Universals Archive
A database of proposed crosslinguistic laws and tendencies in grammar across the world’s languages. 2,029 published entries.
2,017 entries · page 13 of 41
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 605 | IF alignment is accusative for some/many purposes, THEN verb agreement in person or number or gender is not limited to ergative alignment. | inflection, syntax | implication | alignment, accusative, ergative, verb agreement, person, number, gender |
| 606 | IF definite objects are differently ordered from indefinite ones, THEN also definite intransitive subjects will be differently ordered from indefinite ones. IF definite intransitive subjects are differently ordered from indefinite ones, THEN also definite objects will be differently ordered from indefinite ones. |
syntax | implication | definiteness, NP, order, object, transitive subject, intransitive subject |
| 607 | IF the possessive adjective follows the noun, THEN the relative clause follows the noun. OR, BY CONTRAPOSITION: IF the relative clause precedes the noun, THEN the possessive adjective precedes the noun. |
syntax | implication | possessive, noun, adjective, order |
| 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 |
| 609 | If there are two verb-lexicalization rules in a language such that the two meaning characterization contrast only in the quantity or quality of some noun phrase referent involved in the event, this noun phrase constituent will be either an object or an intransitive subject, but not a transitive subject. | syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | lexicalization, intransitive subject, transitive subject, object |
| 610 | IF there is switch-reference marking with 1st and/or 2nd Person, THEN also with 3rd person, but not vice versa. | inflection, syntax | implication | switch-reference, 1 person, 2 person, 3 person |
| 611 | IF there are reflexive pronouns distinct from non-reflexive ones with 1st and/or 2nd Person, THEN also with 3rd Person, but not vice versa. | inflection | implication | reflexive pronoun, non-reflexive pronoun, 1 person, 2 person, 3 person |
| 612 | Reference clauses for Switch-Reference marking are never subordinate to Marking clauses. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | switch-reference |
| 613 | IF the switch-reference marker is a suffix, THEN the marking clause precedes the Reference clause; IF the switch-reference marker is a verbal prefix, THEN the marking clause follows the reference clause. |
inflection, syntax | implication | switch-reference, suffix, prefix, order |
| 614 | IF there is switch-reference marking between non-adjacent clauses, THEN switch-reference between adjacent clauses will be marked as well. |
inflection, syntax | implication | switch-reference, order, adjacency |
| 615 | IF there is Switch-Reference marking, THEN word order is verb-final . |
inflection, syntax | implication | switch-reference, order, verb-final |
| 616 | IF PURPLE or PINK or ORANGE or GREY , THEN BROWN. IF BROWN, THEN BLUE. IF BLUE, THEN YELLOW and GREEN. IF YELLOW or GREEN, THEN RED. IF RED, THEN WHITE and BLACK. |
lexicon | implicational hierarchy | colour terms hierarchy |
| 617 | When becoming a nasal or determining the place of articulation of adjacent nasals by assimilation, labial velars behave primarily like velars. | phonology | unconditional | labial, velar, nasal |
| 618 | IF an object of comparison can be relativized, THEN an attributive genitive can be as well. IF an attributive genitive can be relativized, THEN a major oblique case NP can be as well. IF a major oblique case NP can be relativized, THEN an indirect object can be as well. IF an indirect object can be relativized, THEN a direct object can be as well. IF an direct object can be relativized, THEN a subject can be as well. |
syntax | implicational hierarchy | accessibility hierarchy, relative clause, attributive, indirect object, direct object, subject, object of comparison |
| 619 | If an NPrel is a pronoun for subjects, THEN an NPrel can be a pronoun for non-direct objects, direct objects, and possessors as well. If NPrel is a pronoun for direct objects, THEN NPrel can be a pronoun for non-direct objects, and possessors as well. If NPrel is a pronoun for non-direct objects, THEN NPrel can be a pronoun for possessors as well. |
syntax | implicational hierarchy | accessibility hierarchy, pronoun, relative clause, attributive, non-direct object, direct object, subject |
| 620 | IF there are two ways of forming relative clauses, THEN the more explicit type will be used lower down the hierarchy and the less explicit type higher up the hierarchy. | syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | accessibility hierarchy, relative clause |
| 621 | IF a subordinate direct object can be relativized, THEN a main clause direct object can be as well. | syntax | implication | accessibility hierarchy, relative clause, subordinate, main, direct object |
| 622 | IF an attributive can be relativized by gapping, THEN non-direct objects, direct objects, and subjects can be as well. IF a non-direct object can be relativized by gapping, THEN direct objects and subjects can be as well. IF a direct object can be relativized by gapping, THEN subjects can be as well. |
syntax | implicational hierarchy | accessibility hierarchy, relative clause, gapping, attributive, non-direct object, direct object, subject<br> |
| 623 | IF a distributive-key quantifier word and its ordinary counterpart are associated, in a certain construction, with different number morphology, THEN the distributive-key quantifier word is associated with singular morphology, and the ordinary quantifier word with plural morphology. | lexicon | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | quantifier word, number, singular, plural |
| 624 | Distributive-key quantifier words are at least as closely bound to their head nouns as their ordinary counterparts. | syntax, semantics | unconditional | quantifier, distributive, head noun, boundedness |
| 625 | Distributive-key quantifier words and their ordinary counterparts are not morphologically related. |
morphology | unconditional | quantifier, distributive |
| 626 | IF there are distributive-share quantifier words, THEN NPs are non-configurational, and nouns of low and high countability preference are indistinguishable. | syntax, semantics | implication | quantifier word, distributive, non-configurational NP |
| 627 | IF there is Suffixaufnahme, THEN basic order is verb-initial or verb-final. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, verb-final, case, agreement, Suffixaufnahme |
| 628 | If there is a distributive-share quantifier word, THEN there is a distributive-share numeral word. | lexicon | implication | quantifier, distributive, numeral |
| 629 | Sonority Hierarchy: vowels > liquids > glides > nasals > fricatives > stops | phonology | implicational hierarchy | sonority hierarchy |
