Universal #1642

Legacy number: 1642

 Number  1637
 Original  For serial verb constructions, the languages where heads precede complements are far more prone to verb serialization than those where heads follow complements. In fact, most head-final languages do not employ serial verb constructions.
 Standardized  IF basic order is head-final, THEN there are no serial verb constructions.
 Formula  head-final ⇒ serial verb constructions
 Keywords  order, head-final, serial verb
 Domain  syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  languages surveyed by Shiller 1990
 Source  Shiller 1990: 403, cited in Baker 1996: 505

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