Universal #1551

Legacy number: 1551

 Number  1547
 Original  In verb-initial languages, the presence of definite articles distinct from demonstratives is much more common than in verb-final languages.
 Standardized  IF word order is verb-initial, THEN there tends to be a definite article as distinct from demonstratives.
 Keywords  order, verb-initial, definite article, demonstrative
 Domain  syntax, lexicon
 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 Source  unpublished statements of Keenan’s, reproduced in D.Payne 1990: 13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
Notes
Cf. claim #1527 about subject-final languages, which are all of VOS order, according to Keenan’s survey (#1516): With more than chance frequency subject-final languages have definite articles (distinct from the ordinary demonstrative adjectives).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Cf. claim <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1527"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0"> about subject-final languages, which are all of VOS order, according to Keenan's survey (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1516"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">): With more than chance frequency subject-final languages have definite articles (distinct from the ordinary demonstrative adjectives).