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 2 of 25
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 63 | IF the adjective follows the noun, THEN the adjective expresses all the inflectional categories of the noun, while the noun itself may lack overt expression of one or all of these categories. | inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | order, adjective, noun, inflection |
| 64 | IF alignment is (exclusively or overwhelmingly) nominative-accusative, THEN the causee of causative verbs derived from transitive verbs is an oblique object; IF alignment is (exclusively or overwhelmingly) ergative-absolutive, THEN the causee of causative verbs derived from transitive verbs is a direct object. |
morphology, syntax | implication | alignment, ergative-absolutive, nominative-accusative, causative, object, direct, oblique <br> |
| 65 | IF basic order is OV, THEN IF the adjective precedes the noun, THEN the genitive precedes the noun. | syntax | nested implication | order, SOV, adjective, noun, attributive, genitive |
| 66 | IF basic order is OV, THEN IF the adjective precedes the noun, THEN the genitive precedes the noun. | syntax | nested implication | order, OV, verb, object, adjective, noun, attributive, genitive |
| 67 | IF basic order is VSO, THEN IF the adjective follows the noun, THEN the genitive follows the noun. | syntax | nested implication | order, VSO, noun, adjective, attributive, genitive |
| 68 | IF basic order is verb-initial, THEN IF the adjective follows the noun, THEN the genitive follows the noun. | syntax | nested implication | order, verb-initial, noun, adjective, attributive, genitive |
| 70 | IF there are prepositions and basic order is not SVO, THEN IF the adjectives follows the noun, THEN the genitive follows the noun. | syntax | nested implication | order, SVO, preposition, adjective, noun, attributive, genitive |
| 71 | IF there are postpositions, THEN IF the adjective precedes the noun, THEN the genitive precedes the noun. | syntax | nested implication | order, postposition, adjective, noun, attributive, genitive |
| 72 | IF there are prepositions, THEN IF the demonstrative determiner follows the noun, THEN the adjective follows the noun. | syntax | nested implication | order, preposition, noun, demonstrative, adjective |
| 73 | IF the demonstrative determiner follows the noun, THEN the adjective follows the noun. OR, BY CONTRAPOSITION: IF the adjective precedes the noun, THEN the demonstrative determiner precedes the noun. |
syntax | implication | order, noun, demonstrative, adjective |
| 74 | IF there are prepositions, THEN IF the numeral follows the noun, THEN the adjective follows the noun. | syntax | nested implication | order, preposition, noun, numeral, adjective |
| 75 | IF the numeral follows the noun, THEN the adjective follows the noun. OR, BY CONTRAPOSITION: IF the adjective precedes the noun, THEN the numeral precedes the noun. |
syntax | implication | order, noun, numeral, adjective |
| 76 | IF relativization is restricted to subjects, THEN the semantic case of the non-agent promoted to subject in passivization is coded on the verb. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, relativization, passivization, subject, verb-marking |
| 77 | IF relativization of objects is restricted to direct objects, THEN the direct object is unmarked and indirect objects lose their own marking when becoming direct objects but are coded on the verb for their semantic case. | inflection, syntax | implication | dative-shift, direct object, indirect object, relativization, verb-marking |
| 78 | IF passivization is restricted to direct objects, THEN the direct object loses any direct or verbal marking for its semantic case in the passive and acquires all case-coding properties of a subject. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, passivization, subject, verb, direct object |
| 79 | IF passivization involves (a) the complete assumption of the coding properties of the subject by the promoted object (and thus complete loss of its original case-coding), and in addition (b) promotion of non-accusative objects to direct object via dative-shifting results in verb-coding of the semantic case of those objects, THEN there will be a direct object-only constraint on passivization. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, passivization, dative-shift, subject, direct object, indirect object, case |
| 80 | Relativization is never limited to NPs demoted from subjecthood by passivization. | syntax | unconditional | diathesis, passivization, relativization, subject |
| 81 | Relativization is never limited to NPs demoted from direct object status by dative shift. | syntax | unconditional | direct object, dative-shift, relativization |
| 82 | Passivization is never limited to NPs demoted from direct object status by dative shift. | syntax | unconditional | diathesis, passivization, dative-shift, direct object |
| 83 | When direct objects are marked by accusative, non-direct objects do not gain accusative marking in dative-shifting. | inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | accusative case, indirect object, dative-shift |
| 84 | IF the verb agrees with anything other than subjects, THEN it agrees with some or all subjects. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb, agreement, subject |
| 85 | IF the verb agrees with anything other than subjects, THEN it agrees with some or all direct objects. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb, agreement, subject, direct object |
| 86 | IF the verb agrees with anything other than subjects and direct objects, THEN it agrees with some or all indirect objects. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb, agreement, subject, direct object, indirect object |
| 87 | IF there are prepositions, THEN IF the demonstrative follows the noun, THEN the relative clause follows the noun. | syntax | nested implication | preposition, order, noun, demonstrative, relative clause |
| 88 | IF the demonstrative follows the noun, THEN the relative clause follows the noun. OR, BY CONTRAPOSITION: IF the relative clause precedes the noun, THEN the demonstrative precedes the noun. |
syntax | implication | order, relative clause, demonstrative, noun |
| 89 | IF there are any formal similarities in agreement markers, THEN they are between non-subject agreement markers. | inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | agreement, verb, direct object, indirect object, subject, adverbial object |
| 90 | An object agreement marker cannot be formally and semantically entirely distinct from a personal pronoun (in its object form). | inflection, syntax | unconditional | object, agreement, personal pronoun, verb |
| 91 | IF there are prepositions, THEN IF the adjective follows the noun, THEN the relative clause follows the noun. | syntax | nested implication | preposition, order, noun, adjective, relative clause |
