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 17 of 23
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1452 | IF the metaperson 'hearer' in the singular is not the only meaning expressed by a pronominal form, THEN this form includes among its meanings the metapersons: a) 'hearer' in the non-singular; b) 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)' |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, number, singular, non-singular, non-participant |
| 1453 | In no language is there a special form to denote the metaperson 'hearer' in the non-singular. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | unconditional | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, number, non-singular, inclusive, exclusive |
| 1454 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'hearer' in the non-singular, THEN this form includes among its meanings the metaperson 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, number, non-singular, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive |
| 1455 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'hearer' in the non-singular, THEN it cannot denote the metaperson 'speaker'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, 1st, hearer, number, non-singular, speaker |
| 1456 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'hearer' in the non-singular, THEN it cannot include among its meanings the following metapersons: (a) 'hearer' in singular; (b) 'speaker + hearer(s)' and/or 'speaker + non-participant(s)', (c) 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)' ; (d) 'non-participant'. |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, number, non-singular, speaker |
| 1457 | IF the metaperson 'hearer' in the non-singular (and consequently, the metaperson 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)') are not the only meanings of a pronominal form, THEN the metaperson 'hearer' in the singular is also among its meanings. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, number, singular, non-singular, non-participant |
| 1458 | In all languages, there is a special form to denote the metaperson 'non-participant'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | unconditional | personal pronoun, person, 3rd, non-participant |
| 1459 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'non-participant' in the singular, THEN it cannot be used to denote the metaperson 'non-participant' in the non-singular. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 3rd, non-participant, number, singular, non-singular |
| 1460 | IF the metaperson 'non-participant' in the singular is not the only meaning denoted by a pronominal form, THEN the only other metaperson expressed will be 'non-participant' in the non-singular. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 3rd, non-participant, number, singular, non-singular |
| 1461 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'non-participant' in the non-singular, THEN it cannot be used to denote the metaperson 'non-participant' in the singular. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 3rd, non-participant, number, singular, non-singular |
| 1462 | IF the metaperson 'non-participant' in the non-singular is not the only meaning denoted by a form, THEN among its meanings can only be metaperson 'non-participant' in the singular. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 3rd, non-participant, number, singular, non-singular |
| 1463 | In no language is there a special form to denote a metaperson 'speaker+hearer(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | unconditional | personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, inclusive |
| 1464 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s)', THEN it must also denote the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, speaker, hearer, non-participant, inclusive |
| 1465 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s)', THEN (a) in some languages this form can also denote the metaperson 'speaker + non-participant(s)'; (b) in some other languages it can not denote the metaperson 'speaker + non-participant(s)'. |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, 2nd, speaker, hearer, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive |
| 1466 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s)' and/or 'speaker + non-participant(s)', THEN it cannot denote the metaperson 'non-participant'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive |
| 1467 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s)' and/or 'speaker + non-participant(s)', THEN it cannot include among its meanings the following metapersons: (a) 'speaker'; (b) 'hearer' in singular; (c) 'hearer' in non-singular; (d) 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'. |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive, number, singular, non-singular |
| 1468 | IF the metapersons 'speaker + hearer(s)' and 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)' are not the only meanings denoted by a form, THEN the others metapersons expressed will be 'speaker' and/or 'speaker + non-participant(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1469 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker + non-participant(s)', THEN (a) in some languages it cannot include among its meanings any other metaperson; (b) in some other languages it can also denote metapersons 'speaker + hearer(s)' and 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', and for this case universals <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1466"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1467"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0"> are valid. |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1470 | IF the metaperson 'speaker + non-participant(s)' is not the only meaning of a form, THEN this form must also denote the metapersons 'speaker' and/or 'speaker + hearer(s)' (and consequently, 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'). | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1471 | In an overwhelming majority of languages, there is no special form to denote the metaperson 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | unconditional | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive |
| 1472 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', THEN it also denotes the metaperson 'hearer' in the non-singular. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, non-participant, number, non-singular |
| 1473 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', THEN it cannot include among its meanings the following metapersons: (a) 'hearer' in singular; (b) 'speaker + hearer(s)' and/or 'speaker + non-participant(s)'; (c) 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'; (d) 'non-participant'. |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, speaker, hearer, non-participant, number, singular |
| 1474 | IF the metaperson 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)' is not the only meaning denoted by a form, THEN this form must denote also metapersons 'hearer' in the non-singular and/or 'hearer' in the singular . | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, non-participant, number, singular, non-singular |
| 1475 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', THEN it cannot include among its meanings the metaperson 'speaker'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, 1st, hearer, non-participant, speaker |
