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 6 of 34
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 277 | IF there is a regular number distinction in the forms of the adjective or of the verb, THEN there is the same distinction in the forms of the noun. | inflection | implication | number, adjective, verb, noun |
| 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 |
| 287 | IF a causative morpheme is unproductive in relation to transitives, forming from them a relatively small (closed) group of trivalent causatives, THEN verbs denoting abstract action and verbs of concrete action denoting the consumption of food will usually be among these transitive bases. |
morphology, semantics | implication | transitivity, 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 |
| 289 | IF a causative morpheme can express permissiveness, THEN it can usually also express factitivity. | morphology, semantics | implication | causative, permissive, factitive |
| 290 | IF there is postconsonantal aspiration, THEN there is prevocalic aspiration. | phonology | implication | /h/, aspiration, consonant, vowel |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 307 | Passive verbal forms tend not to be morphologically more complex than corresponding active forms. | inflection | implication | diathesis, active, passive, complexity |
| 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 |
| 309 | IF active and passive voices differ from each other in the form of nominal actants, THEN they differ in verb form as well. | inflection, syntax | implication | diathesis, active, passive, verb |
| 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 |
| 313 | IF there is a noun form for use as as subject of intransitive verbs of action, THEN this form will also be used for intransitive verbs of state. | inflection, syntax | implication | subject, intransitivity, verb, active, stative |
| 315 | IF any nominal forms function as direct objects, THEN they may also function as adverbial modifiers, especially adverbial modifiers of time. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, direct object, adverb |
| 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 |
| 317 | IF the indefinite direct object is marked with a syntactic form of accusative*, THEN the definite direct object is marked with the same syntactic form. | inflection, syntax | implication | case, accusative, direct object, definiteness |
| 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 |
| 319 | IF there are n backness distinctions, THEN there are at least n height distinctions. | phonology | implication | vowel, height, backness |
| 320 | IF there is the syntactic form of an absolutive, THEN there will also be the syntactic form of an ergative. | inflection | implication | case, absolutive, ergative |
| 321 | IF personal pronouns have an opposition of the syntactic forms of nominative and accusative, THEN nouns have this opposition as well. | inflection | implication | pronoun, personal pronoun, noun, case, nominative, accusative |
| 322 | IF nouns have a syntactic form of the accusative, THEN at least some of its allomorphs are non-zero. | inflection | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | noun, case, accusative, allomorphy, zero |
| 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 |
| 325 | Whenever the verb agrees with subject and object, IF the agreement affixes can occur in the orders s-o-V and s-V-o, THEN they can also occur in the order o-V-s. |
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 |
| 327 | IF the transitive verb agrees in person with the direct object, THEN at least some transitive verb forms agree in person with the subject of a transitive verb. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, direct object, transitivity, person |
| 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 |
| 329 | IF a verb agrees with the subject by a prefix, THEN verbs have affixes or clitics which agree with the direct object. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, direct object, affix-order, prefix, clitic |
| 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 |