Universal 684: morphological negation ⇒ verb-initial order v. free word order
Original
Morphological Negation — in particular suffixal Neg — is more common in verb-final and free word order languages and the preference for suffixal Neg is stronger there.
Standardized
IF there is morphological (suffixal) negation, THEN word order is verb-final or free.
1. If we regard suffixal Neg as a special case of postverbal Neg, the tendency will generally disappear.2. If the Neg morpheme occurs last in the verb, it tends to have at least some of the characteristics of morphological negation.
1. If we regard suffixal Neg as a special case of postverbal Neg, the tendency will generally disappear.2. If the Neg morpheme occurs last in the verb, it tends to have at least some of the characteristics of morphological negation.