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Universal 541:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 541:

Original
If a link for addition occurs medially, it always goes with the following numeral in a prepositional language and with the preceding numeral in a postpositional language.
Standardized
IF a link for addition occurs medially, THEN it always goes with the following numeral in a prepositional language and with the preceding numeral in a postpositional language.
Keywords
numeral, order, postposition, preposition
Domain
word formation, syntax
Type
no genuine implication; rather: provided that
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
56 languages mentioned in Greenberg 1978a
Source
Greenberg 1978a: 276 (#32)
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    1. Cf. other statements about coordinators: A link for addition is never initial in a numeral (#541); If a link for addition is final, the language is postpositional(#553). Greenberg assumes that although probably all languages have overtly expressed markers of coordination, many languages simply juxtapose numerals without overt coordination, e.g. Turkish (Turkic, Altaic). Where coordinators are found, their order properties are clearly related to whether the language is prepositional or postpositional.2. See the analagous statement for subtraction: #545.

    1. May 2020

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