Universals Archive
A database of proposed crosslinguistic laws and tendencies in grammar across the world’s languages. 2,029 published entries.
1,698 entries · page 21 of 34
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1175 | IF there is a morphosyntactic process P to form a distributive-share universal quantifier, THEN there also will be P to form distributive-share numerals, distributive-share non-cardinal quantifiers, and distributive-share expressions of non-quantificational meanings. | lexicon | implication | quantifier, distributive, universal |
| 1176 | IF there is a distributive-share universal quantifier, THEN there will be a simple universal quantifier. | lexicon | implication | quantifier, distributive, universal |
| 1179 | IF there are terms for ‘north’ and/or ‘south’, THEN there are terms for ‘east’ and/or ‘west’. | lexicon | implication | spatial orientation, direction |
| 1184 | IF there is a separate term for ‘leg’ (as opposed to ‘foot’), THEN there is a term for ‘arm’ (as opposed to ‘hand’). | lexicon | implication | body parts |
| 1185 | IF there is a separate term for ‘foot’, THEN there is also one for ‘hand’. | lexicon | implication | body parts |
| 1186 | IF there are terms for individual toes, THEN there are terms for individual fingers. | lexicon | implication | body parts |
| 1187 | Basic word orders OSV and OVS do not occur at all, while SVO, SOV, VSO, and VOS are all attested. That is: IF the object precedes the subject in basic order, THEN the verb is initial. |
syntax | implication | order, verb, subject, object |
| 1192 | IF there is a logophoric form for 1st and/or 2nd person pronouns, THEN also for the 3rd person pronoun. | inflection, syntax | implication | pronoun, logophoric, person, 1, 2, 3 |
| 1193 | IF there is reciprocal marking for 1st person, THEN also for 2nd person. IF there is reciprocal marking for 2nd person, THEN also for 3rd person. |
inflection, syntax | implication | pronoun, reciprocal, person, 1, 2, 3 |
| 1194 | IF non-subject can control reflexives/reciprocals, THEN subjects can, too. | syntax | implication | control, reflexive, reciprocal, subject |
| 1195 | IF a reflexive/reciprocal can be an indirect object and/or circumstantial, THEN a reflexive/reciprocal can also be either direct object or possessive. | syntax | implication | reflexive, reciprocal, indirect object, circumstantial, direct object, possessive |
| 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 |
| 1198 | IF there is inflectional tense or aspect , THEN there will be a past or perfective gram. | inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | verb, inflection, tense, aspect, past, perfective |
| 1199 | IF there is no inflectional tense or aspect, THEN there will be an anterior or completive gram or both. | inflection | implication | verb, inflection, aspect, tense |
| 1200 | IF any other semantic types are expressed by words of the word class of adjectives, THEN members of the semantic types AGE, DIMENSION, VALUE and COLOR are likely also to be expressed by adjectives. | syntax, semantics | implication | word classes, adjective |
| 1201 | IF a language is (more or less) analytic, THEN it has a (more or less) regular phraseological system. | morphology, lexicon | implication | phraseology, analytic |
| 1202 | IF morphological categories are marked on verbs rather than nouns, THEN they specify aspects of events and states rather than of persons and objects, and they are derivational rather than inflectional. |
morphology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | gender, number, case, aspect, Aktionsart |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 1212 | Regardless of relational alignment, IF nouns in instrumental and/or locational relations can be incorporated into the verb, THEN nouns for patients of transitive and intransitive verbs can also be incorporated; IF patients of intransitive verbs can be incorporated, THEN patients of transitive verbs can also be incorporated. |
morphology, syntax | implication | incorporation, patient, location, instrument |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 1217 | IF there is an extensive system of local cases, THEN there will very likely also be numerous local postpositions. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, local, postpositions |
| 1218 | IF there are local cases, THEN basic word order tends to be SVO or SOV. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, local, word order, SOV, SVO |
| 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 |
| 1222 | IF there are no local cases but non-local (grammatical, abstract) cases, THEN localization will preferably be expressed by adpositions plus non-local cases rather than by localizing nouns in construction with localized nouns. | inflection | implication | case, local case, adposition |
| 1223 | IF a case is governed by a local postposition, THEN this case will preferably also be used to express possession. | inflection | implication | case, local, postposition, possession |
| 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 |
| 1226 | IF there are local cases, THEN there are other expressions for localization, viz. local adpositions, specialized local verbs, and/or localizing nouns. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, local |
| 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 |
| 1234 | Diachronically, an undifferentiated locative (expressing where, whereto, wherefrom) retains the meaning of a where case when ‘whereto’ and ‘wherefrom’ cases are being formally distinguished. | inflection | implication | case, local case, locative |
| 1235 | Diachronically, when an allative loses its local meaning (or acquires additional, non-local meanings), it will become a dative (expressing beneficiary and/or indirect object); when a locative loses its local meaning (or acquires additional, non-local meanings), it will become an accusative or ergative; when an ablative loses its local meaning (or acquires additional, non-local meaning)s, it will become a (partitive) genitive or ergative or (passive) agentive. | inflection | implication | case, local case, allative |
| 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 |