Universal #1935
Legacy number: 1935
| Number | 1929 |
| Original | If there is a word-form loan of a free-choice indefinite in a language, then there is a word-form loan of other than free-choice indefinite of the same ontological category, too. |
| Standardized | IF there is a word-form borrowing of a free-choice indefinite, THEN there is a word-form borrowing of other than free-choice indefinite of the same ontological category, too. |
| Keywords | borrowing, indefinite pronoun, free-choice indefinite |
| Domain | lexicon, morphology |
| Type | implication |
| Status | diachronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | mainly based on survey of Romani dialects (Indo-Aryan, IE), but also Aromunian (E. Romance, IE), Chamorro (W. Malayo-Polynesian), Saami (Finno-Ugric, Uralic), Swahili (Benue-Congo, Niger-Congo), Spanish (Romance, IE), Persian (Iranian, IE), Turkic languages, Dardic languages, Albanian (Albanian, IE), Kormakita Arabic (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic) and others |
| Source | Elšík 2001: 139 |
Discussion
Notes
Many languages have a special series of indefinite pronouns to express the meaning of FREE-CHOICE., e.g., English: After the fall of the Wall, East Germans were free to travel ANYWHERE. Indefinite pronouns usually occur in series which have one member for each of the major ONTOLOGICAL CATEGORIES such as person, thing, property, place, manner, amount, plus a few others. Cf. English SOME-series, person: SOMEBODY, thing: SOMETHING, place: SOMEWHERE, time: SOMETIME, manner: SOMEHOW, determiner: SOME. (Haspelmath 1997).
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Indefinite pronouns usually occur in series which have one member for each of the major ONTOLOGICAL CATEGORIES such as person, thing, property, place, manner, amount, plus a few others. Cf. English SOME-series, person: SOMEBODY, thing: SOMETHING, place: SOMEWHERE, time: SOMETIME, manner: SOMEHOW, determiner: SOME. (Haspelmath 1997).