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Universal 264:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 264:

Original
On the lexical level frequentalia of active languages are as follows: the inactive noun class is often subdivided into groups according to the shape of things, the active noun class is often subdivided into persons and animals; suppletion of so-called “singular” and ”plural” verbs; etymological identity of nominal and partly verbal lexemes, based on analogies existing between animal and plant organisms and their functions: cf. the material identity of the semantemes ‘blood’ ≈ ‘juice’, ‘ear’ ≈ ‘leaf’.
Standardized
IF alignment is predominantly active, THEN there tend to be the following properties as well: the class of inactive nouns is further subdivided by shape categories; the class of active nouns is further subdivided by animacy (person vs. animal); there are singular and plural verbs in suppletive relationship; there are polysemies of nouns based on analogies existing between animal and plant organisms and their functions.
Keywords
alignment, active, noun, noun classification, active, inactive, animacy, verbal number, suppletion, polysemy
Domain
inflection, syntax, lexicon
Type
implication
Status
achronic but presumably diachronically motivated
Quality
statistical
Basis
languages of North and South America, some ancient languages of the New East (esp. Elamite)
Source
Klimov 1977: 80f
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Klimov being a “stadialist”, these frequentalia are to be seen as characterizing developmental stages, with the ergative stage developing from the active stage and developing into the accusative stage.

    1. May 2020

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