| 630 | IF a distributive-share quantifier word and its ordinary counterpart are associated, in a certain construction, with different number morphology, THEN the distributive share quantifier word is associated with plural morphology, and the ordinary quantifier word with singular morphology. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | quantifier, distributive, number, plural, singular |
| 631 | Distributive-share quantifier words are formed from their ordinary counterparts by morphological process. | morphology | unconditional | quantifier, distributive |
| 632 | IF reduplication is used to form portmanteau from ordinary quantifier words, THEN distributive-share quantifier words are formed by reduplication as well. | morphology | implication | quantifier, distributive, reduplication, portmanteau |
| 633 | IF pluralization is used to form portmanteau from ordinary quantifier words, THEN distributive-share quantifier words are formed by pluralization as well. | morphology | implication | quantifier, distributive, pluralization, portmanteau |
| 634 | IF there is a scopal quantifier word, THEN that word is a distributive quantifier word. | lexicon | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | quantifier, distributive |
| 635 | IF there is Suffixaufnahme, THEN nominal inflection will be agglutinative. | syntax, inflection | implication | case, agreement, Suffixaufnahme, agglutination, noun |
| 636 | IF there is Suffixaufnahme, THEN there will be blurred word-class distinction between nouns and adjectives. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, agreement, Suffixaufnahme, word class, noun, adjective |
| 637 | IF there is Suffixaufnahme, THEN syntax will be non-configurational. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, agreement, Suffixaufnahme, non-configurational syntax |
| 638 | IF there is Suffixaufnahme, THEN there will be ergative or other non-accusative alignment. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, agreement, Suffixaufnahme, ergative-absolutive alignment |
| 639 | If any pronominal category is used to show degrees of respect or social distance, THEN most commonly it is the category of number. | inflection, semantics | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | personal pronoun, number, respect, social distance |
| 641 | IF there is any variation of number in pronominal reference showing different degrees of respect or social distance, THEN the non-singular typically indicates a higher degree of respect toward the referent, or greater social distance between him and other participants in the speech act, than does the singular. | inflection, semantics | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | personal pronoun, non-singular number, singular number, respect, social distance |
| 642 | IF a repluralized or a double plural pronominal form as well as an original, archaic or simple plural are found in alternation showing different degrees of respect or social distance, THEN the former indicates greater respect or social distance than the latter. | inflection, semantics | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | personal pronoun, plural number, double plural, respect, social distance |
| 643 | Variation of more than one pronominal category may occur in the same language in reference showing different degrees of respect. | inflection, semantics | unconditional | personal pronoun, respect, social distance |
| 644 | IF there is variation of the category of person in personal pronouns so as to show degrees of respect or social distance, THEN there is variation of number for the same purpose. | inflection, semantics | implication | personal pronoun, person, number, respect, social distance |
| 646 | Variation of person in pronominal reference indicates greater difference in degree of respect or social distance than does variation of number. | inflection, semantics | implication | personal pronoun, person, number, respect, social distance |
| 647 | IF 3rd person personal pronoun is used to show greater respect or social distance than the 2nd person pronoun in reference to the addressee, THEN this use is usually introduced by substitution of nouns or nominal expressions used in respectful address. | inflection, semantics | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | personal pronoun, person, number, respect, social distance, addressee |
| 648 | IF the gender of a 3rd person personal pronoun does not vary when used in reference to the addressee(s), in a language which has distinctions of gender in the 3rd person personal pronouns, THEN it corresponds to that of the noun or the head noun phrase which the pronoun replaced. | inflection, syntax | implication | personal pronoun, 3 person, gender, noun, addressee |
| 649 | Variation of gender so as to employ one which does not correspond to the notional category of the sex of the referent is not used for showing greater respect than reference with the usual gender. | inflection, semantics | unconditional | personal pronoun, gender, noun, honorific |
| 650 | In a language in which categories of proximity are employed to show degrees of respect or social distance, the one used to indicate greater physical distance within discourse is also used to indicate greater respect or social distance. | inflection, semantics | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | personal pronoun, proximity, respect, social distance |
| 652 | Of (i) reflexive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and pronominalized nouns or pronominalized nominal expressions used in reference and (ii) personal pronouns of the same number, the former (i) usually indicate greater respect or social distance than the latter (ii). | syntax, semantics | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | personal pronoun, reflexive pronoun, demonstrative pronoun, number, respect, social distance |
| 653 | IF there is stative-active case marking in 3rd person, THEN there is also stative-active marking in 1st and 2nd persons. | inflection | implication | case, stative, active, person, 1, 2, 3 |
| 654 | IF there is unlimited consonant clustering, THEN basic order is VS, and vice versa. IF there are limitations on consonant clustering, THEN basic order is SV, and vice versa. |
phonology, syntax | mutual implication | order, subject, verb, SV, VS, consonant cluster |
| 655 | IF there is polysynthesis, THEN the consonant-vowel ratio is comparatively high. | phonology, morphology, syntax | mutual implication | consonant, vowel, ratio, polysynthesis |
| 656 | IF the phoneme inventory is large, THEN morpheme length is short. IF the phoneme inventory is small, THEN morphemes length is long. |
phonology | implication | phoneme, morpheme length |
| 657 | IF there are pejorative pronominal affixes, THEN there are honorific ones. | inflection, semantics | implication | pronoun, affix, pejorative, honorific |