Universal #31
Legacy number: 31
| Number | 31 |
| Original | If a language has Suffixaufnahme, it also has other NP-internal attributive constituents showing agreement in the same categories as the nominal attributive involved in Suffixaufnahme. |
| Standardized | IF nominals show agreement by Suffixaufnahme, THEN there will also be other NP-internal attributive constituents showing agreement with their head in the same categories. |
| Formula | Suffixaufnahme with nominals ⇒ other attributive constructions |
| Keywords | case, agreement, Suffixaufnahme, attribution |
| Domain | inflection, syntax |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | Suffixaufnahme-languages surveyed in Plank (ed.) 1995 |
| Source | Moravcsik 1995: 473, G17 |
Discussion
Counterexamples
Malto (Dravidian): Adjectives do not agree with their head noun if used attributively. Neither do demonstrative pronouns, although they show all sorts of categorical distinctions when used alone (Schellinger 1998).
Notes
1. Languages confirming #31 (in Plank 1995): Old Georgian (S. Caucasian), Akhvakh, Chamalal (both Avar-Andian, E. Caucasian), Tabasaran-Dúbek, Tsakhur (both Lezgian, E. Caucasian), Hurrian (isolate), Djingili (West Barkly, Australian), the Agaw group (Cushitic, Afro-Asiatic). 2. For definition and extensive discussion of Suffixaufnahme see Plank (ed.) 1995. What is being assumed in the universal, although this is not always uncontroversial, is that (typically genitive) nominals with Suffixaufnahme really are nominals (rather than derived adjectives) and that such agreements are NP-internal and hold between heads and attributives (rather than being NP-external, with the relationship, if any, being a looser one of apposition).3. See also #35, which is a special case of #31.
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2. For definition and extensive discussion of Suffixaufnahme see Plank (ed.) 1995. What is being assumed in the universal, although this is not always uncontroversial, is that (typically genitive) nominals with Suffixaufnahme really are nominals (rather than derived adjectives) and that such agreements are NP-internal and hold between heads and attributives (rather than being NP-external, with the relationship, if any, being a looser one of apposition).
3. See also <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=35"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, which is a special case of <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=31"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">.