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 26 of 34
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1502 | IF a de-verbal morpheme is used as a comparative marker, THEN it is also used as a conjunction with conditional clause. IF a de-verbal morpheme is used as a conjunction with conditional clause, THEN it is also used as a complementizer with embedded question. IF a de-verbal morpheme is used as a complementizer with embedded question, THEN it is also used as a marker with question word. IF a de-verbal morpheme is used as a marker with question word, THEN it is also used as a conjunction with reason clause. IF a de-verbal morpheme is used as a conjunction with reason clause, THEN it is also used as a conjunction with purpose clause. IF a de-verbal morpheme is used as a conjunction with purpose clause, THEN it is also used as a quotative/complementizer with ‘hope’. IF a de-verbal morpheme is used as a quotative/complementizer with ‘hope’, THEN it is also used as a quotative/complementizer with ‘believe’. IF a de-verbal morpheme is used as a quotative/complementizer with ‘believe’, THEN it is also use as a quotative/complementizer with ‘know’. IF a de-verbal morpheme is used as a quotative/complementizer with ‘know’, THEN it is also used as a quotative/complementizer with ‘say’. IF a de-verbal morpheme is used as a quotative/complementizer with ‘say’, THEN it is also used as a quotative particle. |
morphology | implicational hierarchy | grammaticalization, verb, complementizer, adverbial conjunction |
| 1503 | IF there are serial verb constructions, THEN there will be VO ordering with verb serialization, one object per verb, isolating morphology, simple syllable structure, and lexical/or grammatical tone distinctions. | prosodic phonology, morphology, syntax | implication | serial verb, order, isolating, syllable, tone |
| 1504 | Loan words maintain formal anomalies only of those types that are present in other peripheral classes of language. IF an anomaly arises from the transition of a nonperipheral element into a peripheral one, THEN there are already anomalies of this type in the periphery of the given language. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | borrowing |
| 1505 | IF there are anomalous allophones of any phonemes in onomatopoetic and expressive forms of a language, THEN allophones of this type are also present in other elements in emphatic speech. | phonology, semantics | implication | allophone, emphasis, expressive, onomatopoeia |
| 1506 | IF there are regular violations of the tonal pattern in imperative or vocative forms, THEN there is a special redistribution of tones in questions, commands, addresses, emphatic utterances. | phonology, morphology | implication | tone, imperative mood, vocative, interrogative sentence, emphasis, anomaly |
| 1507 | When there is an anomaly of stress in the appellative elements of a language, IF the language does not have fixed final stress THEN this anomalous stress falls on the last syllable of words, but IF the language does have fixed stress on the final syllable THEN the anomalous stress falls on the first syllable. | phonology, syntax | implication | stress, syllable |
| 1508 | IF there is a lexeme denoting motion out of or motion through some configuration, THEN there is a lexeme denoting either motion “into” that configuration or static location in it. | lexicon, semantics | implication | motion, adposition |
| 1509 | IF there is a single lexeme to denote either static location in a configuration or motion “out of” that configuration, THEN there will be a single lexeme to denote either static location in some configuration or motion into that configuration. | lexicon, semantics | implication | motion, adposition |
| 1510 | IF there are intransitive-based passives with non-protagonist subjects, THEN there are such with inanimate subjects. IF there are intransitive-based passives with INANIMATE subjects, THEN there are such with animate and potent subjects. IF there are intransitive-based passives with animate and potent subjects, THEN there are such with volitional animate or human subjects. IF there are intransitive-based passives with volitional animate or human subjects, THEN there are such with volitional human subjects. IF there are intransitive-based passives with volitional human subjects, THEN there are such with 1st person subjects. |
inflection, syntax | implicational hierarchy | diathesis, passive, intransitive, subject, animacy |
| 1512 | IF verbs of authority and ruling use subject or object dispacement, THEN emotion verbs use these displacements as well. IF emotion verbs use subject or object dispacement, THEN emotion verbs with semantic component WANT will use subject or object dispacement. IF emotion verbs with semantic component WANT use subject or object dispacement, THEN general emotion verbs use these dispacements as well. IF general emotion verbs use subject or object displacement, THEN general psych-verbs use these displacements as well. |
syntax, semantics | implicational hierarchy | verb, semantics, subject, object |
| 1513 | IF one class of predicates is susceptible to voice-displacement properties, THEN all classes to the right should have this voice-displacements as well: motion > position (location) > shape > formless qualities (colors, textures, etc.) IF a split in the choice between parts of speech occurs, it occurs in accord with the agency and discreteness hierarchy. |
syntax | implicational hierarchy | active verb, stative verb, semantics, word class |
| 1514 | IF a pronoun is bound in positions X and Y, THEN it is also bound in all intermediate positions between X and Y. IF a pronoun is free in positions X and Y, THEN it is also free in all interdmediate positions. IF a reflexive pronoun A is morphologically complex than a reflexive pronoun B, THEN the positions in which A occurs cannot be to the right of the positions in which A occurs. IF a non-syntactic (i.e. logophoric or emphatic) use of a reflexive pronoun is available in a position X, THEN it is available in all positions to the right of X. |
inflection, syntax | implicational hierarchy | reflexive |
| 1515 | IF numeral systems consists of less than five numerals, THEN the highest numeral is likely to be derived from an approximate quantifier such as ‘many’, ‘a few’, or ‘a couple’. | lexicon | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 1516 | IF full noun phrase subjects must follow full noun phrase direct objects, THEN the verb is initial. | syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, subject, object |
| 1517 | If basic word order is VOS, THEN SVO will be an alternative order. | syntax | implication | order, VOS, SVO |
| 1518 | IF basic order is subject-final (for full noun phrases), THEN either transitive verbs of unmarked sentences agree with no full noun phrase in the sentence or they agree with two noun phrases (subject and object). | inflection, syntax | implication | order, subject, object, agreement |
| 1519 | Whenever transitive verbs in subject-final languages have agreement at all, there is prefixal (pre-verb stem) agreement with the subject noun phrase and suffixal agreement with a non-subject. | inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | order, subject, object, agreement, affix-order, prefix, suffix |
| 1520 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN there will be little nominal case marking. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, subject, object, case |
