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 25 of 41
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 1216 | IF an affix expresses a local case, THEN it will preferably be a suffix and never an infix. | inflection | unconditional | case, local, affix, infix, prefix |
| 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 |
| 1219 | Nouns denoting body parts are the preferred sources for the grammaticalization of local adpositions. | syntax, lexicon | target < source | case, local case, adposition, grammaticalization |
| 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 |
| 1228 | IF there is syncretism of locative and ablative or of allative and ablative, THEN there is syncretism of locative and allative. | inflection | imlication | syncretism, 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 |
| 1236 | Diachronically, local cases tend to acquire temporal meanings; in particular, a terminative local case is predestined to acquire temporal meaning. | inflection | target < source | case, local case, terminative |
| 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 |
| 1246 | The likelihood of initial clusters is greater for languages with final consonants than for languages without final consonants, even greater for languages with final clusters. The likelihood for final clustering is greater for languages with initial clusters than for languages without. |
phonology | unconditional | consonant cluster |
| 1247 | The loss of all a language’s initial vowels (or prothesis of a consonant before them) is significantly less likely than a language with no initial vowels acquiring them by consonant loss or vowel prothesis. | phonology | implication | initial vowel, consonant |
| 1250 | IF syllables containing sequences of n consonants are to be found as syllabic types, THEN sequences of n-1 consonants are also to be found in the corresponding position (prevocalic or post vocalic) except that CV → V ... [and VC → V] ... do not hold [V(C) → CVC]. | phonology | implication | syllable structure, consonant, vowel |
| 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 |
| 1252 | In numeral systems, IF there is multiplication, THEN there is addition. | word formation | implication | numeral |
| 1253 | The more to the left on the hierarchy a consonant is, the greater is its tone-raising effect. The more to the right a consonant is, the greater is its tone-lowering effect: implosive > voiceless aspirated > voiceless unaspirated > sonant > voiced obstruent > breathy |
prosodic phonology | implicational hierarchy | consonant, tone, raising, lowering, hierarchy |
| 1254 | Sonants tend to participate in consonant gradation much more than other phonemes. | phonology | implication | consonant gradation |
| 1255 | IF consonant gradation plays a role in the grammar, THEN it serves the function to identify nouns. | phonology, syntax | implication | consonant gradation |
| 1256 | Front consonants are less prone to develop in accordance with consonant gradation than back consonants. | phonology | implication | consonant gradation |
| 1257 | Anterior consonants are less likely to participate in consonant gradation than posterior consonants. | phonology | implication | consonant gradation |
| 1258 | Labiovelar stops are less likely to participate in consonant gradation than other stops of the same series. | phonology | implication | consonant gradation |
| 1259 | The less sonorous a vowel (or class of vowels), the more prone it will be to assimilate; and conversely, the more sonorous it is, the more resistant it will be to assimilation. | phonology | implication | assimilation, vowel harmony, sonority |
| 1260 | High vowels tend to assimilate more readily and earlier than low vowels. | phonology | implication | assimilation, vowel harmony |
| 1261 | IF there is assimilation of low vowels, THEN there is assimilation of high vowels. | phonology | implication | assimilation, vowel harmony, height |
| 1262 | Unstressed vowels are more likely to assimilate than stressed vowels. | phonology | implication | assimilation, vowel harmony, stress |
| 1263 | IF an otherwise harmonizing unstressed vowel becomes stressed due to intonational factors, THEN it can no longer harmonize. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | assimilation, vowel harmony, stress, intonation |
| 1264 | The less the phonetic distance between opposing members of potential vowel grades, the more prone they will be to harmonize. | phonology | implication | assimilation, vowel harmony, vowel grade |