Universal 1096:

Universal 1096:

Original

There is an overall distinction between Type A and B languages, with the following correlations (i.e. mutual implications) of opposite properties defining the two types:

See Graphics

Standardized

(holistic) Type A vs. Type B

Keywords

nasal vowel, syllable, order, attributive, adjective, noun, prefix, suffix, preposition, postposition, serial verb, number, compounding, consonant, agreement, subject

Domain

phonology, morphology, syntax

Type

mutual implication

Status

achronic

Quality

statistical

Basis

a range of languages of Sub-Saharan Africa (Type A: West Atlantic, Bantu, Hausa, Niger-Congo; Type B: Mande, Kwa, possibly Voltaic (although there are several Type A features))

Source

Houis 1970: 59-67

Counterexamples

Yoruba (Defoid, Benue-Congo): Type B in terms of (a), (b), Type A in terms of (c), (d).Commercial Sango (Adamawa-Ubangi, Niger-Congo): Type A features: (i), (c), (d), (j); Type B features: (a), (b).Sara (Central Sudanic, Chari-Nile, Nilo-Saharan): some dialects more like Type A , others more like Type B.