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Universal 341:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 341:

Original
If the dominant position of the subject with respect to the verb depends on their morphological characteristics, the dominant order in such a language will be Verb-Object.
Standardized
IF the dominant position of the subject with respect to the verb depends on their morphological properties, THEN the dominant order will be Verb-Object.
Keywords
verb, subject, object, order
Domain
inflection, syntax
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
languages surveyed in Kozinsky 1981
Source
Kozinsky 1981
Counterexamples
Languages of the Pano family (Chakobo, Movima, Itonama). In these languages, which have the general dominant order S(O)V, the order VS (=OVS, =VOS) becomes obligatory if the verb has a form expressing the infinite action (Kozinsky 1981)

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP
    1. May 2020

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