Universal #1157

Legacy number: 1157

 Number  1153
 Original  For any language, preposed relative clause implies postposed relative clause.
 Standardized  IF there are preposed relative clauses, THEN there are postposed ones.
 Formula  Rel N ⇒ N Rel
 Keywords  relative clause, order
 Domain  syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  106 languages surveyed in Moravcsik 1969
 Source  Moravcsik 1969: 81

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Bambara (Mande, Niger-Congo), Bengali (Indic, Indo-European)
Notes
This correlates to some extent, with Greenberg’s universal about adjective order: “When the general rule is that the descriptive adjective follows, there may be a minority of adjectives which usually precede, but when the general rule is that the descriptive adjectives precede, there are no exceptions”; see #58.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
This correlates to some extent, with Greenberg's universal about adjective order: "When the general rule is that the descriptive adjective follows, there may be a minority of adjectives which usually precede, but when the general rule is that the descriptive adjectives precede, there are no exceptions"; see <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=58"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">