| 92 | IF there are prepositions, THEN (IF nouns precede demonstratives or nouns precede numerals, THEN nouns precede adjectives) and (IF nouns precede adjectives THEN nouns precede genitives) and (IF nouns precede genitives THEN nouns precede relative clauses). | syntax | nested implication | order, preposition, noun, demonstrative, numeral, adjective, attributive, relative clause |
| 93 | IF there is a gender distinction in the 2nd person singular of pronouns, THEN the 3rd person singular is likelier to have than to lack a gender distinction. | inflection | implication | pronoun, gender, number, singular, person, 2, 3 |
| 94 | IF an overt copula is required for a predicate that is an action word (verb), THEN it is required for a predicate that is a property word (adjective). IF an overt copula is required for a predicate that is a property word (adjective), THEN it is required for a predicate that is an object word (noun). |
syntax | implicational hierarchy | copula, verb, adjective, noun, predication |
| 95 | IF there are postpositions, THEN (IF adjectives precede nouns or relatives precede nouns, THEN demonstratives preced nouns and numerals precede nouns) and (IF demonstratives precede nouns or numerals precede nouns, THEN genitives precede nouns). | syntax | nested implication | order, postposition, adjective, relative clause, noun, demonstrative, numeral, attributive, genitive |
| 96 | IF there are postpositions, THEN (IF adjectives precede nouns or relatives precede nouns, THEN demonstratives preced nouns and numerals precede nouns and possessives preced nouns) and (IF demonstratives precede nouns or numerals precede nouns or possessives precede nouns, THEN genitives precede nouns). |
syntax | nested implication | order, postposition, adjective, relative clause, noun, demonstrative, numeral, attributive, genitive, possessive |
| 97 | IF there are prepositions, THEN IF the adverb follows the adjective within the adjective phrase, THEN the standard of comparison follows the adjective. | syntax | nested implication | order, preposition, adjective, adverb, comparison |
| 98 | IF there are postpositions, THEN IF the adverb precedes the adjective within the adjective phrase, THEN the standard of comparison precedes the adjective. | syntax | nested implication | order, postposition, adjective, adverb, comparison |
| 99 | Within noun phrases, lighter constituents tend to precede heavier constituents, as follows: Dem/Num ≥ Adj ≥ Gen ≥ Rel Relative heaviness is a composite notion defined in terms of (at least) the following four factors: length and quantity of morphemes, quantity of words, syntactic depth of branching nodes, inclusion of dominated constituents. |
syntax | implicational hierarchy | relative clause, attributive, genitive, adjective, demonstrative, numeral, order, heaviness, complexity |
| 100 | Within noun phrases, adjectives, demonstratives, and numerals are more mobile than genitives and relative clauses insofar as they can appear on that side of a noun which is opposite to the adposition. | syntax | implication | order, adjective, demonstrative, numeral, relative clause, attributive, genitive, preposition, postposition |
| 102 | IF there are postpositions, THEN IF the possessive adjective precedes the noun, THEN the genitive precedes the noun. | syntax | nested implication | order, postposition, possessive, noun, attributive, genitive |
| 103 | IF there is agreement in unmarked construction types (e.g. with attributive adjectives as targets), THEN there is also agreement in corresponding marked construction types (e.g. with appositive adjectives as targets). | inflection, syntax | implication | attributive adjective, appositive, agreement, markedness |
| 108 | IF basic order is consistently OV, THEN interrogative markers follow the verb and are sentence-final. | syntax | implication | order, OV, interrogative |
| 112 | IF objects follow verbs and adverbs precede verbs, THEN adjectives precede nouns. IF objects precede verbs and adverbs follow verbs, THEN adjectives follow nouns. |
syntax | implication | oder, noun, adjective, verb, adverb, object |
| 115 | Cases can be neutralized for a given Number, but not Numbers for a given Case. | inflection | unconditional | number, case |
| 116 | IF there is the category of case, THEN there is also the category of number. | inflection | implication | number, case |
| 117 | IF nouns are grammatically distinguished as active (animate) and passive (inanimate), THEN the passive (inanimate) nouns do not show number distinctions. | inflection | implication | noun, animate, inanimate, plural number |
| 118 | IF the verb agrees with an NP in an oblique case, THEN the verb agrees the NP in the nominative in the same sentence. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb, noun, agreement, case, nominative, oblique |
| 119 | IF NP-internal constituents agree in two categories, THEN these will most likely be number and gender or number and person, depending on whether the targets are modifiers/determiners (and the controllers head nouns) or head nouns (and the controllers attributive nouns). The second-most likely combination of two categories with modifier/determiner targets is that of number and case; and the only other permissible combination of two categories is that of gender and case. | inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | NP, agreement, number, gender, case, person |
| 120 | IF NP-internal constituents agree in more than two categories (the maximum being four), THEN those will always include number and gender and very likely also case. | inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | NP, agreement, number, gender, case |
| 122 | IF the same verbal meaning is expressible either through a construction where a complement of the verb is in the Accusative or through a construction where the same complement is in an adverbial case and there is a meaning difference between two constructions, THEN this semantic contrast will be either a contrast between a definite and an indefinite object, or a contrast between an object that is fully involved in the event and one that is partially involved, or a contrast between affected and non-affected participant. | inflection, syntax, semantics | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | object, case, accusative, adverbial, definite, indefinite, involvement, affectedness |
| 124 | IF there are aspirated stops (especially voiceless labial and alveolar), THEN there is /h/. | phonology | implication | aspiration, stop |
| 125 | IF basic order is SOV and determining elements precede determined elements in noun phrases, THEN there will be at least some postpositions, which historically derive either from verbs or from nouns. | syntax | implication | order, SOV, noun, determiner, postposition, verb, grammaticalization |