Universals Archive
A database of proposed crosslinguistic laws and tendencies in grammar across the world’s languages. 2,029 published entries.
51 entries · page 1 of 2
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 362 | The extent of “material“ articulation, pertaining in particular to (a) the elaboration of sound systems, (b) the complexity of syllable structures, (c) word length, (d) accentual differentiation (as opposed to not-so-articulated tonal modification), correlates with the extent of “formal“ articulation, pertaining in particular to (a) the differentiation of parts of speech, (b) the elaboration of inflectional and derivational systems, (c) analytic syntax (as opposed to not-so-articulated polysynthesis). | prosodic phonology, inflection, word formation, syntax, lexicon | mutual implication | phoneme system, syllable, word length, accent, tone, word class, polysynthesis |
| 508 | IF there is inflection, THEN there is derivation. | inflection, word formation | implication | |
| 536 | IF a number is expressed by subtraction, or a subtraction occurs as a constituent of a complex expression, THEN the subtrahend is never larger than the remainder. | word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 537 | IF a number is expressed by subtraction as y-x, THEN every number z (z>y>n) is also expressed subtractively and with y as the minuend. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 538 | IF in any sum the smaller addend precedes the larger, THEN the same order holds for all smaller numbers expressed by addition. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 539 | IF in any sum the larger addend precedes the smaller, THEN the same order holds for all larger numbers expressed by addition. | word formation | implication | order, numeral |
| 540 | IF there are numerals in which the expression of the multiplier follows that of the multiplicand, THEN the numeral will follow the noun. | word formation, syntax | implication | numeral, order, noun |
| 541 | A link for addition is never initial in a numeral. | word formation | unconditional | numeral |
| 542 | In numeral systems with only simple lexical representation: IF the limit number is 2, THEN there is a singular/plural distinction, and vice versa. IF the limit number is 3, THEN there is a singular/dual/plural distinction, and vice versa. |
inflection, word formation | mutual implication | numeral, number, dual, plural, singular |
| 543 | IF a link for addition occurs medially, THEN it always goes with the following numeral in a prepositional language and with the preceding numeral in a postpositional language. | word formation, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral, order, postposition, preposition |
| 544 | When there is a word order variation in addition between larger and smaller, and one order has an overt link and the other has not, it is always the order smaller+larger which has the link. | word formation, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | order, numeral |
| 545 | IF a link for subtraction is final, THEN there are postpositions. | word formation, syntax | implication | numeral, postposition |
| 546 | IF a numeral expression contains a complex constituent, THEN the numerical value of the complex constituent itself in isolation receives either simple lexical expression or is expressed by the same function and in the same phonological shape, except for possible automatic phonological alternations, stress shifts, or overt expressions of co-ordination. |
word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 547 | The degree of morphological fusion varies inversely with the size of the numerical value. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 548 | IF plural marking on nouns is optional, THEN the singular may be used on nouns in construction with numerals higher than 1. | inflection, word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | noun, numeral |
| 550 | IF numeral expressions for the smallest addends take the plural of the noun when they designate numbers >1, THEN complex numerals with one as an addend will take the plural of the noun if ‘one’ is not a separate word. | inflection, word formation | implication | numeral, noun |
| 553 | IF a link for addition is final, THEN there are postpositions. | word formation, syntax | implication | numeral, postposition |
| 557 | When there is an overt marker distinguishing absolute and contextual numbers, THEN this marker is added to the contextual form yielding the absolute form, and not vice versa. | word formation, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 558 | Where there are contrasting forms for the absolute and contextual uses of cardinal numbers, there is always neutralization for some numerals, in which case the contextual form appears. | word formation, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | cardinal numeral |
| 561 | Where there is a distinction between absolute and contextual cardinal numerals, IF the contextual form is used as a multiplier with a lower base, THEN the contextual form is also used with all higher bases. |
word formation | implication | cardinal numeral |
| 608 | IF there is a derivational morpheme whose distributional characterization makes reference to objects, THEN it will also make reference to intransitive subjects but not to transitive one. | word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | object, intransitive subject, transitive subject |
| 704 | The base number tends to be put before the unit, and in general a higher number before a lower, when they are conjoined. | word formation | unconditional | numeral |
| 950 | IF either inflectional morphology or derivational morphology is served by prosodic rules of stress shift, then typically either new phonological rules emerge or old phonological rules are put to new uses, or both. | phonology, word formation, inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | stress |
