Universals Archive
A database of proposed crosslinguistic laws and tendencies in grammar across the world’s languages. 2,029 published entries.
789 entries · page 4 of 16
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 241 | IF there is segmental relation marking, THEN word order is free, and vice versa. IF there is no segmental relation marking, THEN word order is rigid, and vice versa. |
inflection, syntax | mutual implication | inflection, order |
| 242 | During inflectional expansion, IF there is a plural, THEN there is also a dual. During inflectional reduction, IF there is a dual, THEN there is also a plural. |
inflection | implication | number, plural, dual |
| 243 | IF verbs inflect for dual number, THEN nouns inflect for dual number as well. | inflection | implication | number, dual, noun, verb |
| 244 | Inflectional systems either have all three of the following properties or none of them: (i) inflectional exponents are intimately joined to the units inflected; (ii) inflectional exponents vary with classes of units to be inflected (i.e. there are coexisting inflection classes); (iii) inflections express several categories cumulatively; (iv) inflectional exponents neutralize some paradigmatic distinctions. | inflection | mutual implication | inflection class, cumulation, syncretism, fusion |
| 245 | IF constituent order is free without limits, THEN nominal words are inflected, but not vice versa; IF constituent order is rigid without inversions, THEN there is no nominal inflection, but not vice versa. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, noun |
| 247 | IF there is an accusative case distinct from the nominative, THEN there is a category of gender. | inflection, syntax | implication | gender, case, accusative, nominative |
| 250 | IF parts-of-speech classification is truly flexible, THEN all classes of predicates can be used predicatively. | inflection, syntax | implication | word class, flexible, predicate, possessive |
| 254 | IF there is a case distinction in the inflection of adjectives, THEN there is the same distinction in the inflection of nouns. | inflection | implication | case, adjective, noun |
| 255 | IF there is a number opposition for any other word class (especially nouns), THEN there is the same number opposition for pronouns. | inflection | implication | number, noun, pronoun |
| 256 | IF there is any opposition in gender (or noun class) for nouns, THEN there is the same opposition for pronouns. | inflection | implication | gender, noun class, noun, pronoun |
| 257 | IF alignment is predominantly active, THEN (i) verbal diathesis is in terms of centrifugal vs. non-centrifugal versions, (ii) possession in nouns is distinguished as alienable vs. inalienable, (iii) Aktionsart is distinguished on verbs rather than tense. | inflection, syntax | implication | alignment, active, verb, diathesis, version, possession, alienable, inalienable, Aktionsart, tense |
| 259 | IF alignment is ergative or active, THEN primary and secondary topicalization cannot be by means of diathesis/voice alternations, but only by means of word order changes. |
inflection, syntax | implication | topicalization, diathesis, verbal voice, passive, version, alignment, active, ergative |
| 260 | IF alignment is predominantly ergative, THEN verbal person marking is by prefixes or by both prefixes and suffixes. |
inflection, syntax | implication | alignment, ergative, verb, inflection, person, prefix, suffix |
| 261 | IF alignment is predominantly ergative, THEN of verbal person markers those for object (if present) almost always precede those for subject. |
inflection, syntax | implication | alignment, ergative, verb, person, affix-order, subject, object |
| 262 | IF alignment is predominantly ergative, THEN there tend to be: possessive and affective verbs (verba habendi and verba sentiendi) in syntactic constructions distinct from that of verbs of action; a special affective case; nouns divided into lexical classes; "labile" (or "diffuse") verbs rather than a classification of verbs as transitive and intransitive; an opposition of inclusive and exclusive in the 1st person plural. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | alignment, ergative, verb, affective verb, possessive verb, labile verb, affective case, noun class, personal pronouns, exclusive, inclusive, 1st person, transitivity |
| 263 | IF alignment is predominantly ergative, THEN there tend to be: (i) a special morphological category of words syntactically connected with nouns (i.e., attributive forms of verbs, adjectives, pronouns); (ii) an opposition of alienable and inalienable possession; (iii) number agreement of transitive verbs with direct object and of intransitive verbs with subject (perhaps expressed by suppletion of the verb stem). | inflection, syntax | implication | alignment, ergative, attribution, possession, alienable, inalienable, agreement, number, transitive verb, intransitive verb, subject, direct object, suppletion |
| 265 | IF alignment is predominantly active, THEN there tend to be the following properties as well: the class of inactive nouns is further subdivided by shape categories; the class of active nouns is further subdivided by animacy (person vs. animal); there are singular and plural verbs in suppletive relationship; there are polysemies of nouns based on analogies existing between animal and plant organisms and their functions. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | alignment, active, noun, noun classification, active, inactive, animacy, verbal number, suppletion, polysemy |
| 266 | IF alignment is predominantly active, THEN both nouns and verbs are subdivided into active and inactive classes (animate vs. inanimate, action vs. state), and there is a corresponding distinction of active vs. inactive syntactic constructions, showing a distinction of objects into "near" and "distant" rather than direct and indirect/oblique. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | alignment, active, noun, noun classification, animacy, verb, verb classification, action, state, object, direct, indirect, oblique |
| 267 | IF there is Person and Number inflection, THEN there is Tense, Aspect, and Mood inflection. | inflection | implication | verb, inflection, person, number, tense, aspect, mood |
| 269 | IF the plural of (personal) pronouns is not formed by suppletion, THEN these pronominal plural markers are the same as those used for nouns. |
inflection | implication | noun, pronoun, number, plural, suppletion |
