Universal 1054:

Universal 1054:

Original

If verbs agree in Number, they are very likely to agree in Person.

Standardized

IF verbs agree in number, THEN they are very likely to agree in person.

Keywords

agreement, verb, number, person

Domain

inflection, syntax

Type

implication

Status

achronic

Quality

statistical

Basis

sample of 50 languages in Plank 1994a

Source

Plank 1994a: 53 ()

Counterexamples

16.7% of languages in Plank’s sample: Archi, Avar (both N. Caucasian), Modern Aramaic (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic), French (Vprtcpl, controller: DObj), Russian (in preterite; Slavonic, IE), Hopi (Uto-Aztecan), Mansi (Ugric, Uralic) (controller: DObj), Nivkh (isolate), Samoan (E. Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian).