Universal #1307

Legacy number: 1307

 Number  1303
 Original  If a language is postpositional, plural affixes on noun (if any) are suffixed with considerably greater than chance frequency.
 Standardized  IF there are postpositions, THEN plural affixes on nouns are suffixed with considerably greater than chance frequency.
 Formula  postposition ⇒ Plural affixes on N are suffixed
 Keywords  order, postposition, noun, number, plural, affix-order, suffix
 Domain  inflection, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  200 languages drawn from three samples: a 113-language sample by L. Stassen, a 40-language sample by J. Bybee & R. Perkins, and a 50-language sample by G. Gilligan
 Source  Cutler, Hawkins, & Gilligan 1985: 729; Hawkins & Gilligan 1988: 223

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Gilligan’s sample: 94% of postpositional languages with plural affixes are suffixing, 6% are prefixing.
Notes
Moravcsik 1994: 49 summarizes universals of Hawkins & Gilligan (here ##413, 1302, 1304, and 1307) in a more general form:In postpositional languages, nominal affixes, if any, are suffixed with considerably greater than chance frequency.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Moravcsik 1994: 49 summarizes universals of Hawkins & Gilligan (here <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=413"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1302"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1304"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, and <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1307"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">) in a more general form:
In postpositional languages, nominal affixes, if any, are suffixed with considerably greater than chance frequency.