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Universal 1651:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1651:

Original
If in a language finite and non-finite (attributive and/or argument) functions of a form appear to be equally marked or equally unmarked, the predicative usage of nominals (nouns and adjectives) will also be unmarked.
Standardized
IF finite and non-finite (attributive and/or argument) functions of a form appear to be equally marked or equally unmarked, THEN the predicative usage of nominals (nouns and adjectives) will also be unmarked.
Keywords
finiteness, complexity, markedness
Domain
inflection, syntax
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
40 languages surveyed by Kalinina
Source
Kalinina 1998
Counterexamples
In Lezgian (East Caucasian), the noun necessarily requires a copula in predicative function (Kalinina 1998).

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Kalinina uses the term “markedness“ in the sense of Croft (1991: 67), meaning the relative structural complexity of two constructions. If one and the same form gets either nominal (case) or verbal (person) inflectional morphemes depending on its either argument/attributive or predicative functions, these functions are EQUALLY MARKED. If both functions receive no morphological marking, they are EQUALLY UNMARKED. Obviously, the functions of a form can be equally marked only in languages with inflectional morphology, and the functions of a form are equally unmarked in languages without inflectional morphology.

    1. May 2020

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