Universal #1171

Legacy number: 1171

 Number  1167
 Original  Markers on the verb or adjective are never the sole markers of definiteness, in any given context (except perhaps in Latvian), their presence generally implies that of some other definiteness marker.
 Standardized  IF there is a definiteness marker on the verb or adjective, THEN there is some other definiteness marker.
 Keywords  definiteness marker, verb, adjective
 Domain  syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  106 languages surveyed in Moravcsik 1969
 Source  Moravcsik 1969: 68

← Back to Universals Archive

Discussion
Counterexamples
Latvian (Baltic, Indo-European)