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 4 of 41
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 151 | IF adnominal adjectives inflect like nouns, THEN so do headless ones. | inflection, syntax | implication | word class, adjective, noun, head |
| 152 | IF lower simple cardinal numerals have noun-like inflection and syntax, THEN so do higher numerals. IF higher simple cardinal numerals have adjectival inflection and syntax, THEN so do lower numerals. |
inflection, syntax | implication | word class, numeral, noun, adjective |
| 153 | IF nouns share inflectional properties with adjectives, THEN they also share these properties with determiners. | inflection | implication | word class, noun, adjective, determiner |
| 154 | IF the same adposition is used as a marker for both direct object and dative (indirect object, recipient, etc.), including such non-prototypical datives as projected recipient, THEN object occurs unmarked in some cases. | inflection, syntax | implication | direct object, indirect object, recipient, adposition |
| 155 | IF there is overt marking of the direct object in the unitransitive clause, THEN there is overt marking of the indirect object (dative). IF indirect object (dative) marking is suspended in some cases, THEN direct object marking is suspended in at least those same cases. |
inflection, syntax | implication | transitivity, direct object, indirect object, accusative, dative |
| 156 | IF overt marking of an object in the bitransitive clause differs from the marking of instrumental, THEN there is overt dative marking. | inflection, syntax | implication | direct object, indirect object, transitivity, dative, instrumental |
| 157 | IF an adposition occurs as both an object marker and an allative marker, THEN it also occurs as a dative marker. | inflection, syntax | implication | adposition, direct object, indirect object, allative, dative |
| 158 | IF an adposition occurs as both a dative marker and a locative marker, THEN it also occurs as an allative marker. | inflection, syntax | implication | adposition, dative, locative, allative |
| 159 | IF object and transitive-clause allative are marked identically, even non-adpositionally, THEN dative is also identically marked. | inflection, syntax | implication | direct object, indirect object, accusative, allative, dative, syncretism |
| 160 | IF dative and transitive-clause locative are identically marked, even non-adpositionally, THEN dative* is also identically marked. | inflection, syntax | implication | dative, locative, allative, syncretism |
| 161 | Overt marking of dative or spatial functions cannot be suspended when a referent is non-specific or indefinite. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | indirect object, spatial complement, indefinite, specific reference |
| 162 | Overt marking of dative or spatial functions does not alternate depending on whether the referent is partitive or non-partitive. |
inflection, syntax | unconditional | indirect object, spatial complement, dative, partitive |
| 163 | Overt marking of dative or spatial functions does not alternate depending on the polarity (positive/negative) of the clause. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | indirect object, spatial complement, affirmation, negation |
| 164 | Overt marking of dative or spatial functions (allative, locative) does not alternate depending on aspect (completive/incompletive). | inflection, syntax | unconditional | indirect object, allative, locative, aspect, completive, incompletive |
| 165 | IF there is a pronominal reflexive for 1st person, THEN there is also one for 2nd person. IF there is a pronominal reflexive for 2nd person, THEN there is also one for 3rd person. |
syntax | implication | reflexive, pronoun, person, 1, 2, 3 |
| 166 | IF a verb agrees with the direct object by prefix, THEN at least some verbs agree with the subject. | inflection, syntax | implication | agreement, verb, subject, direct object, prefix |
| 167 | IF there is a distinct case marker to express “direction from”, THEN there will be a distinct case marker to express “direction to”. IF there is a distinct case marker to express “direction to”, THEN there will be a distinct case marker to express “location”. |
inflection, semantics | implication | case, semantics |
| 168 | The morphological complexity of a case marker to signal “direction to” is never less than that of a case marker to express “location”; the morphological complexity of a case marker to signal “direction from” is never less than that of a case to express “location”. |
inflection, semantics | implication | case, morpheme, complexity |
| 169 | When an adposition and a case affix are involved in a government relation, it is always the adposition that governs the affix rather than in reverse. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | adposition, case, affix, government |
| 170 | IF there are case affixes on nouns, THEN they are almost always suffixed. | inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | case, noun, affix-order, suffix |
| 171 | IF a noun phrase constituent carries case and number inflection when co-occurring with a noun, THEN it can also fill a nominal slot by itself and carry the same inflection. | inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | NP, case, number, noun, inflection |
| 172 | When alignment is ergative/absolutive, IF the verb agrees with the ergative, THEN it agrees with the absolutive. | inflection, syntax | implication | agreement, verb, alignment, ergative, absolutive |
| 173 | IF there are prepositions, THEN IF the demonstrative follows the noun, THEN the genitive follows the noun. | syntax | nested implication | preposition, order, noun, demonstrative, attributive |
| 174 | IF there are prepositions, THEN the numeral follows the noun, THEN the genitive follows the noun. | syntax | nested implication | preposition, order, noun, numeral, attributive |
| 175 | IF there are prepositions, THEN IF the genitive follows the noun, THEN the relative clause follows the noun. | syntax | nested implication | preposition, order, noun, attributive, relative clause |
