Universal #1494
Legacy number: 1494
| Number | 1490 |
| Original | Objects that qualify as generic, non-referential, indefinite, inanimate/non-human, semantically dependent, pragmatically non-prominent tend to be incorporated. Objects that qualify as specific, referential, definite, animate/human, semantically independent, pragmatically prominent tend to be autonomous. |
| Standardized | When there is a choice between independence from and incorporation into the verb, objects tend to be incorporated when they are generic, non-referential, indefinite, inanimate/non-human, semantically dependent, pragmatically non-prominent, and to be independent when they are specific, referential, definite, animate/human, semantically independent, pragmatically prominent. |
| Keywords | incorporation, object, definiteness, specific reference, animacy, human, |
| Domain | inflection, syntax, semantics |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | statistical |
| Basis | American languages surveyed by Sapir 1911, Eastern Cushitic languages surveyed by Sasse 1984 |
| Source | Sapir 1911: 259, 264; Hagège 1978: 60; Sasse 1984: 261 |
Discussion
Notes
Proper nouns do not incorporate. The incorporated noun cannot pluralize, take adjectives, determiners, etc.
Comment
Proper nouns do not incorporate. The incorporated noun cannot pluralize, take adjectives, determiners, etc.
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