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 7 of 34
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 354 | IF the dominant order is OS, THEN the order VS is also dominant. | syntax | implication | order, subject, object |
| 355 | Whenever there is verb agreement with subject and object, IF the orderings of agreement markers on verbs include s-V-o but not o-V-s, THEN basic word order is verb-initial (VSO or VOS). | inflection, syntax | implication | order, verb-initial, VSO, VOS, verb agreement, subject, object, affix-order |
| 356 | Whenever there is verb agreement with subject and object, IF the orderings of agreement markers on verbs include o-V-s but not s-V-o, THEN basic word order is SOV. | inflection, syntax | implication | order, SOV, verb agreement, subject, object, affix-order |
| 357 | Whenever there is verb agreement with subject and object, IF the orderings of agreement markers on verbs is always V-s, THEN basic word order is SV. |
inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, subject, affix-order, order, SV |
| 358 | Whenever there is verb agreement with subject and object and basic word order is VS, IF subject agreement markers are always postverbal, THEN object agreement markers are always postverbal too. |
inflection, syntax | implication | order, VS, verb agreement, subject, verb, object, affix-order |
| 359 | IF an incorporated nominal direct object precedes the verb stem, THEN the autonomous subject precedes the predicate. | morphology, syntax | implication | order, incorporation, verb, subject, direct object |
| 360 | IF an incorporated direct object follows the verb stem, THEN the autonomous subject follows the predicate. | morphology, syntax | implication | incorporation, verb, order, direct object, subject |
| 361 | IF word order is free, THEN the words tend to be longer than one syllable. IF basic word order is SVO, THEN the words tend to be monosyllabic. |
phonology, syntax | implication | word length, syllable, order, SVO |
| 362 | The extent of “material“ articulation, pertaining in particular to (a) the elaboration of sound systems, (b) the complexity of syllable structures, (c) word length, (d) accentual differentiation (as opposed to not-so-articulated tonal modification), correlates with the extent of “formal“ articulation, pertaining in particular to (a) the differentiation of parts of speech, (b) the elaboration of inflectional and derivational systems, (c) analytic syntax (as opposed to not-so-articulated polysynthesis). | prosodic phonology, inflection, word formation, syntax, lexicon | mutual implication | phoneme system, syllable, word length, accent, tone, word class, polysynthesis |
| 363 | (a)The utterance of the consonants with strong pressure of breath from the chest (as in aspirates, affricates, or in guttural consonants) corresponds to strength of purpose in the language community. (b) The tense and full utterance of consonants corresponds to laborious and active habits respectively, with easy life and indolence producing softly and imperfectly uttered consonants instead. (c) The unrestricted concurrence of consonants in consonant clusters corresponds to versatility, the restricted variety in their concurrence to tenacity. (d) The predominance of consonants (more adapted for the transmission of that representation to the sense of the hearer) corresponds to thoughtfulness, while the predominance of vowels over consonants corresponds to thoughtfulness and talkativeness. | phonology, culture/mind | mutual implication | consonant, vowel, consonant clusters, aspiration |
| 364 | IF morphology is flexive or introflexive, THEN word forms tend to be two or three syllables long. IF morphology is agglutinative or incorporating, THEN word forms tend to be longer. IF bound morphology is lacking (i.e. a language is isolating), THEN word forms tend to be shorter. |
phonology, morphology, lexicon | mutual implication | flexion, introflexion, agglutination, incorporation, isolation, word length, syllable |
| 365 | IF morphology is agglutinative, THEN inflectional affixes tend to be longer. IF morphology is flexive, THEN inflectional affixes tend to be shorter. |
inflection | mutual implication | affix, complexity, agglutination, flexion |
| 366 | Whenever there is verb agreement with subject and object, IF object agreement markers can be preverbal, THEN basic word order is SV. | inflection, syntax | implication | verb agreement, order, subject, object, affix-order |
| 367 | IF morphology is agglutinative, THEN derivational affixes tend to have more complex syllabic structure. IF morphology is flexive, THEN derivational affixes tend to have less complex syllabic structure. |
phonology, morphology | mutual implication | affix, syllable, agglutination, flexion |
| 368 | IF morphology is agglutinative, THEN the phonological structure of affixes tends to be very similar to that of stems. IF morphology is flexive, THEN affixes tend to be shorter, structurally simpler, and more uniform in their phonemic make-up than stems. |
phonology, morphology | mutual implication | phonology, affix, stem, agglutination, flexion |
| 369 | IF there is vowel harmony, THEN morphology tends to be agglutinative. | phonology, morphology | mutual implication | agglutination, vowel harmony |
| 370 | IF morphology is agglutinative, THEN casual/fast speech shows less phonological reduction than if morphology is flexive. | phonology, morphology, syntax | implication | agglutination, flexion, fast speech, agreement |
| 371 | IF there is vowel harmony and perhaps other progressive phonological modifications, THEN basic word order is OV, but not vice versa; IF there is umlaut and perhaps other regressive/anticipatory phonological modifications, THEN basic word order is VO, but not vice versa. |
phonology, syntax | implication | vowel harmony, assimilation, order, object, verb, umlaut |
| 372 | IF basic order is VO, THEN main stress in a Verb Phrase is to the right of Verb. IF basic order is OV, THEN main stress in a Verb Phrase is to the left of Verb. |
prosodic phonology, syntax | implication | stress, VP, verb, order, object |
| 373 | IF morphology is agglutinative, THEN syllabic structure is simple (syllables are short), and vice versa. IF morphology is flexive, THEN syllabic structure is complex (syllables are long), and vice versa. |
phonology, morphology | mutual implication | agglutination, flexion, syllable structure |
| 374 | IF there are high syllable-per-sentence and high syllable-per-word ratios & simple syllables & agglutinative morphology, THEN basic word order will be (S)OV. IF there are low syllable-per-sentence and low syllable-per-word ratios & complex syllables & flexive [or no] morphology, THEN basic word order will be (S)V(S)O. |
phonology, morphology, syntax | implication | agglutination, flexion, syllable, order, complexity |
| 375 | IF there is a case exclusively marking noun phrases in construction with adpositions, THEN there will be still further cases in addition to a basic general case. | inflection | implication | case, adpositional case |
| 376 | IF an expression is the topic of a sentence, THEN it is typically definite or generic. | syntax, pragmatics | implication | topic, definiteness, generic |
| 377 | IF there are specialized topic markers, THEN these will always be postpositional and basic word order will almost always be SOV. | inflection, syntax | implication | topic, order, SOV |
| 378 | IF there are specialized topic markers, THEN there will be high topic prominence (in the sense of Li & Thompson 1976). | syntax, pragmatics | implication | topic |
| 383 | The higher the topic-prominence, the less restricted the distribution of zero anaphora. | syntax, pragmatics | implication | topic, anaphora, zero |
| 384 | The higher the topic-prominence, the fewer subject-creating constructions. | syntax, pragmatics | implication | topic, subject |
| 385 | IF topic-comment structure is coded by intonation, THEN primary stress always falls inside the focus. | syntax, prosodic phonology | implication | topic, comment, intonation, focus |
| 387 | IF there is nominal inflection, THEN there will be verbal inflection. | inflection | implication | noun, verb |
| 388 | IF /h/ precedes a high vowel, THEN it also precedes a low vowel. |
phonology | implication | /h/, vowel, aspiration, high, low |
| 389 | IF there is no inflectional gender, THEN morphology is agglutinative, and vice versa. | inflection | mutual implication | agglutination, gender |