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Universal 1929:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1929:

Original
If there is a word-form loan of a free-choice indefinite in a language, then there is a word-form loan of other than free-choice indefinite of the same ontological category, too.
Standardized
IF there is a word-form borrowing of a free-choice indefinite, THEN there is a word-form borrowing of other than free-choice indefinite of the same ontological category, too.
Keywords
borrowing, indefinite pronoun, free-choice indefinite
Domain
lexicon, morphology
Type
implication
Status
diachronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
mainly based on survey of Romani dialects (Indo-Aryan, IE), but also Aromunian (E. Romance, IE), Chamorro (W. Malayo-Polynesian), Saami (Finno-Ugric, Uralic), Swahili (Benue-Congo, Niger-Congo), Spanish (Romance, IE), Persian (Iranian, IE), Turkic languages, Dardic languages, Albanian (Albanian, IE), Kormakita Arabic (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic) and others
Source
ElšÃ­k 2001: 139
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Many languages have a special series of indefinite pronouns to express the meaning of FREE-CHOICE., e.g., English: After the fall of the Wall, East Germans were free to travel ANYWHERE. Indefinite pronouns usually occur in series which have one member for each of the major ONTOLOGICAL CATEGORIES such as person, thing, property, place, manner, amount, plus a few others. Cf. English SOME-series, person: SOMEBODY, thing: SOMETHING, place: SOMEWHERE, time: SOMETIME, manner: SOMEHOW, determiner: SOME. (Haspelmath 1997).

    1. May 2020

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