Universal #5

Legacy number: 5

 Number  5
 Original  If a language has dominant SOV order and the genitive follows the governing noun, then the adjective likewise follows the noun.
 Standardized  IF basic order is SOV and attributive nouns (genitive) follow the head noun, THEN attributive adjectives likewise follow the noun.
 Formula  SOV & N Gen ⇒ N Adj
 Keywords  order, SOV, attributive, genitive, adjective
 Domain  syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  30 languages of Greenberg 1963 sample
 Source  Greenberg 1963: 79, #5

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Tigre (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic) (Dryer 2000)
Notes
0. Though "dominant" ¤ "basic", there seem to be occasional uses of the former as interchangeable with the latter – whatever the latter really means. In the Standardized renderings, "basic" is the preferred epithet. 1. Dryer 1986: 98 (506-language sample): “There is no clear evidence for the correlation between Genitive-Noun and Adjective-Noun order”. As to the conjunction in the implicans, although this does not affect the implication as such:Dryer 1988: 192 (316-language sample): “OV languages exhibit a strong tendency to be GN”. Dryer 1992: 91-92 (543-language sample): “there is an overwhelming preference for GenN order among OV languages”.2. Hengeveld, Rijkhoff, & Siewierska 1997 suggest a reformulation of this universal (see #1346): If a language has dominant SOV order and the genitive follows the governing noun and the language has a parts-of-speech system of types 4-5/6, then the adjective likewise follows the noun.(For full reference about types of parts-of-speech systems see #248.)3. Cf. Hawkins’ statement (#65).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
0. Though "dominant" ­ "basic", there seem to be occasional uses of the former as interchangeable with the latter – whatever the latter really means. In the Standardized renderings, "basic" is the preferred epithet.

1. Dryer 1986: 98 (506-language sample): "There is no clear evidence for the correlation between Genitive-Noun and Adjective-Noun order". As to the conjunction in the implicans, although this does not affect the implication as such: Dryer 1988: 192 (316-language sample): "OV languages exhibit a strong tendency to be GN". Dryer 1992: 91-92 (543-language sample): "there is an overwhelming preference for GenN order among OV languages".

2. Hengeveld, Rijkhoff, & Siewierska 1997 suggest a reformulation of this universal (see <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1346"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">): If a language has dominant SOV order and the genitive follows the governing noun and the language has a parts-of-speech system of types 4-5/6, then the adjective likewise follows the noun. (For full reference about types of parts-of-speech systems see <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=248"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">)

3. Cf. Hawkins' statement (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=65"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">)