Universal 252: rigid &¬adjectives ⇒ predicative use (nominalpredicate & possessive predicate);
rigid & small class of adjectives ⇒ predicative use (adjective &nominal & possessive predicate)
- Original
- All rigid languages for which the adjective class is irrelevant or a small and closed one do not allow the predicative use of nominal and possessive predicates. Those with a small and closed adjective class furthermore do not allow these adjectives to be used predicatively.
- Standardized
- IF parts-of-speech classification is rigid and there is no class of adjectives, THEN nominal and possessive predicates can not be used predicatively.
IF parts-of-speech classification is rigid and there is a small and closed class of adjectives, THEN these adjectives and nominal and possessive predicates can not be used predicatively.
- Keywords
- word class, rigid, adjective, predicate, nominal, possessive
- Domain
- syntax
- Type
- implication
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- absolute
- Basis
- 37 languages of Hengeveld’s sample
- Source
- Hengeveld 1992: 135
- Counterexamples
Hengeveld 1992: 65: “… non-specialized parts-of-speech systems can be subclassified into two major groups: those in which a single part of speech may be used in different functions, and those in which for certain functions a part of speech is lacking. The former may be called flexible languages, the latter rigid languages.”