Universal #1349

Legacy number: 1349

 Number  1345
 Original  Manner adverbs overwhelmingly precede the verb in OV languages and generally follow the verb in VO languages.
 Standardized  IF basic order is OV, THEN manner adverbs precede the verb.
IF basic order is VO, THEN manner adverbs follow the verb.
 Formula  OV ⇒ Manner adverb - V;
VO ⇒ V - Manner adverb
 Keywords  order, OV, VO, manner adverb
 Domain  syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  sample of 543 languages in Dryer 1992
 Source  Dryer 1992: 93

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Discussion
Notes
1. Although manner adverbs and other adverbs often pattern similarly, Dryer considers only manner adverbs, because many other kinds of adverbs are interpretable as sentence adverbs and exhibit greater flexibility of word order in many languages (Dryer 1992: 93).2. This universal is a part of Dryer’s Branching Direction Theory (BDT) discussed in Dryer 1992: 108-118.3. Cf. Keenan’s correlation for verb-initial languages: #1558.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. Although manner adverbs and other adverbs often pattern similarly, Dryer considers only manner adverbs, because many other kinds of adverbs are interpretable as sentence adverbs and exhibit greater flexibility of word order in many languages (Dryer 1992: 93).

2. This universal is a part of Dryer's Branching Direction Theory (BDT) discussed in Dryer 1992: 108-118.

3. Cf. Keenan's correlation for verb-initial languages: <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1558"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">.