Universal #474
Legacy number: 474
| Number | 472 |
| Original | If in a language nouns have the opposition “ergative/nominative”, then with a high plausibility the same opposition have personal and/or demonstrative pronouns of the 3rd person. |
| Standardized | IF nouns have the opposition ergative/absolutive, THEN with a high probability personal and/or demonstrative pronouns of 3rd person have the same opposition. |
| Formula | ergative/nominative (noun) ⇒ ergative/nominative (3 person &, V Dem) |
| Keywords | alignment, case, ergative, absolutive, personal pronoun, demonstrative pronoun, person, 3, noun |
| Domain | inflection, syntax |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | statistical |
| Basis | 50 languages surveyed in Kozinsky 1980 |
| Source | Kozinsky 1980: 54 |
Discussion
Counterexamples
Aleut (Eskimo-Aleut) (for details see Menovscikov 1967);Assamese (Indo-Iranian, IE) (for details see Babakaev 1961);Bandjalang (Pama-Nyungan, Australian) (for details see Cunningham 1969);Tirahi (Dardic) (for details see Edelman 1965)(mentioned in Kozinsky 1980)
Notes
1. The reverse to #473; cf. ##591 and 217.2. As is seen from ##472-474, personal pronouns are less prone than nouns to differentiate nominative and ergative. But there are cases when this opposition is more vivid within the personal pronouns than within the nouns. Thus, in some Dardic languages (Maiya, Kanjawali, Torwali, Phalura, Dameli, Shumashti, Gawar) pronouns have the so-called “independent” ergative, and nouns have the so-called “conjoined” ergative, which combines functions of other cases. In Wotapuri, the use of ergative on nouns is facultative and obligatory on pronouns. But these languages must not be considered counterexamples to #472, for the coincidence of ergative with one of the oblique cases or its facultative usage does not deny the opposition “ergative/nominative” itself that takes place within the pronouns and the nouns of the above-mentioned Dardic languages.
Log in to join the discussion.
2. As is seen from <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=472"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=473"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=474"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, personal pronouns are less prone than nouns to differentiate nominative and ergative. But there are cases when this opposition is more vivid within the personal pronouns than within the nouns. Thus, in some Dardic languages (Maiya, Kanjawali, Torwali, Phalura, Dameli, Shumashti, Gawar) pronouns have the so-called "independent" ergative, and nouns have the so-called "conjoined" ergative, which combines functions of other cases. In Wotapuri, the use of ergative on nouns is facultative and obligatory on pronouns. But these languages must not be considered counterexamples to <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=472"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, for the coincidence of ergative with one of the oblique cases or its facultative usage does not deny the opposition "ergative/nominative" itself that takes place within the pronouns and the nouns of the above-mentioned Dardic languages.