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 34 of 41
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1656 | IF finite and non-finite (attributive and/or argument) functions of a form appear to be equally marked or equally unmarked, THEN the predicative usage of nominals (nouns and adjectives) will also be unmarked. | inflection, syntax | implication | finiteness, complexity, markedness |
| 1657 | IF finite and non-finite (attributive and/or nominal) functions of converbs are equally marked or equally unmarked, THEN there is non-tensedness. | inflection, syntax | implication | finiteness, complexity, converb, non-tensed |
| 1658 | IF there is non-tensedness, THEN the nominal predicate does not require a copula. | inflection, syntax | implication | tense, nominal predicate, copula |
| 1659 | IF there are evidentials encoding direct evidence, THEN there are evidentials for indirect evidence. IF there is an evidential category for visual evidence, THEN there is evidential category for non-visual evidence. IF there is an evidential category for inferential evidence, THEN there is evidential category for quotative evidence. |
inflection, syntax, semantics | implicational hierarchy | evidentiality hierarchy |
| 1660 | IF the same term is used to designate the mother and the father’s sister, THEN this same term is used for the mother’s sister also. | lexicon | implication | kinship |
| 1661 | Lineal kinship term is unmarked as against collateral, consanguineal is unmarked as against affinal, the less remote from the speaker (measured in the number of generations) is unmarked as against the more remote, older is unmarked in relation to younger. (See Graphics) | lexicon | implication | kinship, markedness |
| 1662 | All systems distinguish male and female parent by separate terms even though very frequently other kin types are included in the referents of both. | lexicon | unconditional | kinship |
| 1663 | Whenever there are two terms differing in generation which are true reciprocals, or there is one which is a self-reciprocal term with two referents, and one involves the sex of the speaker in its definition and the other does not, it is always the term of lower generational reference which contains the sex of the speaker in its definition. | lexicon | unconditional | kinship |
| 1664 | IF there is distinction of sex in the second descending generation, THEN there is the same distinction in the second ascending generation. | lexicon | implication | kinship |
| 1665 | The most common word for ‘first generation descendant’ is always the same as the most common word for ‘person who has not reached puberty’ (i.e. ‘child’). | lexicon | unconditional | kinship |
| 1666 | IF any other kin terms are used like proper names, THEN those denoting ascending relations, and in particular parental ones, such as ‘father’ and ‘mother’, are used like proper names too. | lexicon | implication | kinship |
| 1667 | IF there are doublets for kin terms other than of parental prototype, THEN there are doublets for kin terms of parental prototype. | lexicon | implication | kinship |
| 1668 | IF the same expression is used both as intensifier and reflexive anaphor, THEN this expression is not used as a marker of derived intransitivity. | inflection, syntax | implication | anaphor, intensifier, reflexive, intransitivity |
| 1669 | IF basic word order is SOV, THEN the usual place of rheme is the position immediately preceding the verb. | syntax | implication | order, SOV, sentence stress, rheme |
| 1670 | IF basic word order is SVO, THEN the usual place of rheme is after the verb either in an immediately postverbal position or after an unstressed element. | syntax | implication | order, SVO, rheme |
| 1671 | IF there is an initial marker of subordination, THEN sentential NPs occur in clause-peripheral positions only. IF sentential NPs occur in clause-internal position, THEN there is no initial marker of subordination (i.e. there is no subordination marker at all, or there is a final marker). |
inflection, syntax | implication | order, clause, sentential NP, subordinator |
| 1672 | IF basic word order is SOV, THEN conjunctions occur in clause-final position. IF basic word order is VOS, THEN conjunctions occur in clause-initial position. |
syntax | implication | order, SOV, VOS, conjunction, complementizer |
| 1673 | IF there is plural allomorphy, THEN morphology is flexive. | inflection | implication | flexion, number, plural, declension class |
| 1674 | IF a consonant is palatalized before [e], THEN necessarily it will be also palatalized before [i]. | phonology | implication | palatalization, consonant |
| 1675 | IF one of the two tones in contiguous syllables is low, THEN a contour tone is more likely to appear than otherwise. | prosodic phonology | implication | tone, contour tone |
| 1676 | IF there is stem modification (other than by assimilation and contraction), THEN morphology is flexive. | inflection | implication | flexion, stem modification |
| 1677 | The consonant types on the right end of the hierarchy exercise a greater tone-lowering effect, while those at the left end of the hierarchy excercise a smaller tone-lowering effect. | prosodic phonology | implicational hierarchy | tone, low, consonant |
| 1678 | IF basic word order is VSO, THEN the question particle (corresponding to the English if/whether) does not appear in WH word questions. | syntax | implication | order, VOS, question particle, Wh-question |
| 1679 | IF there is a phoneme all of whose allophones are variants of /x/, THEN there is a phoneme whose characteristic variant is /©/. | phonology | implication | velar, fricative, allophone |
| 1680 | IF there is a phoneme all of whose allophones are variants of /†/, THEN there is a phoneme whose characteristic variant is /ð/. | phonology | implication | dental, fricative, allophone |