| 1476 | In an overwhelming majority of languages, there is no special form to denote the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | unconditional | personal pronoun, person, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1477 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', THEN it denotes also the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, 2nd, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1478 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)' , THEN: (a) in some languages it also denotes the metaperson 'speaker + non-participant(s)'; (b) in other languages it does not denote the metaperson 'speaker + non-participant(s)'. |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1479 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', THEN it cannot denote the metaperson 'non-participant' . | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1480 | IF some form denotes metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', THEN it cannot denote the following metapersons: (a) 'speaker'; (b) 'hearer'; (c) 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'. |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1481 | IF the metaperson 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)' is not the only meaning of a form, THEN this form must also denote the metapersons 'speaker + hearer(s)' and /or 'speaker'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1482 | IF there are no special forms distinguishing the metapersons 'speaker' and 'speaker + hearer(s)' or 'speaker' and 'speaker + non-participant(s)', THEN there are no forms that differentiate between the metaperson 'hearer' in the singular and in the non-singular and between the metaperson 'non-participant' in the singular and in the non-singular. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronun, person, 1st, speaker, hearer, non-participant, number, singular, non-singular |
| 1483 | IF there is no form with the meaning 'speaker + hearer(s)' and/or 'speaker + non-participant(s)' and/or 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)' (i.e. a neutral form of the distinction inclusivity vs. exclusivity), THEN there is a form with the sole meaning 'speaker + non-participant(s)' (i.e. "we exclusive"). |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, speaker, hearer, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive |
| 1484 | IF there is a special form with the meaning 'speaker + non-participant(s)' (i.e. "we exclusive"), THEN there is a special form with the meaning 'speaker + hearer(s)' and/or 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)' (i.e. "we inclusive"). | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, speaker, hearer, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive |
| 1485 | IF there is no form with the meaning 'hearer' and/or 'hearers' and/or 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', THEN there is a special form with the meaning 'hearers' and/or 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, hearer, non-participant, number, singular, non-singular |
| 1487 | IF there is a pronominal form denoting the dual of the metapersons 'hearer', 'hearer + non-participant' and/or 'non-participant', THEN there are pronominal forms denoting the dual of metapersons 'speaker + hearer' and/or 'speaker + non-participant'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, speaker, hearer, non-participant, number, dual |
| 1488 | IF there is a pronominal form denoting the trial of the metapersons 'hearer' and 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)' and/or the trial of 'non-participant', THEN there is a pronominal form denoting the trial of the metapersons 'speaker + hearer(s)', 'speaker + hearer + non-participant' and/or 'speaker + non-participant(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, speaker, non-participant, number, trial |
| 1489 | IF there is an opposition of the metapersons 'speaker + hearer(s)' and 'speaker + non-participant(s)' (i.e. inclusive vs. exclusive) in the trial, THEN there is such an opposition in the dual and plural too. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, 2nd, hearer, speaker, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive, number, dual, plural, trial |
| 1490 | IF there is an opposition of the metapersons 'speaker + hearer' and 'speaker + non-participant' (i.e. inclusive vs. exclusive) in the dual, THEN usually there is such opposition in the plural too. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, hearer, speaker, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive, number, dual, plural |
| 1491 | Noun incorporation, per movement in syntax (as opposed to lexical compound formation), is possible for underlying objects only. | morphology, syntax | unconditional | incorporation, noun, object, patient |
| 1492 | In ditransitive constructions, the theme/direct object may incorporate, but the goal/indirect object may not (per movement in syntax, as opposed to lexical compound formation). | morphology, syntax | unconditional | incorporation, theme, goal, indirect object, direct object |
| 1493 | Incorporation is favoured with the verbs denoting permanent and general activity (also typical or characteristic activity) whereas "accidental" or indifferent activities take autonomous direct object. | inflection, syntax, semantics | unconditional | incorporation, verb |
| 1494 | When there is a choice between independence from and incorporation into the verb, objects tend to be incorporated when they are generic, non-referential, indefinite, inanimate/non-human, semantically dependent, pragmatically non-prominent, and to be independent when they are specific, referential, definite, animate/human, semantically independent, pragmatically prominent. | inflection, syntax, semantics | implication | incorporation, object, definiteness, specific reference, animacy, human, |
| 1495 | IF a noun is incorporated (because it is generic), THEN it cannot trigger transformations' which imply specific reference: conjuction deletion, Equi-NP-deletion, passivization, relativization, and topicalization. | morphology, syntax | implication | incorporation, conjunction deletion, diathesis, passivization, relativization, topicalization, Equi-NP-deletion, generic, specific reference |
| 1496 | IF basic word order is verb-initial, THEN nouns attach to the right of the verb stem when incorporated. |
morphology, syntax | implication | incorporation, order, verb-initial |
| 1497 | IF basic word order is not-verb-initial (i.e. verb-medial or verb-final), THEN nouns attach to the left of the verb stem when incorporated. | morphology, syntax | implication | incorporation, order, verb-medial, verb-final |
| 1498 | IF syntax is non-configurational, THEN morphology is agglutinative, but not vice versa. | morphology, syntax | implication | non-configurational, agglutination |
| 1503 | IF there are serial verb constructions, THEN there will be VO ordering with verb serialization, one object per verb, isolating morphology, simple syllable structure, and lexical/or grammatical tone distinctions. | prosodic phonology, morphology, syntax | implication | serial verb, order, isolating, syllable, tone |
| 1507 | When there is an anomaly of stress in the appellative elements of a language, IF the language does not have fixed final stress THEN this anomalous stress falls on the last syllable of words, but IF the language does have fixed stress on the final syllable THEN the anomalous stress falls on the first syllable. | phonology, syntax | implication | stress, syllable |
| 1510 | IF there are intransitive-based passives with non-protagonist subjects, THEN there are such with inanimate subjects. IF there are intransitive-based passives with INANIMATE subjects, THEN there are such with animate and potent subjects. IF there are intransitive-based passives with animate and potent subjects, THEN there are such with volitional animate or human subjects. IF there are intransitive-based passives with volitional animate or human subjects, THEN there are such with volitional human subjects. IF there are intransitive-based passives with volitional human subjects, THEN there are such with 1st person subjects. |
inflection, syntax | implicational hierarchy | diathesis, passive, intransitive, subject, animacy |
| 1511 | Reciprocal constructions, which are morphologically related to the reflexive constructions, are never (or, at least, far less often) “lighter” then the latter; they are either “heavier” or the same degree of complexity. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | reciprocal, reflexive, complexity |