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 18 of 25
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1292 | IF a numeral system has subtraction and/or division, THEN it has addition and multiplication. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 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 |
| 1296 | IF possessed NPs with a kinship term as head noun show the definite article, THEN possessed NPs with a nonkinship term as head noun show the definite article. | syntax | implication | definite article, possessive pronoun, kinship term |
| 1302 | IF there are postpositions, THEN indefiniteness affixes on nouns are suffixed. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, postposition, noun, indefinite, affix-order, suffix |
| 1303 | If basic order is SOV, THEN indefiniteness affixes on nouns (if any) are suffixed. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, SOV, noun, indefinite, affix-order, suffix |
| 1309 | IF there are postpositions, THEN mood affixes on verbs are suffixed. |
inflection, syntax | implication | order, postposition, verb, mood, affix-order, suffix |
| 1317 | IF head precedes modifier and specified item precedes specifier, THEN Family name follows Given name. IF modifier precedes head and specifier precedes specified item, THEN Family name precedes Given name. |
syntax | implication | order, head, modifier, proper name |
| 1318 | The various classes of adverbs (AdvPs) enter a rigidly ordered sequence, which is the same across languages. And if one sets aside agreement and negation, the order of the head morphemes encoding the different types of functional notions in the clause (mood, modality, tense, aspect, and voice) is also rigidly fixed, and apparently invariant across languages. The two hierarchies (that of AdvPs, and that of functional heads) match systematically, from left to right. |
inflection, syntax | implication | order, adverb, functional morpheme |
| 1319 | IF there is scrambling, THEN the order is head-final. | syntax | implication | scrambling, order, head-final |
| 1320 | IF there is long scrambling, THEN there is short scrambling. | syntax | implication | order, scrambling |
| 1321 | IF long scrambling is possible, THEN it occurs out of (extended) AP or PP, but not out of the extended nominal or verbal domain. | syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | order, scrambling |
| 1323 | IF a reflexive can take long-distance antecedents, THEN it is monomorphemic. IF a reflexive cannot take long-distance antecedents, THEN it is polymorphemic. |
morphology, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | binding, reflexive, long-distance reflexive |
| 1324 | Among the deictic elements of every human language is one that denotes the speaker and one that denotes the addressee. | lexicon | unconditional | deictic elements, personal pronoun, speaker, addressee |
| 1325 | Every human language has proper names. | lexicon | unconditional | proper name |
| 1326 | No human language has a grammatically homogeneous vocabulary. | lexicon | unconditional | vocabulary |
| 1327 | A major form-class distinction reminiscent of “noun” vs. “verb” is universal, though not always at the same size-level. | lexicon | unconditional | word class, noun, verb |
| 1328 | Every human language has a common clause type with bipartite structure in which the constituents can reasonably be termed “topic” and “comment”. | syntax | unconditional | clause, topic, comment |
| 1329 | Every human language has a distinction between one-referent and two-referent predicators. | lexicon, syntax | unconditional | predicate |
| 1330 | In every human language, redundancy, measured in phonological terms, hovers near 50%. | phonology, morphology, syntax | unconditional | redundancy |
| 1331 | Every human language makes use of distinction of vowel color. | phonology | unconditional | vowel |
| 1332 | A historical tendency toward phonological symmetry is universal. | phonology | unconditional | phoneme inventory |
| 1333 | There are gaps, asymmetries, or “configurational pressures” in every phonological system, no matter when examined. | phonology | unconditional | phoneme inventory |
| 1334 | Every phonological system contrasts phonemes that are typically stops with phonemes that are never stops. | phonology | unconditional | stop, phoneme inventory |
| 1335 | No phonological system has fewer than two contrasting positions of articulation for stops. | phonology | unconditional | stop |
