Universals Archive
A database of proposed crosslinguistic laws and tendencies in grammar across the world’s languages. 2,029 published entries.
24 entries
| # | Standardized / Original | Domain | Type | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 220 | IF there are converbs with the fundamental meaning of succession, THEN there are converbs with the fundamental meaning of precedence. IF there are converbs with the fundamental meaning of precedence, THEN there are converbs with the fundamental meaning of simultaneity. |
syntax, semantics | implication | converb |
| 763 | Palatal noninjective stops have a strong tendency to be replaced by alveopalatal affricates. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | palatal, injective, stop, alveopalatal, affricate, noninjective |
| 1010 | No matter which direction the process ( d⇔ð, t⇔† ) is going, the stop outcome is favoured by word-initial, post-nasal or post-liquid stressed positions. The spirant outcome is favoured by post-vocalic positions, including intervocalic, pre-consonantal and pre-junctural. | phonology | unconditional | spirantization |
| 1090 | IF a low vowel in nasalized, THEN it is raised. | phonology | implication | vowel, nasalization |
| 1415 | IF only one member of a customary phoneme opposition exists, THEN the existing member of the opposition can take over (fully or partially) the articulatory peculiarities of the lacking member. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | phoneme, opposition |
| 1766 | Hierarchy of major-class and manner features in the context of consonantal weakening: Ø < glides < liquids < nasals < +v fricatives < -v fricatives/-v stops < -v stops.<br> The consonants more to the left on the hierarchy are classified as weaker, leading to eventual deletion, diachronically speaking. |
phonology | implicational hierarchy | consonant, weakening, hierarchy |
| 1776 | IF nasalization occurs before a stop, THEN it will occur before a continuant. | phonology | implication | nasal, consonant, stop, continuant |
| 1777 | IF nasalization occurs before a vowel, THEN it will occur before a consonant. | phonology | implication | nasal, consonant, vowel |
| 1778 | IF denasalization applies to /o/, THEN it also applies to /e/. | phonology | implication | nasal, denasalization, vowel |
| 1779 | IF nasalization occurs before /f/, THEN it also occurs before /≈/. | phonology | implication | nasal, nasalization, vowel, consonant |
| 1780 | IF nasalized /i/ lowers to nasalized /e/, THEN nasalized /e/ also lowers to nasalized /a/. | phonology | implication | nasal, lowering, vowel |
| 1781 | When there is final vowel deletion: IF /o/ undergoes elision at the end of a word, THEN /e/ will undergo elision as well. IF /e/ and /o/ undergo elision at the end of a word, THEN /o/ must be elided before /e/. |
phonology | implication | vowel, elision, apocope |
| 1782 | IF there is assibilation of labials, THEN there must be assibilation of dentals. IF there is assibilation of dentals, THEN there must be assibilation of velars. |
phonology | implicational hierarchy | assibilation, labial, dental, velar |
| 1783 | IF assibilation occurs before /a/, THEN it must occur before /e/. IF assibilation occurs before /e/, THEN it must occur before /i/. |
phonology | implicational hierarchy | assibilation, vowel |
| 1784 | IF there is a voiced affricate reflex, THEN there will also be a voicless affricate reflex. | phonology | implication | affricate, reflex, voice |
| 1803 | IF obstruents are devoiced initially, THEN they are devoiced finally. | phonology | implication | obstruent, voice |
| 1804 | There is a tendency for consonants to front when in initial position and to back when in final position. | phonology | unconditional | obstruent, voice |
| 1805 | IF obstruents occur syllable- and word-finally, THEN they occur syllable- and word-initially. IF sononrants occur syllable- and word-initially, THEN they occur syllable- and word-finally. |
phonology | implication | obstruent, sonorant, syllable, word, initial, final, phonotactics |
| 1856 | Vowels tend to be lower in the environment of a velarized lateral than in other environments. |
phonology | implication | consonant, liquid, lateral, velarization, vowel, phonotactics |
| 1857 | When a vowel is adjacent to a nonlateral, it will be centralized or backed. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | liquid, nonlateral, centralization, back, vowel |
| 1858 | When a vowel is adjacent to a lateral, it will be fronted. | phonology | no genuine implication; rather: provided that | liquid, lateral, front, vowel |
| 1862 | A trill is found to occur in a stressed position, to denote emphasis, or in slow speech. As against this, a flap (or tap) occurs in unstressed position, and in non-emphatic or fast speech. | phonology | unconditional | liquid, trill, tap, flap, stress, consonant |
| 1863 | A retroflexed flap (out-flap) and also other retroflexed consonants have a retroflexing or centralizing influence on a preceding rather than following segment. | phonology | unconditional | liquid, flap, retroflexion, centralization, consonant |
| 1864 | The alveolar and retroflex stops generally tend to become taps and flaps intervocalically. | phonology | unconditional | liquid, stop, tap, flap, retroflex |