Universals Archive
A database of proposed crosslinguistic laws and tendencies in grammar across the world’s languages. 2,029 published entries.
2,029 entries · page 29 of 41
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1405 | If a language has either of the orderings (S ADV V X) or (S V X ADV), then it will have both of them one being normative for a large majority of adverbial sub-types, the other being normative for the remainder of adverbial subtypes. | syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | order, adverbial |
| 1406 | IF there are adverbial predicates which are analyzable into a noun and a case affix, THEN any postposed arguments of such predicates will always include case affixes on their head nouns. | inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | adverbial, case, affix, order |
| 1407 | IF transitive verbs have suffixes agreeing in definiteness or in person-gender-number with their direct objects, THEN prepositions also have suffixes that agree with their complements in the same categories. | inflection, syntax | implication | agreement, verb, object, preposition, definiteness, person, gender, number |
| 1408 | When there is a general number not specifying any particular number term, it will be expressed, either solely or as the normal case, through the maximally unmarked form, that is, the inflectional root. | inflection | unconditional | number, markedness |
| 1409 | IF there is a dual for 2nd person pronoun, THEN there is a dual for either 1st or a 3rd person or both. There will be never a dual limited to 2nd person. | inflection | implication | pronoun, number, dual, person, 1, 2, 3, inclusive, exclusive |
| 1410 | IF in the dual there is only an inclusive pronoun and no exclusive one, THEN in the plural both forms will be present. | inflection | implication | pronoun, number, dual, plural, inclusive, exclusive |
| 1411 | IF there are irregularities in the constituency of the numerals, THEN they immediately precede or follow the base. | word formation | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | numeral |
| 1412 | The higher the number of principle phonemes, the higher the probability of redundancy. | phonology | implication | phoneme, redundancy |
| 1413 | In interjections one or more marginal phonemes occur with a percentage which is characteristic only for principle phonemes. | phonology | unconditional | phoneme, interjection |
| 1414 | In all languages possessing the vowel /ä/, the /a/ is articulated more backward (velar) than in languages which have no /ä/. | phonology | implication | vowel, backness |
| 1415 | IF only one member of a customary phoneme opposition exists, THEN the existing member of the opposition can take over (fully or partially) the articulatory peculiarities of the lacking member. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | phoneme, opposition |
| 1416 | All languages have constructions whose primary function is to place new or contrastive topics at the beginning of the sentence. | syntax | unconditional | topic, comment, order |
| 1417 | All languages have constructions whose function is to place focus at the beginning of the sentence and old, already established topics at the end. | syntax | unconditional | topic, comment, order, focus |
| 1418 | New topics are never placed at the end of the sentence. | syntax | unconditional | topic, comment, order, focus |
| 1419 | IF heads of possessive constructions (=possessees) agree with their possessors, THEN verbs agree with subjects. | inflection, syntax | implication | agreement, verb, subject, attribution, possession |
| 1420 | No language has reflexive relative pronouns. | syntax | unconditional | relative, pronoun, coreference |
| 1421 | IF there are separate forms for narrative and non-narrative past contexts, the non-narrative forms tend to be more highly marked than the narrative ones. | inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | tense, past, context, narrative, markedness |
| 1422 | It is almost always possible to use the least marked indicative verb from in a narrative context. | inflection | unconditional | tense, mood, indicative, context, narrative, markedness |
| 1423 | IF a language has OV order, THEN the predicate precedes the copula. IF a language has VO order, THEN the predicate follows the copula. |
syntax | implication | order, copula, predicate |
| 1424 | IF there is a distributive-key quantifier word, THEN there is a distributive-key universal quantifier. | lexicon | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | quantifier, distributive, quantifier |
| 1425 | There is a tendency for languages having nasalized vowels to show more asymmetry than languages having long vowels. | phonology | unconditional | nasal, length, vowel |
| 1426 | IF there are voiceless obstruents word-finally, THEN there are sonorant consonants word-finally. | phonology | implication | obstruent, sonorant, voice, word-final |
| 1427 | Secondary fricatives are the results of diachronic developments from clusters. | phonology | target < source | fricative, cluster |
| 1428 | Secondary oral stops, apart from borrowings, are the results of diachronic developments from clusters. | phonology | target < source | stop, cluster |
| 1429 | IF there are non-basic passives, THEN there are basic passives. | syntax | implication | diathesis, passive |
| 1430 | If the word order is OV, THEN adverbial clause always precede the main clause. If the word order is VO or OV/VO, THEN adverbial clause may precede or follow the main clause. |
syntax | implication | order, OV, VO, clause, main, subordinate |
| 1431 | If there are no prefixes, THEN there are no prepositions. OR, BY CONTRAPOSITION: If there are prepositions, THEN there will be prefixes. |
inflection, syntax | implication | prefix, preposition, local case |
| 1432 | IF there are no preverbs, THEN there will be special verb bases denoting direction. | syntax, lexicon | implication | preverb, verb, semantics, direction |
| 1433 | IF there is no gender, THEN hydronyms always contain formatives classifying them as such. | inflection, lexicon | implication | gender, hydronym, agglutination |
| 1434 | IF there are possessive suffixes on nouns, THEN will be no overt copula form (of 'to be') in the present tense. | inflection, syntax | implication | noun, possessive, affix-order, suffix, copula, tense, present |