| 1336 | IF there are contrasts of vowel tenseness, backness, length, etc., THEN there will be a contrast of height in that system. | phonology | implication | vowel, tongue height |
| 1337 | If we define a ‘vowel system’ to include all the segmental phonemes that occur as syllable peaks, then every language has a vowel system. = Every language has segmental phonemes that occur as syllable peaks. |
phonology | unconditional | phoneme, syllable |
| 1338 | IF there are prepositions, THEN if RelN then GenN, if GenN then AdjN, and if AdjN then DemN. | syntax | nested implication | order, preposition, noun, relative clause, attributive, adjective, demonstrative |
| 1339 | IF basic order is OSV, THEN SOV is an alternative order. IF basic order is OVS, THEN SVO is an alternative order. IF non dominant order is VSO, THEN SOV, OSV or SVO, OVS are alternative orders. IF dominant order is VSO, THEN SVO or VOS are alternative orders. IF basic orders are SOV and SVO, THEN OVS, OSV, VSO, and VOS are alternative orders. IF basic orders are OVS and OSV, THEN SOV, SVO, VSO, and VOS are alternative orders. IF basic orders are VSO (non dominant) and VOS, THEN SOV, SVO, OVS, and OSV are alternative orders. |
syntax | implication | order |
| 1340 | Universal Hierarchy of Markedness of basic word orders: SOV < SVO < OVS < VOS < VSO < OSV |
syntax | implication | order, hierarchy, markedness, SOV, SVO, OVS, VOS, VSO, OSV<br> |
| 1341 | The more marked a basic word order is, the stronger the tendency towards having a less marked alternative word order. Hierarchy of Markedness of basic word orders: SOV < SVO < OVS < VOS < VSO < OSV |
syntax | implication | order |
| 1344 | IF voiced obstruents occur word-finally, THEN voiceless obstruents also occur word-finally. | phonology | implication | consonant, obstruent, voice |
| 1345 | IF there is a verbal reciprocal/reflexive, THEN there must be verb agreement at least with subject. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb, reciprocal, reflexive, agreement, subject |
| 1346 | If a language has dominant SOV order and the genitive follows the governing noun and the language has a parts-of-speech system of types 4-5/6, then the adjective likewise follows the noun. | syntax | implication | word class, order, SOV, attributive, adjective, noun |
| 1351 | IF the object precedes the predicate, and the adjective and genitive precede the noun, THEN the language is mainly left-recursive. | syntax | implication | order, object, predicate, adjective, attributive, noun, left-recursive |
| 1352 | In numeral systems, a subtrahend is always a simple lexical expression. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 1353 | IF plural is weakly developed, THEN there are numeral classifiers. | syntax, inflection | implication | number, plural, numeral classifier |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 1370 | There is a universal principle that in numeral classifier languages a classifier concatenates with a quantifier, locative, demonstrative, or predicate to form a nexus that cannot be interrupted by the noun which is classified. |
syntax | unconditional | classifier, numeral, order |
| 1372 | No language contrasts a 'round' classifier with a 'polyhedral' classifier, unless the latter is the classifier for buildings, or some similar material classifier. | syntax, semantics | implication | classifier |
| 1373 | The smaller the number of classifiers in a language, the more likely they are to be configurational rather than material. | syntax, semantics | implication | classifier |
| 1374 | IF there are intra-locative classifiers, THEN there are no quanta classifiers. | syntax, semantics | implication | classifier, locative |
| 1375 | IF a classifier language has no inflectional plural, THEN neither counters nor measures take plural markers. IF a classifier language has no inflectional plural, THEN classifiers themselves never vary lexically for number |
inflection, syntax | implication | classifier, number |
| 1377 | Filler-Gap Complexity Hypothesis: If Filler-Gap Domain (FGD) of complexity n on a complexity hierarchy H is grammatical, then the FGDs for all less complex variables on H(n-1) will also be grammatical. |
syntax | implication | filler, gap, complexity |
| 1378 | Clause embedding hierarchy: IF a gap in a complex NP is grammatical, THEN gaps in finite subordinate clauses and infinitival phrases will also be grammatical. IF a gap in a finite subordinate clause is grammatical, THEN a gap in an infinitival phrase will also be grammatical. |
syntax | implicational hierarchy | gap, embedding, hierarchy |