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Universal 1339:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1339:

Original
An element which serves as a semantic link between two other elements is likely to occur in linear order between them.
Standardized
IF an element serves as a semantic link between two other elements, THEN it is likely to occur in linear order between them.
Keywords
order, iconicity
Domain
syntax, semantics
Type
no genuine implication; rather: provided that
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
50 languages sample in Maxwell 1979
Source
Maxwell 1984: 252, discussed in Moreno 1987: 193
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    This principle suggests these preferred positions for relational markers on NPs (adpositions, cases), which link these NPs to their verb: S-suffix/postp O-suffix/postp V; V-prep/prefix-O prep/prefix-S. SVO is mixed, requiring pre- and post-posed relational markers to conform to this iconicity principle: S-suffix / postp V prep / prefix O from which this is supposed to follow:SOV languages with suffixing morphology will have an unmarked (i.e. agglutinative) morphology, whereas VOS languages with a prefixing morphology will also present a less marked morphology than VOS languages with suffixes (Cf. #1342). (Moreno 1987)

    1. May 2020

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