Universal #1656

Legacy number: 1656

 Number  1651
 Original  If in a language finite and non-finite (attributive and/or argument) functions of a form appear to be equally marked or equally unmarked, the predicative usage of nominals (nouns and adjectives) will also be unmarked.
 Standardized  IF finite and non-finite (attributive and/or argument) functions of a form appear to be equally marked or equally unmarked, THEN the predicative usage of nominals (nouns and adjectives) will also be unmarked.
 Keywords  finiteness, complexity, markedness
 Domain  inflection, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  40 languages surveyed by Kalinina
 Source  Kalinina 1998

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Discussion
Counterexamples
In Lezgian (East Caucasian), the noun necessarily requires a copula in predicative function (Kalinina 1998).
Notes
Kalinina uses the term “markedness“ in the sense of Croft (1991: 67), meaning the relative structural complexity of two constructions. If one and the same form gets either nominal (case) or verbal (person) inflectional morphemes depending on its either argument/attributive or predicative functions, these functions are EQUALLY MARKED. If both functions receive no morphological marking, they are EQUALLY UNMARKED. Obviously, the functions of a form can be equally marked only in languages with inflectional morphology, and the functions of a form are equally unmarked in languages without inflectional morphology.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Kalinina uses the term "markedness" in the sense of Croft 1991: 67, meaning the relative structural complexity of two constructions. If one and the same form gets either nominal (case) or verbal (person) inflectional morphemes depending on its either argument/attributive or predicative functions, these functions are EQUALLY MARKED. If both functions receive no morphological marking, they are EQUALLY UNMARKED. Obviously, the functions of a form can be equally marked only in languages with inflectional morphology, and the functions of a form are equally unmarked in languages without inflectional morphology.