the genitive precedes the noun.
- Standardized
- IF there are postpositions, THEN IF the possessive adjective precedes the noun, THEN the genitive precedes the noun.
- Keywords
- order, postposition, possessive, noun, attributive, genitive
- Domain
- syntax
- Type
- nested implication
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- absolute
- Basis
- sample of 350 languages in Hawkins 1983
- Source
- Hawkins 1983: 110
- Counterexamples
Since the 1990s, Hawkins proposes alternative explanations of his universals (see e.g. Hawkins 1993: 234).