Universal #1523
Legacy number: 1523
| Number | 1519 |
| Original | All subject-final languages present morphemically independent subordinate conjunctions which precede a finite clause. |
| Standardized | IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN there will be morphemically independent subordinate conjunctions which precede a finite clause. |
| Keywords | order, subject, object, subordinate conjunction |
| Domain | syntax |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | Malagasy, Batak [Toba Dialect], Fijian, Gilbertese (all Malayo-Polynesian), Tzeltal (Mayan), Otomi (Oto-Manguean), Ineseño Chumash (Hokan), Baure (Arawakan), Tzotzil, Kekchi (both Mayan), Tsou (Formosan, Austronesian), although the last three languages are not surveyed in the paper |
| Source | Keenan 1978b: 294, G-9 |
Discussion
Notes
1. By SUBJECT-FINAL languages Keenan means any language in which full noun phrase subjects must follow noun phrase direct objects in the pragmatically less marked sentence types (which contain both subjects and direct objects) of the language. Sentences which are pragmatically less marked place the fewest restrictions on their contexts of appropriate use. 2. The significance of this universal is considerably weakend by the fact that a subordinate conjunction plus a finite subordinate clause is not a dominant way of expressing subordination in the Amerindian languages in Keenan’s sample.
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2. The significance of this universal is considerably weakend by the fact that a subordinate conjunction plus a finite subordinate clause is not a dominant way of expressing subordination in the Amerindian languages in Keenan's sample.