| 1521 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN there will be prepositions. | syntax | implication | order, subject, object, preposition |
| 1522 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN noun phrase questions can always be formed by putting the question word, e.g., Who? What? etc., in a preverbal position, provided the question word is not a bound morpheme. | syntax | implication | order, subject, object, question word |
| 1523 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN there will be morphemically independent subordinate conjunctions which precede a finite clause. | syntax | implication | order, subject, object, subordinate conjunction |
| 1524 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN full noun phrase possessors always follow the head (the possessed) noun phrase. | syntax | implication | order, subject, object, attributive |
| 1525 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN relative clauses always present the head noun to the left of the restricting clause. | syntax | implication | order, subject, object, relative clause |
| 1526 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN there are no relative pronouns. | syntax | implication | order, subject, object, relative pronoun |
| 1527 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN there are articles. IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN there are definite articles (distinct from the ordinary demonstrative adjectives). |
syntax | implication | order, subject, object, article, definite article |
| 1528 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN numerical expressions precede the nouns they modify. |
syntax | implication | order, subject, object, numeral |
| 1529 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN articles most frequently precede the nouns. |
syntax | implication | order, subject, object, article |
| 1530 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN negative elements precede the verb. |
syntax | implication | order, subject, object, negation |
| 1531 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN a causative element precedes the root of the causativized verb. |
morphology, syntax | implication | order, subject, object, causative |
| 1532 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN there will be passive forms of verbs. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, subject, object, diathesis, passive |
| 1533 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN passive will be marked in verbal morphology. |
inflection, syntax | implication | order, subject, object, diathesis, passive |
| 1534 | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN there are no overt copulas. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, subject, object, copula |
| 1535 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN there is significant prefixing [more than with other basic orders?], though normally there is some suffixing as well; and there is a possibility of ambi-fixing (discontinuous affixes), and a somewhat greater than chance tendency for discontinuous demonstratives. | morphology, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, affix-order, prefix, demonstrative |
| 1536 | IF basic order is verb-initial, THEN the morphology may be agglutinative or polysynthetic . | morphology, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, agglutination, poysynthesis |
| 1537 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN the comparative form precedes the standard. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, adjective, comparison |
| 1538 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN the question particle (if there is any) occurs sentence-initially. | syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, yes-no question, question marker |
| 1539 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN in NP questions a questioned NP is always frontable. IF word order is verb-initial, THEN there is no attraction of the questioned NP to the normal DO position. IF word order is verb-final, THEN there is a tendency to attract a questioned NP to the normal DO position. |
syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, verb-final, NP question |
| 1540 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN subordinate clauses tend to be finite. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, subordinate clause, finiteness |
| 1541 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN subordinate markers such as complementizers, nominalizers, and subordinate conjunctions precede their clauses. | syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, complementizer, nominalizer, subordinate conjunction |
| 1542 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN sentences which are subordinate to verbs, adjectives, or nouns invariably follow the element to which they are subordinate. | syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, subordinate clause |
| 1543 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN coordinate sentences are commonly expressed as [S and S], and not as [S, S and]. | syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, coordination, |
| 1544 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN speech act indicators (e.g. question particles, etc.) are normally sentence initial. | syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, speech act indicator, question particle |
| 1545 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN it is very common for most major NPs to carry little or no nominal case marking. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, case-marking |
| 1546 | IF word order is verb-initial and there is affixal case marking, THEN prefixal case marking is more likely than in verb-final languages, but suffixing is still fairly common. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, case-marking, affix-order, prefix |
| 1547 | IF word order is verb-initial and there is case marking, THEN there are prepositions. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, case-marking, affix-order, prefix |
| 1548 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN there is relational marking (agreement, applicative, etc.) associated with the verb. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, verbal case-marking |
| 1549 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN the demonstrative, numeral, and qualifying adjective follow the common noun in that order or its mirror image (Adj + Num + Dem). | syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, demonstrative, numeral, adjective, noun |
| 1550 | The likelihood of attributive adjectives agreeing with nouns, especially in case, is lower if basic order is verb-initial than if it is verb-final. |
inflection, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, verb-final, agreement, adjective, attribution, case |
| 1551 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN there tends to be a definite article as distinct from demonstratives. | syntax, lexicon | implication | order, verb-initial, definite article, demonstrative |
| 1552 | IF word order is verb-initial, THEN thhe existence of several articles (definite, indefinite, specific, plural, proper noun) is much more common than if word order is verb-final. | syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, article |