Universal #1119
Legacy number: 1119
| Number | 1115 |
| Original | An optional rule such as scrambling is allowed only if its application creates a structure which is consistent with the parameter-setting (e.g., the head-parameter) for a language. |
| Standardized | IF there is an optional rule such as scrambling, THEN its application must create a structure which is consistent with the parameter-setting (e.g., the head-parameter) for a language. |
| Keywords | order, optional movement, scrambling, parameter |
| Domain | syntax |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | statistical |
| Basis | English, Irish (both Indo-European), Japanese (Japanese-Ryukyuan), Chinese (Sino-Tibetan), Chamorro (Austronesian) |
| Source | Fukui 1993: 416, Fukui 1995: 359 |
Discussion
Counterexamples
Russian and Polish (both Slavic) are VO, but allow the (leftward) scrambling of the object. Dutch (Germanic), an OV language, allows an optional rightward movement of a PP.
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