Universals Archive
A database of proposed crosslinguistic laws and tendencies in grammar across the world’s languages. 2,029 published entries.
1,237 entries · page 5 of 25
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 271 | IF any grammatical distinction is made in the paradigm of the neuter gender, THEN this same distinction is also made in the paradigm of non-neuter genders. | inflection | implication | gender, neuter, markedness |
| 272 | IF there is any gender distinction in verb forms of 1st and 2nd person, THEN this same distinction is made in forms of 3rd person. | inflection | implication | verb, gender, person, 1, 2, 3 |
| 274 | IF there are aspect distinctions in the indicative mood, THEN there are the same aspect distinctions in the imperative mood (given there is an imperative mood). | inflection | implication | verb, mood, imperative, indicative, aspect |
| 275 | IF a decrease of quantity or degree can be expressed by means of reduplication, THEN an increase of quantity or degree can also be expressed by reduplication. | morphology, semantics | implication | reduplication |
| 276 | IF any further grammatical oppositions are expressed in trial forms, THEN the same oppositions will also be expressed in dual forms. | inflection | implication | number, trial, dual |
| 278 | IF basic order is VOS, THEN there is no verbal inflection. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, VOS, inflection, verb |
| 279 | IF one of the forms of the imperative coincides with a pure (non-inflected, zero-marked) root, THEN its meanings include that of 2nd person singular. | inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | verb, mood, imperative, person, 2, number, singular, root, zero |
| 280 | IF any person has zero expression in the indicative mood, THEN it will be 3rd person singular or 1st person singular. |
inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | verb, mood, indicative, person, 1, 3, number, singular, zero, markedness |
| 281 | IF nouns take possessive affixes, THEN these nouns do not occur with possessive pronouns. | inflection, syntax | implication | noun, possession, possessive affix, possessive pronoun |
| 282 | IF nouns inflect for plural, THEN they have a singular which can designate an indefinite number of referents. | inflection | implication | noun, number, plural, singular, markedness |
| 283 | IF a noun does not have a genitive, THEN it does not have case forms of direct and oblique objects. | inflection | implication | noun, case, genitive, direct object, oblique object |
| 284 | IF there are palatoalveolar consonants, THEN there are dental consonants. | phonology | implication | consonant, palatoalveolar, dental |
| 285 | IF the adjective inflects for gender and/or number and/or case, THEN the noun inflects for these categories also. | inflection, syntax | implication | adjective, noun, number, gender, case |
| 286 | IF there are tri-valent causatives derived from bi-valent non-causative verbs, THEN there must also be bi-valent causatives derived from uni-valent non-causatives. | morphology, semantics | implication | verb, causative, valency |
| 288 | IF there is a verb morpheme with the meaning of dativus commodi (applicative), THEN there will be a causative morpheme as well. | morphology, semantics | implication | verb, causative, dative, applicative |
| 291 | IF there are ezâfe constructions, THEN possessors are expressed through affixes or clitics. | inflection, syntax | implication | ezâfe, possession, affix, clitic |
| 292 | IF there are ezâfe constructions, THEN possessors are expressed through affixes or clitics or there is an article. | inflection, syntax | implication | ezâfe, possession, article, affix, clitic |
| 293 | IF the verb agrees with the oblique object, THEN the verb agrees with the direct object. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, direct object, oblique object |
| 294 | IF the verb agrees with the direct object, THEN the verb agrees with the subject. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, direct object, subject |
| 295 | IF basic order is VSO, SVO, or SOV, THEN the verb has prefixes and suffixes. | morphology, syntax | implication | order, VSO, SVO, SOV, prefix, suffix |
| 296 | IF (i) basic order is VSO, SVO, or SOV, (ii) an auxiliary verb can occur before and after the main verb, and (iii) the adjective inflects for gender and case, THEN adjective and noun need not be adjacent. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, VSO, SVO, SOV, auxiliary, verb, noun, adjective, case, gender |
| 297 | IF nouns do not inflect for case and verbs carry no relational marking either, THEN basic order is SVO or OSV. |
inflection, syntax | implication | noun, case, verb, order, SVO, OSV, grammatical relations |
| 298 | Inversion of word order is always available to convey logical or emotional emphasis. | syntax, pragmatics | unconditional | order, inversion |
| 299 | IF there is no category of definiteness/indefiniteness, THEN word order is used for distinguishing 'given' (coming closer to the beginning of the sentence) and 'new' information (closer to its end). | syntax, pragmatics | implication | definiteness, order, given, new |
| 300 | Reduplication is used as a productive grammatical way of word formation and inflection. | morphology | unconditional | reduplication |
| 301 | Parataxis is used as a way of clause conjoining. |
syntax | unconditional | parataxis, juxtaposition, clause conjoining |
| 302 | General questions can be formed without inversion. | syntax | unconditional | order, inversion, yes-no question |