| 1681 | IF there is a phoneme all of whose allophones are variants of /f/, THEN there is a phoneme whose characteristic variant is /∫/ or /v/. | phonology | implication | labial, fricative, allophone |
| 1682 | There is a strong tendency for agent-oriented modality to be expressed by verbs, auxiliaries or non-bound particles, whereas speaker-oriented and epistemic modalities are often expressed inflectionally. | inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | modality, verb, auxiliary, mood |
| 1683 | Progressives (which develop from locative, postural or movement verb constructions) tend to develop into imperfectives or occasionally presents. | inflection | target < source | aspect, progressive, imperfective, tense, present |
| 1684 | Anteriors (or perfects, which develop from stative auxiliaries plus a past participle, or from dynamic verbs such as ‘finish’ or ‘come from’) develop into perfectives or general past tenses. | inflection | target < source | aspect, anterior, perfective, tense, past |
| 1685 | Habitual grams tend to come from verbs meaning ‘live’, ‘know’ or ‘be used to’. | inflection | target < source | aspect, habitual |
| 1686 | In agreement conflicts due to conjuncts of different number and/or gender, IF there is number resolution, THEN there is also gender resolution, and vice versa. | inflection, syntax | mutual implication | number, gender, agreement, coordination |
| 1687 | IF there is an extensive use of conjunctions, THEN converbs play a minor role or are completely absent. IF there is an extensive use of converbs, THEN the role of conjunctions is less important. |
syntax | implication | conjunction, converb |
| 1688 | IF there is absolute deranking, THEN there is conditional deranking. | syntax | implication | deranking |
| 1689 | IF there is conditional deranking under identity with a non-subject, THEN there is conditional deranking under subject identity. | syntax | implication | deranking |
| 1690 | IF basic order is SOV and there is deranking of consecutive chains, THEN there will be deranking of anterior predicates. | syntax | implication | deranking, order, SOV |
| 1691 | IF basic order is either SVO or VSO and there is deranking of consecutive chains, THEN there will be deranking of posterior predicates. | syntax | implication | deranking, order, SVO, VSO |
| 1692 | IF there is anterior deranking, THEN there is absolute deranking. | syntax | implication | deranking, order, SVO |
| 1693 | IF there is posterior consecutive deranking and the basic order is SVO, THEN there is conditional deranking. | syntax | implication | deranking, order, SVO |
| 1694 | IF there is posterior consecutive deranking and the basic order is VSO, THEN there is absolute deranking. | syntax | implication | deranking, order, VSO |
| 1695 | IF there is absolute consecutive deranking, THEN basic order is either SOV or VSO. | syntax | implication | deranking, order, SOV, VOS |
| 1696 | IF there is absolute anterior consecutive deranking, THEN basic order is SOV. | syntax | implication | deranking, order, SOV |
| 1697 | IF there is absolute posterior consecutive deranking, THEN basic order is VSO. | lexicon | implication | deranking, order, VSO |
| 1698 | IF there is only conditional deranking of consecutive chains, THEN there is posterior deranking and basic order is SVO . | syntax | implication | deranking, order, SVO |
| 1699 | IF there is an interrogative pro-verb, THEN there is an interrogative pro-numeral. IF there is an interrogative pro-numeral, THEN there is an interrogative pro-adjective. IF there is an interrogative pro-adjective, THEN there is an interrogative pro-adverb. IF there is an interrogative pro-adverb, THEN there is an interrogative pro-noun. |
lexicon | implicational hierarchy | interrogative word |
| 1700 | Universal Hierarchy of Consonantal Strength: voiceless plosives > voiced stops > voiceless fricatives > voiced fricatives > nasals > lateral liquids (l-sounds) > central liquids (r-sounds) > high vowels > mid vowels > low vowels. |
phonology | implicational hierarchy | consonant, strength, sonority |
| 1701 | The Shell Law: In general, a shell seems to be the more preferred, the less similar the head and (the mirror image of) the coda are. In particular, identical speech sounds flanking the nucleus are disfavoured, all the more so the less their Consonantal Strength is. The antipathy increases notably if the identical speech sounds flanking the nucleus are not the only ones within their margins. |
phonology | implication | syllable, head, coda, nucleus, consonant, strength, sonority |
| 1702 | The Body Law (conjectured): There must be degrees of preference for combinations of nuclei with heads. For instance, ongliding nuclear speech sounds often impose additional restrictions on the structure of heads. |
phonology | implication | syllable, head, nucleus |
| 1703 | The Rhyme Law (conjectured): There must be degrees of preference for combinations of nuclei with codas. For instance, offgliding nuclear speech sounds often impose additional restrictions on the structure of codas. |
phonology | implication | syllable, nucleus, coda |
| 1704 | The Syllabic Tone Law (conjectured): IF there are non-level tones on syllables of less than two voiced moric speech sounds, THEN there will also be non-level tones on syllables of two or more voiced moric speech sounds. |
prosodic phonology | implication | tone, level, accent, pitch accent, mora, short vowel |
| 1705 | The Head Law: A syllable head is the more preferred: (a) the closer the number of speech sounds in the head is to one, (b) the greater the Consonantal Strength value of its onset, and (c) the more sharply the Consonantal Strength drops from the onset toward the Consonantal Strength of the following syllable nucleus. |
phonology | implication | syllable, head, nucleus, consonant, strength, sonority |