| 176 | IF the genitive follows the noun, THEN the relative clause follows the noun. OR, BY CONTRAPOSITION: IF the relative clause precedes the noun, THEN the genitive precedes the noun. |
syntax | implication | noun, order, attributive, relative clause |
| 177 | IF there are postpositions, THEN IF the demonstrative precedes the noun, THEN the genitive precedes the noun. | syntax | nested implication | postposition, order, noun, demonstrative, attributive |
| 178 | IF there are postpositions, THEN IF the numeral precedes the noun, THEN the genitive precedes the noun. | syntax | nested implication | postposition, order, noun, numeral, attributive |
| 179 | IF a target agrees in Case, THEN it also agrees in Number and Gender. IF a target agrees in Gender, THEN it also agrees in Number. |
inflection, syntax | implicational hierarchy | agreement, number, case, gender, target |
| 180 | IF there is case marking for subject vs. object, THEN basic order is SOV. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, SOV, case, subject, direct object |
| 181 | IF the marker for NP conjunction has the same form as the comitative marker, THEN basic order is SVO and not SOV. | syntax | mutual implication | order, SVO, NP, coordination, conjunction, comitative |
| 182 | IF adnominal genitival complements are neither marked by case nor by coreference on the head-NP, THEN basic order tends to be SVO. | inflection, syntax | implication | attributive, case, genitive, NP, order, head-marking, agreement, SVO |
| 183 | IF there is case inflection on nouns, THEN there is also case inflection on some pronouns. | inflection | implication | case, noun, pronoun, inflection |
| 184 | IF the accusative case marker in (3rd person) pronouns and indefinite nouns is the same, THEN it will also be the same in definite nouns. | inflection | implication | case, accusative, pronoun, person, 3, noun, definiteness |
| 185 | When there are analogical changes in the inflectional paradigms of place names, non-local cases (including the nominative) are generally reformed after local cases (such as the dative), rather than the other way round. | inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | place name, nominative case, local case, non-local case, analogical change |
| 186 | IF there are declension classes (i.e., variance with respect to case and number), THEN case and number will be cumulated. IF case and number are not cumulated (but expressed separately), then will be no declension classes. |
inflection | implication | case, number, cumulation, declension class, noun |
| 187 | IF there are /t/, /d/, and the voiced aspirate /dh/, THEN there must already be the voiceless aspirate /th/. | phonology | implication | aspirate, voice |
| 188 | IF there is incorporation of the nominal subject into the verb, THEN there is also incorporation of the direct object. | morphology, syntax | implication | incorporation, subject, direct object, verb |
| 189 | IF there are around seven cases or more, THEN locational relations with be expressed by case forms; but not vice versa. | inflection, syntax, semantics | implication | case system, local case |
| 190 | IF there is a prolative case, THEN there will be an ablative case. IF there is an ablative case, THEN there will be an allative case. IF there is an allative case, THEN there will be a locative case. |
inflection | implication | case system, local case, locative, allative, ablative, prolative |
| 191 | IF there are syncretisms involving local cases other than those mentioned in the implicatum, THEN there will be syncretisms of ablative and prolative, locative and allative, and/or ablative and partitive. | inflection | implication | case, local case, ablative, prolative, locative, allative, ablative, partitive, syncretism |
| 192 | A relation that is higher on the hierarchy of centrality (subject-object > local relations; locative > ablative; ...) than another one will not be expressed lower down on the grammatical-to-lexical hierarchy of expression (word order > verbal coding > case > adpositions > ...). | inflection, syntax | implicational hierarchy | grammatical relations, local relations, word order, case, adposition |
| 193 | IF verbs assign morphological case, THEN adpositions assign morphological case. IF adpositions assign morphological case, THEN verbs assign morphological case. |
inflection, syntax | implication | verb, case, adposition |
| 194 | IF numerals are case-assigners, THEN so are verbs and/or adpositions. | inflection, syntax | implication | numeral, case, verb, adposition |
| 195 | IF adjectives can assign morphological cases other than genitive to their complements, they will also assign genitive. | inflection, syntax | implication | adjective, case, genitive |
| 196 | IF basic order is OV, THEN syllable structure is simple (tending towards CV). | phonology, syntax | implication | order, OV, syllable, complexity |
| 197 | IF a relational marker (case, adposition) precedes the head noun, THEN it will not participate in agreement. IF a relational marker (case, adposition) participates in agreement, THEN it will not precede the head noun. |
inflection, syntax | implication | case, adposition, prefix, preposition, order, agreement |
| 198 | IF a relational marker (case, adposition) precedes the head noun, THEN it will not be inseparable from it. IF a relational marker (case, adposition) is inseparable from the head noun, THEN it will not precede it. |
inflection, syntax | implication | case, adposition, head noun |
| 199 | IF a relational marker (case, adposition) participates in agreement, THEN it will not be separable from the head noun. IF a relational marker (case, adposition) is separable from the head noun, THEN it will not participate in agreement. |
inflection, syntax | implication | case, adposition, agreement |
| 200 | IF a relational marker (case, adposition) participates in agreement, THEN it will not be an independent morpheme. IF a relational marker (case, adposition) is an independent morpheme, THEN it will not participate in agreement. |
inflection, syntax | implication | case, adposition, affix, agreement |