| 1435 | IF there is a highly developed case system, THEN the system of verbal tenses will be less developed, and vice versa. or IF there are many cases, THEN there are few tense oppositions. IF there are few cases, THEN there are many tense oppositions. |
inflection | implication | case system, tense |
| 1436 | IF there is no auxiliary verb in the perfect, THEN the auxiliary verb does not have present tense form. |
inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | verb, auxiliary, tense, present, perfect |
| 1437 | IF there is perfect, THEN there will be pluperfect. | inflection | implication | tense, perfect, pluperfect |
| 1438 | IF there are many tense oppositions, THEN there is no aspect differentiation. | inflection | implication | tense, aspect |
| 1439 | IF there is no aspect differentiation, THEN there are continuous tenses. | inflection | mutual implication | aspect, tense, continuous |
| 1440 | IF the adjective follows the noun, THEN there is an overt copula form (of 'to be') in the present tense form. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, noun, adjective, copula, tense, present |
| 1441 | IF plural inflection is differentiated as to genders, THEN singular inflection is also differentiated as to (the same?) genders. | inflection | unconditional | number, plural, singular, gender |
| 1442 | IF there is at least one folk term for the categories of exasperation, relief, longing, torment, and enthrallment, THEN there is most likely at least one term for the categories of pity, enthusiasm, and dismay. IF there is at least one folk term for the categories of pity, enthusiasm, and dismay, THEN there is most likely at least one term for the categories of amazement, envy, and disgust. IF there is at least one folk term for the categories of amazement, envy, and disgust, THEN there is most likely at least one term for the category of contentment. IF there is at least one folk term for the category of contentment, THEN there is most likely at least one term for the categories of anxiety, aggravation, and pride. IF there is at least one folk term for the categories of anxiety, aggravation, and pride, THEN there is most likely at least one term for the category of eagerness. IF there is at least one folk term for the category of eagerness, THEN there is most likely at least one term for the categories of alienation, arousal, and agony. IF there is at least one folk term for the categories of alienation, arousal, and agony, THEN there is most likely at least one term for the categories of adoration, alarm, amusement, and depression. IF there is at least one folk term for the categories of adoration, alarm, amusement, and depression, THEN there is most likely at least one term for the categories of anger and guilt. |
lexicon | implicational hierarchy | hierarchy, emotion categories |
| 1443 | Every one of the seven metapersons, i.e. 'speaker', 'hearer', 'non-participant', 'speaker + hearer(s)', 'speaker + non-participant(s)', 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', is expressed in the pronominal system of every language. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | unconditional | pronoun, personal pronoun, person |
| 1444 | In no language are there pronominal forms differentiating the number of elements within a metaperson, e.g. special forms for 'hearer + hearer + ... + non-participant' and 'hearer + non-participant + ... + non-participant'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | unconditional | pronoun, personal pronoun, person, number |
| 1445 | In an overwhelming majority of languages, there is a special form to denote the metaperson 'speaker'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | unconditional | pronoun, personal pronoun, person, 1st |
| 1446 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'speaker', THEN it cannot include among its meanings the following metapersons: (a) 'hearer'; (b) 'non-participant' , (c) 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'. |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1447 | IF some form denotes the metaperson 'speaker', THEN it cannot include among its meanings the following metapersons: (a) 'speaker+hearer(s)' and/or 'speaker + non-participant(s)', (b) 'speaker+hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'. |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1448 | IF the metaperson 'speaker' is not the only meaning denoted by a pronominal form, THEN among its meanings are the metapersons 'speaker + hearer(s)' (and, consequently, 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'), and/or 'speaker + non-participant(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, number, speaker, hearer, non-participant |
| 1449 | In an overwhelming majority of languages, there is a special form to denote the metaperson 'hearer' in the singular. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | unconditional | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, number, singular |
| 1450 | IF some form denotes the metaperson 'hearer' in the singular, THEN it cannot denote the metaperson 'speaker'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 1st, 2nd, speaker, hearer, number, singular |
| 1451 | IF a pronominal form denotes the metaperson 'hearer' in the singular, it cannot include among its meanings the following metapersons: (a) 'speaker + hearer(s)' and/or 'speaker + non-participant(s)', (b) 'speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)', (c) 'non-participant' |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, number, singular, speaker, non-participant |
| 1452 | IF the metaperson 'hearer' in the singular is not the only meaning expressed by a pronominal form, THEN this form includes among its meanings the metapersons: a) 'hearer' in the non-singular; b) 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)' |
inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, number, singular, non-singular, non-participant |
| 1453 | In no language is there a special form to denote the metaperson 'hearer' in the non-singular. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | unconditional | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, number, non-singular, inclusive, exclusive |
| 1454 | IF a form denotes the metaperson 'hearer' in the non-singular, THEN this form includes among its meanings the metaperson 'hearer(s) + non-participant(s)'. | inflection, syntax, lexicon | implication | personal pronoun, person, 2nd, hearer, number, non-singular, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive |