Universal #296
Legacy number: 296
| Number | 295 |
| Original | In all languages: if there is VSO, SVO, SOV, an auxiliary verb, which can occupy the position before and after the main verb, and the adjective has categories of gender and case, then there is a distant location of adjective and noun, which the adjective refers to. |
| Standardized | IF (i) basic order is VSO, SVO, or SOV, (ii) an auxiliary verb can occur before and after the main verb, and (iii) the adjective inflects for gender and case, THEN adjective and noun need not be adjacent. |
| Keywords | order, VSO, SVO, SOV, auxiliary, verb, noun, adjective, case, gender |
| Domain | inflection, syntax |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | unspecified |
| Source | see Vardul’ 1969, referring to Rozdestvenskij |
Discussion
Counterexamples
German, if Aux-V and V-Aux alternation in main and subordinate clauses is relevant.
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