Universal #272

Legacy number: 272

 Number  271
 Original  If there exists a certain gender distinction in verb forms of the 1st and 2nd person, the same distinction also occurs in the verb forms of the 3rd person in that language.
 Standardized  IF there is any gender distinction in verb forms of 1st and 2nd person, THEN this same distinction is made in forms of 3rd person.
 Formula  gender (verb (1 & 2)) ⇒ gender (verb (3))
 Keywords  verb, gender, person, 1, 2, 3
 Domain  inflection
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute?
 Basis  unspecified
 Source  Uspensky 1968: 14 [Uspensky 1972: 68]; see Vardul’ 1969, referring to Uspensky

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Late Egyptian (Afro-Asiatic): there is a facultative gender distinction in 1SG verb forms of the suffix conjugation (only in written language) but no gender distinction in the respective 3PL forms. (F. Kammerzell, p.c.)
Notes
An analogous statement cannot be made for number. Cf. the Baltic languages in which the distinction of number is neutralized in the 3rd person of the verb.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
An analogous statement cannot be made for number. Cf. the Baltic languages in which the distinction of number is neutralized in the 3rd person of the verb.