Universals Archive
A database of proposed crosslinguistic laws and tendencies in grammar across the world’s languages. 2,029 published entries.
543 entries · page 4 of 11
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 813 | IF stress is used for semantic contrasts, THEN the language must be non-monosyllabic. | prosodic phonology | implication | stress, non-monosyllabic |
| 814 | IF there is cumulative stress, THEN there are reduced vowels. | prosodic phonology | implication | stress, cumulative, vowel, reduced |
| 815 | IF there is distributive stress, THEN there are no reduced vowels. | prosodic phonology | implication | stress, distributive, vowel, reduced |
| 816 | Sibilants of different types tend not to cluster, or only across morpheme boundaries. | phonology, morphology | unconditional | consonant cluster, final, sibilant, morpheme boundary |
| 817 | IF a vowel (or diphthong) is long and tone is present, THEN that syllable is stressed. | prosodic phonology | implication | stress, syllable, diphthong, long, vowel |
| 818 | IF moras matter [for what?], THEN the language is non-monosyllabic and tonal. | phonology, morphology | implication | mora, monosyllabic, tone |
| 819 | IF there are diphthongs, THEN there are or were long vowels. | phonology | implication | vowel, long, diphthong |
| 820 | IF voiced > voiceless neutralization occurs in positions other than final, THEN it will occur in final position. Voiced > voiceless neutralization never occurs intervocally. |
phonology | implication | voice, neutralization, intervocalic |
| 821 | Normal hierarchy of increasing markedness in vowels: /E / ⇒ /a/ ⇒ /e/ ⇒ /i/ ⇒ /ü/ ⇒ /ö/ ⇒ /œ / (front set), /E / ⇒ /a/ ⇒ /o/ ⇒ /u/ (back set). | phonology | implicational hierarchy | hierarchy, markedness, vowel |
| 822 | IF there are glottalized consonants, THEN there are corresponding aspirated consonants; IF there are aspirated consonants, THEN there are corresponding unaspirated consonants. |
phonology | implicational hierarchy | markedness, consonant, unaspirated, aspiration, glottalization |
| 834 | In languages with two or more liquids, IF there is one non-lateral, THEN there will also be a lateral. | phonology | implication | lateral, liquid, non-lateral |
| 835 | IF there is any other lateral, THEN there will also be a voiced lateral approximant. | phonology | implication | lateral, approximant |
| 836 | In languages with two or more laterals, IF there is a contrast between them in manner, THEN there will not be a contrast between them in voice, and vice versa. | phonology | mutual implication | lateral |
| 837 | In languages with more than two r-types, IF there are any other contrasts between them, THEN there will also be a contrast of place; and If there is a contrast of place, THEN there is very likely also some other contrast. |
phonology | implication | /r/ |
| 838 | IF there is any other liquid, THEN there will be a liquid with both lateral and non-lateral allophones. | phonology | implication | liquid, lateral, non-lateral |
| 839 | IF there is a voiceless /l/, THEN there will be a voiced /l/. | phonology | implication | consonant, voice, lateral, liquid |
| 843 | IF there is a consonant cluster of length m (initially or finally), THEN there is at least one continuous subsequence of length m -1. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster |
| 844 | In all initial and final clusters, IF there are consonant clusters of length m and n and m > n, THEN the proportion of clusters of length m which only occur with internal morpheme boundaries is equal or greater than the proportion of such sequences which occur of length n. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | consonant cluster, length |
| 845 | There are no initial or final clusters in which all obstruent combinations are heterogeneous in regard to voicing. | phonology | unconditional | consonant cluster, obstruent, heterogeneous, voice |
| 846 | In final clusters, IF there is at least one sequence consisting of a nasal (voiced or unvoiced) followed by a heterogenic obstruent, THEN there is at least one cluster consisting of a nasal (voiced or unvoiced) followed by a homorganic obstruent. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, obstruent, homorganic, nasal, heterogenic, phoneme order, final |
| 847 | In initial clusters, IF there is at least one cluster consisting of a nasal (voiced or unvoiced) followed by a heterogenic obstruent, THEN there is at least one cluster consisting of a nasal (voiced or unvoiced) followed by a homorganic obstruent. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, obstruent, nasal, heterogenic, homorganic, phoneme order, initial |
| 848 | In initial clusters, IF there is at least one combination of stop + stop, THEN there is at least one combination of stop + fricative. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, stop, fricative |
| 849 | In initial clusters, IF there is at least one combination of stop + stop, THEN there almost always the combinations of stop + fricative and fricative + stop. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, stop, fricative |
| 850 | In final clusters, IF there is at least one combination of stop + stop, THEN there is at least one combination of fricative + stop. |
phonology | implication | consonant cluster, final, stop, fricative, phoneme order |
| 851 | In initial clusters, IF there is at least one cluster consisting of liquid + nasal, THEN there is at least one cluster consisting of liquid + obstruent. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, liquid, nasal, obstruent |
| 852 | In initial clusters, IF there is at least one fricative + fricative combination, THEN there is at least one stop+ fricative combination or at least one fricative + stop combination. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, stop, fricative |
| 853 | In final clusters, IF there is at least one liquid + nasal cluster, THEN there is at least one liquid + obstruent cluster. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, final, liquid, nasal, obstruent |