| 304 | IF there are ergative or passive constructions in non-past or imperfective tenses, THEN there are ergative or passive constructions in past and perfective tenses. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, passive, alignment, ergative, tense, non-past, imperfective, past, perfective |
| 305 | IF there is a three-member passive construction, THEN there will be a two-member passive construction, derived from the three-member construction by simple omission of the agent in an oblique object relation. | syntax | implication | diathesis, passive, oblique object |
| 306 | IF there is a passive of intransitive verbs, THEN there is a passive of transitive verbs as well. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, passive, transitivity |
| 308 | IF active and passive voices differ in verb form, THEN the corresponding constructions differ from each other in form of at least one of the nominal actants. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, passive, active, verb |
| 311 | The citation form of the noun tends to be the indefinitive form, if indefinitive contrasts with other forms. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | noun, indefinitive |
| 312 | IF there is a noun form for use as as subject of intransitive verbs of state, THEN this form will also be used for intransitive verbs of action. | inflection, syntax | implication | subject, intransitivity, verb, active, stative |
| 316 | IF there is a syntactic form of the subjective* of nouns, THEN there will be a syntactic form of the accusative*, and vice versa. | inflection, syntax | mutual implication | case, subjective, accusative |
| 318 | IF inanimate nominals have the opposition of the syntactic form of the nominative and the accusative, THEN animate nominals also have this opposition. | inflection | implication | animacy, case, nominative, accusative |
| 323 | IF nouns have a syntactic form of the ergative, THEN at least some of its allomorphs are non-zero. | inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | noun, case, ergative, allomorphy, zero |
| 324 | Whenever the verb agrees with subject and object, IF the agreement affixes can occur in the orders s-o-V and o-V-s, THEN they can also occur in the order s-V-o. |
inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, object, person, affix-order |
| 326 | Whenever the verb agrees with subject and object, IF the agreement affixes can occur in the orders s-o-V and V-s-o, THEN they can also occur in the order o-V-s. |
inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, object, person, affix-order |
| 328 | IF transitive verbs agree with their subjects in some grammatical feature, THEN intransitive verbs will agree with their subjects in each of these features. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, transitivity |
| 330 | IF transitive verbs agree with subjects in person by means of suffixes, THEN at least some intransitive verbs also agree with their subjects by suffixes. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, person, transitivity, affix-order, suffix |
| 331 | IF intransitive verbs agree with subjects in person by means of prefixes, THEN transitive verbs also agree with their subjects by prefixes. |
inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, person, transitive verb, intransitive verb, affix-order, prefix |
| 332 | IF in verb agreement with subjects agreement affixes can only be prefixes, THEN in verb agreement with objects agreement affixes are also prefixes in all or at least some verb forms. |
inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, object, affix-order, prefix |
| 333 | IF in verb agreement with objects agreement affixes can only be suffixes, THEN in verb agreement with subjects agreement affixes are also suffixes in all or at least some verb forms. |
inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, object, affix-order, suffix |
| 334 | IF subject or object agreement or cross-reference markers on verb are postverbal, but under certain conditions can appear in preverbal positions, THEN one of these licensing conditions is the presence of preverbal negation. |
inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | verb agreement, cross-reference, subject, object, affix-order, clitic, negation |
| 336 | IF subject agreement with a transitive verb is by means of a confix, THEN the prefixal and/or suffixal part of that confix will be used for subject agreement on intransitive verbs. |
inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | verb agreement, subject, transitivity, affix-order, confix |
| 337 | IF subject agreement with an intransitive verb is by means of a confix, THEN the prefixal and/or suffixal part of that confix will be used for subject agreement on transitive verbs. |
inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | verb agreement, subject, transitivity, affix-order, confix |
| 340 | IF number is expressed in a prefixal part of a confix in verb agreement, THEN it is also expressed in its suffixal part. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, number, confix, prefix, suffix |
| 341 | IF confixes are used in verbal inflection, THEN the function of at least some of them is to agree with or cross-reference plural or dual subjects and/or objects. |
inflection, syntax | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | verb agreement, number, plural, dual, confix |
| 343 | IF the dominant position of the object with respect to the verb depends on morphological properties of the object, THEN the dominant order is SV. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb, subject, object, order |
| 344 | IF the subject expressed by an independent personal pronoun usually follows the verb, THEN the nominal subject also follows the verb. | syntax | implication | order, verb, subject, noun, pronoun, personal pronoun |