| 270 | When nouns are distinguished as animate/personal and inanimate/impersonal and there is some (non-accidental) syncretism of this opposition, animate/personal forms will win out. | inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | animacy, noun, syncretism |
| 271 | IF any grammatical distinction is made in the paradigm of the neuter gender, THEN this same distinction is also made in the paradigm of non-neuter genders. | inflection | implication | gender, neuter, markedness |
| 272 | IF there is any gender distinction in verb forms of 1st and 2nd person, THEN this same distinction is made in forms of 3rd person. | inflection | implication | verb, gender, person, 1, 2, 3 |
| 273 | IF there is any person or number distinction in the forms of a non-indicative mood, THEN there will be the same distinctions in the indicative mood. | inflection | implication | verb, person, number, mood, indicative, non-indicative |
| 274 | IF there are aspect distinctions in the indicative mood, THEN there are the same aspect distinctions in the imperative mood (given there is an imperative mood). | inflection | implication | verb, mood, imperative, indicative, aspect |
| 276 | IF any further grammatical oppositions are expressed in trial forms, THEN the same oppositions will also be expressed in dual forms. | inflection | implication | number, trial, dual |
| 277 | IF there is a regular number distinction in the forms of the adjective or of the verb, THEN there is the same distinction in the forms of the noun. | inflection | implication | number, adjective, verb, noun |
| 278 | IF basic order is VOS, THEN there is no verbal inflection. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, VOS, inflection, verb |
| 279 | IF one of the forms of the imperative coincides with a pure (non-inflected, zero-marked) root, THEN its meanings include that of 2nd person singular. | inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | verb, mood, imperative, person, 2, number, singular, root, zero |
| 280 | IF any person has zero expression in the indicative mood, THEN it will be 3rd person singular or 1st person singular. |
inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | verb, mood, indicative, person, 1, 3, number, singular, zero, markedness |
| 281 | IF nouns take possessive affixes, THEN these nouns do not occur with possessive pronouns. | inflection, syntax | implication | noun, possession, possessive affix, possessive pronoun |
| 282 | IF nouns inflect for plural, THEN they have a singular which can designate an indefinite number of referents. | inflection | implication | noun, number, plural, singular, markedness |
| 283 | IF a noun does not have a genitive, THEN it does not have case forms of direct and oblique objects. | inflection | implication | noun, case, genitive, direct object, oblique object |
| 285 | IF the adjective inflects for gender and/or number and/or case, THEN the noun inflects for these categories also. | inflection, syntax | implication | adjective, noun, number, gender, case |
| 291 | IF there are ezâfe constructions, THEN possessors are expressed through affixes or clitics. | inflection, syntax | implication | ezâfe, possession, affix, clitic |
| 292 | IF there are ezâfe constructions, THEN possessors are expressed through affixes or clitics or there is an article. | inflection, syntax | implication | ezâfe, possession, article, affix, clitic |
| 293 | IF the verb agrees with the oblique object, THEN the verb agrees with the direct object. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, direct object, oblique object |
| 294 | IF the verb agrees with the direct object, THEN the verb agrees with the subject. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, direct object, subject |
| 296 | IF (i) basic order is VSO, SVO, or SOV, (ii) an auxiliary verb can occur before and after the main verb, and (iii) the adjective inflects for gender and case, THEN adjective and noun need not be adjacent. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, VSO, SVO, SOV, auxiliary, verb, noun, adjective, case, gender |
| 297 | IF nouns do not inflect for case and verbs carry no relational marking either, THEN basic order is SVO or OSV. |
inflection, syntax | implication | noun, case, verb, order, SVO, OSV, grammatical relations |
| 303 | Subjects in passive constructions tend to be encoded and to behave like subjects of basic intransitive constructions. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | subject, diathesis, voice, passive, transitivity |
| 304 | IF there are ergative or passive constructions in non-past or imperfective tenses, THEN there are ergative or passive constructions in past and perfective tenses. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, passive, alignment, ergative, tense, non-past, imperfective, past, perfective |
| 306 | IF there is a passive of intransitive verbs, THEN there is a passive of transitive verbs as well. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, passive, transitivity |
| 307 | Passive verbal forms tend not to be morphologically more complex than corresponding active forms. | inflection | implication | diathesis, active, passive, complexity |
| 308 | IF active and passive voices differ in verb form, THEN the corresponding constructions differ from each other in form of at least one of the nominal actants. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, passive, active, verb |
| 309 | IF active and passive voices differ from each other in the form of nominal actants, THEN they differ in verb form as well. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, active, passive, verb |
| 310 | The citation form of the noun tends to be the nominative case form. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | noun, case, nominative, markedness |
| 311 | The citation form of the noun tends to be the indefinitive form, if indefinitive contrasts with other forms. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | noun, indefinitive |
| 312 | IF there is a noun form for use as as subject of intransitive verbs of state, THEN this form will also be used for intransitive verbs of action. | inflection, syntax | implication | subject, intransitivity, verb, active, stative |
| 313 | IF there is a noun form for use as as subject of intransitive verbs of action, THEN this form will also be used for intransitive verbs of state. | inflection, syntax | implication | subject, intransitivity, verb, active, stative |