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 7 of 41
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 302 | General questions can be formed without inversion. | syntax | unconditional | order, inversion, yes-no question |
| 303 | Subjects in passive constructions tend to be encoded and to behave like subjects of basic intransitive constructions. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | subject, diathesis, voice, passive, transitivity |
| 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 |
| 310 | The citation form of the noun tends to be the nominative case form. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | noun, case, nominative, markedness |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 314 | Indefinitiveness* tends to be expressed by zero. | inflection, syntax | unconditional | indefinitive, zero |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 335 | IF object agreement is by means of a confix, THEN subject agreement can also be by confix in the same or other verb forms. |
inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, object, subject, affix-order, confix |
| 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 |
| 338 | Whenever the verb agrees with subject and object, IF there are confix forms such as s-V-s-o, THEN there is also non-confixal subject agreement in the order s-V-o. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, direct object, person, affix-order, prefix, suffix, confix |
| 339 | Whenever the verb agrees with subject and object, IF there are confix forms such as o-V-s-o, THEN there is also non-confixal object agreement in the order o-V-s. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, object, person, affix-order, confix, prefix, suffix |
| 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 |
| 342 | IF the dominant position of the subject with respect to the verb depends on their morphological properties, THEN the dominant order will be Verb-Object. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb, subject, object, order |
| 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 |
| 345 | IF the order VS is dominant with transitive verbs, THEN it will be dominant with intransitive verbs as well. | syntax | implication | order, transitivity, subject |
| 346 | IF a subject usually follows the nominal predicate, THEN it also follows the verbal predicate. | syntax | implication | order, subject, nominal predicate, verbal predicate |
| 347 | IF the order OV is not recessive, THEN the order SV is not recessive as well. | syntax | implication | order, verb, subject, object |
| 348 | IF VS order is not recessive, THEN VO order is not recessive either. | syntax | implication | order, verb, subject, object |
| 349 | IF SOV is a dominant order, THEN OVS is one of the alternative orders. | syntax | implication | order, SOV, OVS |
| 350 | IF VSO is one of the alternative orders, THEN VOS is also one of the alternative orders. | syntax | implication | order, VSO, VOS |
| 351 | In a dominant order the object and the verb are juxtaposed, uninterrupted by the subject (i.e., SVO, SOV, VOS, OVS, but not VSO, OSV). | syntax | unconditional | order, verb, object, subject |