Universal 501: VSO ⇒ Aux V;
SOV ⇒ V Aux

Universal 501: VSO ⇒ Aux V;
SOV ⇒ V Aux

Original

In languages with dominant order VSO, an inflected auxiliary always precedes the main verb. In languages with dominant order SOV, an inflected auxiliary always follows the main verb.

Standardized

IF the dominant order is VSO, THEN an inflected auxiliary always precedes the main verb.
IF the dominant order is SOV, THEN an inflected auxiliary always follows the main verb.

Keywords

order, auxiliary, verb, inflection

Domain

inflection, syntax

Type

implication

Status

achronic

Quality

absolute (for Greenberg); statistical (for Dryer)

Basis

30 languages of Greenberg 1963 sample, sample of 543 languages in Dryer 1992

Source

Greenberg 1963: 85, #16; Dryer 1992: 100

Counterexamples

Yaqui (Uto-Aztecan), Isthmus Mixe, and Chimalapa Zoque (both Mixe-Zoquean) are SOV and have the inflected verb ‘be able’ preceding the main verb (Pickett 1983: 540);Island Carib (Northern Maipuran): it has inflected auxiliaries that follow the main verb in spite of being VSO (anonymous reader, cited by Heine (1993: 133, note 4));The only VO language in Dryer’s sample from Australia-New Guinea area has V Aux order; South American VO languages exhibit both orders: V Aux and Aux V, African and Eurasian VO languages show a clear tendency for Aux V order but there are cases violating this correlation. The correlation OV & V Aux is violated only by some languages from the African area (Dryer 1992: 100). Dryer’s data show that this correlation cannot be considered as absolute.