Universal #1535

Legacy number: 1535

 Number  1531
 Original  Verb-initial languages evidence significant prefixing, though normally there is some suffixing as well. There is a possibility of ambi-fixing (discontinuous affixes), and a somewhat greater than chance tendency for discontinuous demonstratives.
 Standardized  IF word order is verb-initial, THEN there is significant prefixing [more than with other basic orders?], though normally there is some suffixing as well; and there is a possibility of ambi-fixing (discontinuous affixes), and a somewhat greater than chance tendency for discontinuous demonstratives.
 Formula  verb-initial ⇒ prefixes
 Keywords  order, verb-initial, affix-order, prefix, demonstrative
 Domain  morphology, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  unknown
 Source  unpublished statements of Keenan’s, reproduced in D.Payne 1990: 11

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