Universals Archive
A database of proposed crosslinguistic laws and tendencies in grammar across the world’s languages. 2,029 published entries.
1,237 entries · page 17 of 25
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 1208 | IF there are person distinctions within possessive pronouns and possessive affixes, THEN there are at least as many person distinctions within personal pronouns. | inflection | implication | personal pronoun, possessive, affix, person |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 1220 | IF there are (local) postpositions, THEN there will also be nominal case inflection. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, local, noun, postposition |
| 1221 | IF postpositions inflect for case, THEN nouns will also inflect for case. | inflection | implication | case, 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 |
| 1225 | IF there is a locative case, THEN there will be an allative, and vice versa. IF there is a locative case, THEN there will be an ablative, and vice versa. IF there is an allative case, THEN there will be an ablative, and vice versa. |
inflection | mutual implication | case system, local case, locative, ablative, allative |
| 1227 | IF there is a local case other than locative, THEN there will also be a locative. | inflection | implication | case, local case, locative, ablative, allative |
| 1229 | IF there is a terminative (‘up to where’) or a prosecutive (‘where to’), THEN there will be an allative. | inflection | implication | case, local case, terminative, prosecutive, allative |
| 1230 | IF there are cases differentiating where to relations other than terminative or prosecutive, THEN there will very likely be a terminative or a prosecutive as well. | inflection | implication | case, local, terminative, prosecutive, allative |
| 1231 | IF there are exterior local cases, THEN there will also be interior local cases. | inflection | implication | case, local, exterior, interior |
| 1232 | IF there are superior and/or inferior local cases, THEN there will also be exterior local cases. | inflection | implication | case, local, exterior, inferior, superior |
| 1233 | IF there are posterior local cases, THEN there will also be both superior and inferior local cases. | inflection | implication | case, local case, posterior, inferior, superior |
| 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 |
| 1240 | IF there are initial or final clusters, THEN there will be medial clusters as well. | phonology | implication | consonant cluster |
| 1241 | IF there is uniform syllable division, THEN there is no VC.V division. | phonology | implication | syllable structure |
| 1242 | IF there are final consonants, THEN there is no uniform V.CCV division of two-segment clusters. | phonology | implication | syllable structure, consonant cluster |
| 1243 | Word-Terminal Condition: IF an intersyllabic sequence is divisible into occurring word-initial and word-final clusters, THEN the perceived boundary does not fall between non-occurring clusters. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | syllable, consonant cluster |
| 1244 | IF stops are the only final word margin, THEN they will be glottal stops. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | word boundary |
| 1245 | IF there are no initial consonantal clusters, THEN there is no V.CCCV division of two-segment clusters. | phonology | implication | syllable structure, consonantal cluster |
| 1251 | IF tone spreading takes place from a mid tone into a following low, THEN tone spreading also takes place from a high tone into a following low tone. | prosodic phonology | implication | tone, tone spreading |
| 1261 | IF there is assimilation of low vowels, THEN there is assimilation of high vowels. | phonology | implication | assimilation, vowel harmony, height |
| 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 |
| 1274 | IF there is one or more distinctions or remoteness in a tense-aspect system, and reference can be made to objective time measures, THEN one of the distinctions will be between ‘more than one day away’ and ‘not more than one day away’. |
inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | tense, aspect, time measures |
| 1277 | IF narrative and non-narrative contexts differ with respect to the marking of temporal distance, THEN it will be the non-narrative contexts that exhibit the largest number of distinctions. | inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | tense, aspect, context, narrative, temporal distance |
| 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 |
| 1286 | IF there are n retroflexed consonants, THEN there will be at least n non-retroflexed apical consonants. | phonology | implication | retroflexion, apical, consonant |
| 1287 | 1. TARGETS OF PALATALIZATION a. in terms of place of articulation: IF a less back consonant is palatalized, THEN all more back consonants are also palatalized. (BACK-to-FRONT scale: velar > dental > labial). b. in terms of manner of articulation: IF a less sonorant consonant is palatalized, THEN all more sonorant consonants are also palatalized. (SONORITY scale: sonorant > sibilant > stop / non-strident). 2. TRIGGERS OF PALATALIZATION a. in terms of place of articulation: IF a less high front vowel palatalizes a preceding consonant, THEN all more high vowels also palatalize this consonant. b. in terms of consonantality: IF a nuclear vowel palatalizes a preceding consonant, THEN a corresponding glide also palatalizes this consonant. (e.g., [y] > [i]) |
phonology | implication | palatalization |
| 1288 | IF nasality co-occurs in the neighborhood of a vowel or is inherent in the vowel itself of a given height m, THEN nasality must co-occur also in the neighborhood of or be inherent in a vowel of any lesser degree of height. Instantiations of this general implication: IF a less low vowel is nasalized, THEN any more low vowels are also nasalized. IF a more low vowel is denasalized, THEN any less low vowels are also denasalized. IF a consonant is nasalized preceding a less low vowel, THEN this consonant is also nasalized preceding any more low vowels. IF a consonant is denasalized preceding a more low vowel, THEN this consonant is also denasalized preceding any less low vowels. Upon nasalization, vowels tend to lower rather than to rise. |
phonology | implication | nasalization, denasalization, vowel height |
| 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 |