Universal #1547

Legacy number: 1547

 Number  1543
 Original  In verb-initial languages, where case marking exists, it is normally done by prepositions.
 Standardized  IF word order is verb-initial and there is case marking, THEN there are prepositions.
 Formula  verb-initial ⇒ preposition
 Keywords  order, verb-initial, case-marking, affix-order, prefix
 Domain  inflection, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  unknown
 Source  unpublished statements of Keenan’s, reproduced in D.Payne 1990: 13

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Baure, Ignaciano, Machiguenga (all Arawak) are verb-initial and postpositional (Keenan 1978: 292);Quileute (Chimakuan) (D. Payne 1990: 13)
Notes
Cf. Rijkhoff’s statement (#448): If a language has verb-initial word order, then it has prepositions or case prefixes – which is a combined version of ##1546 and 1547.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Cf. Rijkhoff's statement (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=448"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">):
If a language has verb-initial word order, then it has prepositions or case prefixes – which is a combined version of <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1546"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0"> and <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1547"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">.