Universal #395

Legacy number: 395

 Number  394
 Original  If a language has cross-referential inflection, it also has some self-referencing expression of the same categories.
 Standardized  IF there is cross-referential inflection, THEN there will be some self-referencing expression of the same categories (i.e., personal pronouns).
 Keywords  cross-reference, pronoun
 Domain  inflection, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  Hungarian (Ugric, Uralic)
 Source  Moravcsik 1994a: 40

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Discussion
Notes
If verb inflection cross-references person and number, some nouns and pronouns of the language should wear their own person and number on their sleeves.If this generalization turns to be true, then the occurrence of number inflection, and, indeed, the very existence of personal pronouns is rendered predictable in Hungarian (Ugric, Uralic). (Moravcsik 1994: 40)
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
If verb inflection cross-references person and number, some nouns and pronouns of the language should wear their own person and number on their sleeves.
If this generalization turns to be true, then the occurrence of number inflection, and, indeed, the very existence of personal pronouns is rendered predictable in Hungarian (Ugric, Uralic). (Moravcsik 1994a: 40)