| 1252 | In numeral systems, IF there is multiplication, THEN there is addition. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 1289 | IF a numeral system has subtraction, THEN it is never expressed by mere sequence of the subtrahend and minuend. | word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 1292 | IF a numeral system has subtraction and/or division, THEN it has addition and multiplication. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 1316 | In numeral systems, every minuend is a base of the system or a multiple of the base. | word formation | unconditional | numeral |
| 1352 | In numeral systems, a subtrahend is always a simple lexical expression. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 1354 | IF a numeral system has division, THEN it is always expressed as multiplication by a fraction. | word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 1355 | In numeral systems, every superessive or possessive augend is a serialized augend. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 1356 | In numeral systems, a serialized augend is always larger than its addends. | word formation | unconditional | numeral |
| 1357 | In numeral systems, IF there are three or more summands and at least one is a product, THEN parenthesization starts by separating the summand with the largest numerical value from the rest. The same rule then applies to the remainder, if it consists of more than the summands, and so on. | word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 1358 | In numeral systems, the maximum number of sporadic addends is two. | word formation | unconditional | numeral |
| 1359 | In numeral systems, all adverbially or partitively expressed multiplicands are serialized multiplicands. | word formation | unconditional | numeral, adverb, partitive |
| 1360 | All the bases of numeral systems are divisible by the fundamental base. | word formation | unconditional | numeral |
| 1361 | In numeral systems, a multiplicand in a pseudo-base is always smaller than its multiplier. | word formation | unconditional | numeral |
| 1362 | In numeral systems, IF a serialized multiplicand is a factor in some product in which the multiplier is larger than the multiplicand, THEN it is also a factor in some product in which it is smaller than multiplicand. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 1363 | In numeral systems, the maximum number of sporadic factors is two. | word formation | unconditional | numeral |
| 1364 | In numeral systems, only a base is ever multiplied by 1. | word formation | unconditional | numeral |
| 1365 | In numeral systems, IF the multiplier follows the multiplicand in a particular numeral, THEN it follows in all higher numerals which are expressed by multiplication. IF there is this variability in multiplicand-multiplier order, THEN the numeral follows the noun. |
word formation | implication | order, numeral, noun |
| 1366 | In numeral systems, IF 1 is expressed as a multiplier with a particular base, THEN it is expressed with all higher bases. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 1367 | In numeral systems, IF any numeral expressions are deleted, THEN these are expressions for 1 and for bases of the system. | word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 1368 | IF there are numeral systems with more than one base, THEN there is a base, the base for predictable explanation, above which in all numerals certain regularities hold. Such numerals, when analyzed into their two principal constituents, will fall into two types: simple (A) and complex (B) ones: <table class = "textTable"> <tr> <td> </td> <td>(Ai)</td> <td colspan="2"> In the simple numeral we have a product, or rarely a quotient.</td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td valign="top">(Aii)</td> <td colspan="2">In the simple constituent the factors or elements in a division are expressed in the same way as when they occur in isolation.</td> </tr> <td> </td> <td valign = "top">(Bi)</td> <td colspan="2"> In the complex numeral the two constituents are summands.</td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td valign = "top">(Bii)</td> <td colspan="2">Complex expressions fall into two parts, a product and a remainder.</td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td vallign = "top">(Bii1)</td> <td>The remainder has the two following properties. It never has a larger value than the next lower base of the total expression.</td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td valign = "top">(Bii2)</td> <td>the remainder is expressed by the same mathematical function as when it occurs in isolation.</td> </tr> </table> |
word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 1369 | All numeral series have the same mathematical structure. | word formation | unconditional | numeral |
| 1411 | IF there are irregularities in the constituency of the numerals, THEN they immediately precede or follow the base. | word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 1749 | When ordinal numerals are formally distinguished from cardinal numerals and one is based on / derived from / more complex than the other (rather than being suppletive), ordinals are always based on / derived from / more complex than corresponding cardinals. | word formation | unconditional | numeral, cardinal, ordinal |
| 1754 | Provided at least some ordinal numerals are formally distinguished from cardinal numerals: IF the distinction is by suppletion for higher numbers, THEN it is also by suppletion for 1; IF it is by suppletion for 2, THEN it is also by suppletion for 1. |
word formation | implication | numeral, ordinal, cardinal, suppletion |
| 1755 | IF the distinction between ordinal and cardinal forms for the number 1 at some decade is by suppletion, THEN it is also by suppletion for the same numeral at lower decades. | word formation | implication | numeral, ordinal, cardinal, suppletion |
| 1868 | IF reduplication is used for grammatical purposes in any other word class, THEN it is also used (for whatever purpose: gradation, superlative, intensification, distributivity, diminution, ...) for adjectives or adjective-derived nouns [perhaps rather: property words]. |
word formation | implication | reduplication, word class, adjective |
| 1945 | IF words of whatever word class can be derived from nouns, THEN nouns can be derived from words/stems other than nouns. | word formation | implication | derivation, noun, word class |