Universal #1746
Legacy number: 1746
| Number | 1741 |
| Original | There is more prefixing on verb than on noun. If a language has any prefixes on noun, it will also have prefixes on verb with considerably more than chance frequency. |
| Standardized | IF there are any prefixes on nouns, THEN there will be prefixes on verbs with considerably more than chance frequency. |
| Keywords | affix-order, prefix, noun, verb |
| Domain | morphology |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | statistical |
| Basis | 200 languages drawn from three samples: a 113-language sample by L. Stassen, a 40-language sample by J. Bybee & R. Perkins, and a 50-language sample by G. Gilligan |
| Source | Cutler, Hawkins, & Gilligan 1985: 730; Hawkins & Gilligan 1988: 224, C.Lehmann & Moravcsik 2000 |
Discussion
Counterexamples
Stassen’s sample: 97% of languages confirm this generalization.
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