Universal #498
Legacy number: 498
| Number | 496 |
| Original | Inversion of statement order so that verb precedes subject occurs only in languages where the question word or phrase is normally initial. This same inversion occurs in yes-no questions only if it also occurs in interrogative questions. |
| Standardized | IF interrogative sentences are formed from declarative sentences by inversion so that verb precedes subject, THEN the question word or phrase is normally initial. IF such inversion occurs in yes-no questions, THEN it also occurs in information questions. |
| Formula | initial question word ⇒ inversion Verb-Subject; inversion Verb-Subject (interrogative question) ⇒ inversion Verb-Subject (yes-no question) |
| Keywords | order, sentence type, interrogative, subject-verb inversion |
| Domain | syntax |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | statistical, almost absolute |
| Basis | 30 languages of Greenberg 1963 sample |
| Source | Greenberg 1963: 83, #11 |
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