| 854 | In final clusters, IF there is at least one fricative + fricative combination, THEN there is at least one stop + fricative or at least one fricative + stop combination. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, final, stop, fricative |
| 855 | In final clusters, IF there is at least one nasal + liquid cluster, THEN there is at least one obstruent + liquid cluster. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, final, obstruent, nasal, liquid |
| 856 | IF an unvoiced stop is preceded immediately by a stop in an initial cluster, THEN they will not only differ in voicing. IF an unvoiced stop is immediately followed by a stop in a final cluster, THEN they will not only differ in voicing. |
phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | consonant cluster, initial, final, stop, phoneme order, voice |
| 857 | In final clusters, an voiced stop can only be immediately followed by its counterpart if there is a morpheme boundary between them. | phonology | unconditional | consonant cluster, final, stop, voice |
| 858 | In final or initial clusters, a voiced consonant and its glottalized counterpart can only be adjacent if there is a morpheme boundary between them. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | consonant clusters, initial, final, voice, glottalized |
| 859 | A voiced and glottalized consonant cannot be combined in either initial or final clusters. | phonology | unconditional | consonant cluster, initial, final, voice, glottalized |
| 860 | In initial and final consonant clusters, IF one member is a lateral, THEN an r-type sound will never immediately follow (without morpheme boundary). | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, final, lateral |
| 861 | In final systems, clusters with two members never consist of a hushing followed by a hissing sibilant. | phonology | unconditional | consonant cluster, final, sibilant, hushing, hissing |
| 862 | In initial consonant clusters, IF there is at least one sequence containing a liquid (voiced or unvoiced) immediately followed by an obstruent, THEN there is at least one sequence containing an obstruent immediately followed by a liquid. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, obstruent, liquid |
| 863 | In final clusters, IF there is at least one sequence containing a stop immediately followed by an liquid, THEN there is at least one sequence containing a liquid followed by a stop. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, final, stop, liquid |
| 864 | In initial clusters, IF there is a voiced semivowel present, THEN it will not be followed by an obstruent. In final clusters, IF there is a voiced semivowel present, THEN it will not be preceded by an obstruent. |
phonology | implication | consonant cluster, final, initial, semivowel, obstruent |
| 865 | In initial clusters, IF an unvoiced consonant or sequence of unvoiced consonants immediately precedes a vowel, THEN it will not itself be preceded by one or more voiced consonants. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, voice |
| 866 | In initial clusters, IF there is at least one sequence of voiced nasal + unvoiced homorganic obstruent, THEN there is at least one sequence of voiced nasal + voiced homorganic obstruent. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, phoneme order, voice, nasal, homorganic |
| 867 | In final clusters, IF an unvoiced consonant or sequence of unvoiced consonants follows a vowel, THEN it will not be followed by one or more voiced consonants (except for unvoiced obstruents followed by a voiced nasal). | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | consonant cluster, final, voice, vowel, obstruent |
| 868 | In initial clusters, IF there is at least one sequence consisting of a voiced liquid followed by a nasal, THEN there is at least one combination consisting of a nasal followed by a liquid. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, liquid, voice, nasal |
| 869 | In final clusters, IF there is at least one sequence consisting of a nasal followed by a liquid, a nasal followed by a nasal or a liquid followed by a liquid, THEN there is at least one combination consisting of a liquid followed by a nasal. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, final, nasal, liquid |
| 870 | In initial clusters, IF there is at least one sequence consisting of two voiced obstruents, THEN there is at least one combination consisting of two unvoiced obstruents. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, voice, obstruent |
| 871 | In final clusters, IF there is at least one sequence consisting of two voiced obstruents, THEN there is at least one combination consisting of two unvoiced obstruents. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, final, voice, obstruent |
| 872 | In initial clusters, IF there is at least one sequence consisting of voiced obstruent + nasal, THEN there is at least one sequence consisting of unvoiced obstruent + nasal. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, voice, obstruent, nasal |
| 873 | In initial clusters, IF there is at least one sequence consisting of voiced obstruent + semivowel, THEN there is at least one sequence consisting of unvoiced obstruent + semivowel. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, initial, voice, obstruent, semivowel |
| 874 | In final clusters, IF there is at least one sequence consisting of sonant + voiced obstruent, THEN there is at least one sequence consisting of sonant +unvoiced obstruent. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, final, voice, obstruent, sonant |
| 875 | In initial and final clusters, an unvoiced sonant is never immediately preceded or followed by another unvoiced sonant. | phonology | unconditional | consonant cluster, final, initial, voice, sonant |
| 876 | IF there is at least one cluster containing n glottalized consonants, THEN there will be at least one cluster with n-1 glottalized consonants. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster, final, initial, glottalized |