Universal #1106

Legacy number: 1106

 Number  1102
 Original  Yet all human languages classify actions into two basic types: those involving one obligatory participant, which are described by intransitive clauses, and those involving two or more obligatory participants, which are dealt with by transitive clauses.
 Standardized  All human languages classify actions into two basic types: those involving one obligatory participant, which are described by intransitive clauses, and those involving two or more obligatory participants, which are dealt with by transitive clauses.
 Keywords  intransitive clause, transitive, participant
 Domain  syntax
 Type  unconditional
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  languages surveyed in Dixon 1995
 Source  Dixon 1995: 113-114

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Discussion
Notes
A. Harris 1997: 372 comments: “If it is meant only roughly, generally, it is obvious and unremarkable; if it is meant literally and intended to apply to every verb in every language, there are exceptions. For example, Georgian has a small group of intransitives that require a second participant, such as elis ‘s/he waits for him/her’, seessabaameba ‘something corresponds something’, esat’q’viseba ‘something agrees with something, suits something’... Lezgi, in a different family, has similar patterns (for details see Haspelmath 1993: 271-2).”
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
A. Harris 1997: 372 comments: "If it is meant only roughly, generally, it is obvious and unremarkable; if it is meant literally and intended to apply to every verb in every language, there are exceptions. For example, Georgian has a small group of intransitives that require a second participant, such as elis's/he waits for him/her', seessabaameba 'something corresponds something', esat'q'viseba 'something agrees with something, suits something' ...
Lezgi, in a different family, has similar patterns (for details see Haspelmath 1993: 271-2)."