Universals Archive
A database of proposed crosslinguistic laws and tendencies in grammar across the world’s languages. 2,029 published entries.
1,130 entries · page 14 of 23
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1166 | IF an overt indefinite article is used with plural nouns, THEN it is also used with singular nouns. | inflection, syntax | implication | indefinite article, number, plural, singular noun |
| 1167 | IF there is an indefinite article, THEN there is also a definite article. | syntax | implication | indefinite article, definite article |
| 1168 | Vocative nouns (or NPs) take no article or only the definite article, never the indefinite article. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | vocative, definite article |
| 1169 | Whenever order correlates with definiteness, the definite element tends to be placed at the beginning of the sentence. | syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | order, definiteness |
| 1170 | IF there is definiteness contrast for noun-phrases other than object, THEN there is definiteness contrast in the object noun phrase. | syntax | implication | object, definiteness |
| 1171 | IF there is a definiteness marker on the verb or adjective, THEN there is some other definiteness marker. | syntax | implication | definiteness marker, verb, adjective |
| 1187 | Basic word orders OSV and OVS do not occur at all, while SVO, SOV, VSO, and VOS are all attested. That is: IF the object precedes the subject in basic order, THEN the verb is initial. |
syntax | implication | order, verb, subject, object |
| 1192 | IF there is a logophoric form for 1st and/or 2nd person pronouns, THEN also for the 3rd person pronoun. | inflection, syntax | implication | pronoun, logophoric, person, 1, 2, 3 |
| 1193 | IF there is reciprocal marking for 1st person, THEN also for 2nd person. IF there is reciprocal marking for 2nd person, THEN also for 3rd person. |
inflection, syntax | implication | pronoun, reciprocal, person, 1, 2, 3 |
| 1194 | IF non-subject can control reflexives/reciprocals, THEN subjects can, too. | syntax | implication | control, reflexive, reciprocal, subject |
| 1195 | IF a reflexive/reciprocal can be an indirect object and/or circumstantial, THEN a reflexive/reciprocal can also be either direct object or possessive. | syntax | implication | reflexive, reciprocal, indirect object, circumstantial, direct object, possessive |
| 1196 | IF the head of a restrictive relative clause does not function as the subject of the restricting clause, THEN that subject must refer independently of the head. | syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | restrictive relative clause, subject, head |
| 1197 | IF the head of a restrictive relative clause functions as the subject of the restricting clause, THEN no personal pronoun will be present in the subject of the restricting clause. | syntax | implication | restrictive relative clause, subject, personal pronoun, head |
| 1200 | IF any other semantic types are expressed by words of the word class of adjectives, THEN members of the semantic types AGE, DIMENSION, VALUE and COLOR are likely also to be expressed by adjectives. | syntax, semantics | implication | word classes, adjective |
| 1203 | Every natural language has syntactic constituents (called noun-phrases) whose semantic function is to express generalized quantifiers over the domain of discourse. |
syntax, semantics | unconditional | quantification, generalized quantifier, NP |
| 1204 | Dislocated phrase universal: If a language allows phrases to occur in a dislocated position associated with a rule of variable binding, then at least NPs (i.e. the syntactic category corresponding to quantifiers over the domain of discourse) will occur in this position. That is: IF non-NPs (e.g., APs, DPs or PPs) can occur in a dislocated position associated with a rule of variable binding, THEN NPs can also be dislocated. |
syntax | implication | quantification, dislocation, variable binding, NP |
| 1205 | Determiner universal: Every natural language contains basic expressions (called determiners) whose semantic function is to assign to common count noun denotations (i.e., sets) A a quantifier that lives on A. |
syntax, semantics | unconditional | quantification, determiner, quantifier, count noun |
| 1206 | Monotonicity correspondence universal: There is a simple NP which expresses the monotone decreasing quantifier ~Q if and only if there is a simple NP with a weak non-cardinal determiner which expresses the monotone increasing quantifier Q. |
syntax, semantics | mutual implication | quantification, monotonicity, determiner, negation |
| 1207 | Monotonicity constraint: The simple NPs of any natural language express monotone quantifiers or conjunctions of monotone quantifiers. |
syntax, semantics | unconditional | quantification, monotonicity, NP |
| 1209 | Persistent determiner constraint: Every persistent determiner of human language is monotone ¡ncreasing and weak. |
syntax, semantics | unconditional | quantification, monotonicity, persistence, determiner |
| 1210 | Constraint on negating self-dual and monotone decreasing quantifiers: IF there is a syntactic construction whose semantic function is to negate a quantifier, THEN this construction will not be used with NPs expressing monotone decreasing or self-dual quantifiers. |
semantics, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | quantification, monotonicity, negation, NP |
| 1211 | Dual quantifier universal: IF there is a basic determiner for each of D and d, THEN these are semantically equivalent to ‘some’ and ‘every’. |
syntax, semantics | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | quantification, basic determiner |
| 1212 | Regardless of relational alignment, IF nouns in instrumental and/or locational relations can be incorporated into the verb, THEN nouns for patients of transitive and intransitive verbs can also be incorporated; IF patients of intransitive verbs can be incorporated, THEN patients of transitive verbs can also be incorporated. |
morphology, syntax | implication | incorporation, patient, location, instrument |
| 1213 | IF indirect objects can be incorporated, THEN non-agental subjects and direct objects can also be incorporated; IF non-agental subjects can be incorporated, THEN direct objects can also be incorporated. |
