There are 11 additional languages in Dryer’s sample which can’t be classified as specifically VSO or VOS (either because neither order is clearly basic, or because it is not clear from the source). 10 of these languages place the negative before the verb, but in Cariri (Kariri, Macro-Jê), the negative follows the verb.
1. This universal is a strong statistical universal, true for 52 of the 53 verb-initial languages in the 345 languages of Dryer’s sample. 2. Dahl 1979: 91-93: “… all verb-initial and verb-second languages have preverbal placement [of negation]. … The only examples of sentence-initial Neg placement are verb-initial languages.” In Dahl’s sample of 240 languages there are only two non-verb-initial languages, Zuñi and Takelma (both isolates)(SOV languages), which place the Neg particle initially.
1. This universal is a strong statistical universal, true for 52 of the 53 verb-initial languages in the 345 languages of Dryer’s sample. 2. Dahl 1979: 91-93: “… all verb-initial and verb-second languages have preverbal placement [of negation]. … The only examples of sentence-initial Neg placement are verb-initial languages.” In Dahl’s sample of 240 languages there are only two non-verb-initial languages, Zuñi and Takelma (both isolates)(SOV languages), which place the Neg particle initially.