morphology, syntax | implication | incorporation, indirect object, direct object, non-agental subject |
| 1214 | Verbs with incorporated object nouns are intransitive for all morphological and syntactic purposes (such as case marking of subjects and verb agreement with objects). |
morphology, syntax | unconditional | verb, transitivity, noun incorporation, case, verb agreement, direct object |
| 1215 | IF there are predominantly prepositions rather than postpositions, THEN there will not be an extensive system of local cases. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, local, preposition, postposition |
| 1217 | IF there is an extensive system of local cases, THEN there will very likely also be numerous local postpositions. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, local, postpositions |
| 1218 | IF there are local cases, THEN basic word order tends to be SVO or SOV. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, local, word order, SOV, SVO |
| 1219 | Nouns denoting body parts are the preferred sources for the grammaticalization of local adpositions. | syntax, lexicon | target < source | case, local case, adposition, grammaticalization |
| 1220 | IF there are (local) postpositions, THEN there will also be nominal case inflection. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, local, noun, postposition |
| 1224 | IF localization is expressed by adpositions, THEN there will also be nominal combinations for purposes of localization. |
inflection, syntax | implication | case, local case, adposition |
| 1226 | IF there are local cases, THEN there are other expressions for localization, viz. local adpositions, specialized local verbs, and/or localizing nouns. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, local |
| 1237 | All languages have at least one so-called “primitive” adposition which specifies location. IF there is complex form for local expression, THEN there is also a simple adposition indicating location and the complex form is drawn from it. |
syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | location, adposition |
| 1238 | IF there are intransitive verbs that take patients as their theme, THEN these will normally be used for the description of spontaneous events. IF there are no such intransitive verbs, THEN agent-defocusing forms will be used for this purpose. |
syntax, semantics | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | defocusing, intransitive verb, patient, agent |
| 1239 | IF there are null expletives on a certain point in the hierarchy, THEN there will also be null expletives on all the points higher up on the hierarchy. Hierarchy of expletives: argumentless passives and unaccusatives > expletive of displaced NPs > expletives of displaced CPs (S´) > weather predicates > referential NPs. |
syntax | implicational hierarchy | expletive, hierarchy |
| 1255 | IF consonant gradation plays a role in the grammar, THEN it serves the function to identify nouns. | phonology, syntax | implication | consonant gradation |
| 1271 | IF basic order is SVO, THEN alignment is not ergative; IF alignment is ergative, THEN basic order is not SVO. |
inflection, syntax | implication | order, ergative language |
| 1278 | IF an NP in a given nuclear grammatical relation occurs initially in the dominant order of bitransitive clauses, THEN NPs in this relation will also occur initially in the dominant order of unitransitive clauses. | syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | order, bitransitive, unitransitive |
| 1279 | IF the dominant unitransitive order is SVO, THEN the dominant bitransitive order will be either SVDO or SVOD. | syntax | implication | order, bitransitive clause, unitransitive clause |
| 1280 | IF indirect object is unmarked, THEN SVDO. IF indirect object is marked, THEN SVOD. |
syntax | implication | bitransitive clause, unitransitive clause, order, indirect , direct object |
| 1281 | IF the direct object is marked in the unitransitive clause, THEN the indirect object will be marked in the bitransitive clause. | syntax | implication | bitransitive clause, unitransitive clause, indirect, direct object |
| 1282 | IF the direct object is marked in the bitransitive clause, THEN it is also marked in the unitransitive clause. | syntax | implication | bitransitive clause, unitransitive clause, indirect object, direct object |
| 1283 | IF the indirect object is marked in prototypical bitransitive clauses, THEN it is also marked in non-prototypical bitransitive clauses. | syntax | implication | indirect object, bitransitive clause |
| 1284 | IF the direct object is marked when its referent is inanimate, THEN it is also marked when its referent is animate; IF the direct object is marked when its referent is non-human, THEN it is also marked when its referent is human. |
syntax | implication | direct object, animate, inanimate, human, non-human |
| 1285 | IF the direct object is marked when its referent is indefinite, THEN it is also marked when its referent is definite or unique. | syntax | implication | direct object, definite, indefinite |
| 1290 | The Animated First Principle (AFP): In simple transitive clauses, the NP which is most animate will precede NPs which are less animate. |
syntax | unconditional | order, noun, animacy, transitive clause |
| 1291 | The Verb-Object Bonding Principle (VOB): The object of a transitive verb is more tightly bounded to the verb than is its subject. |
syntax | unconditional | order, boundedness, subject, object, transitive verb |
| 1293 | IF non-necessity is expressed by an auxiliary, THEN so is impossibility; IF impossibility is expressed by an auxiliary, THEN so is necessity; IF necessity is expressed by an auxiliary, THEN so is possibility. |
syntax, semantics, lexicon | implication | modality, auxiliary |
| 1294 | IF possessed NPs show the definite article, THEN non-possessed NPs show the definite article. | syntax | implication | possessive pronoun, definite article |
| 1295 | IF possessed NPs with a preposed possessor show the definite article, THEN possessed NPs with a postposed possessor show the definite article. | syntax | implication | definite article, order, possessive pronoun |