Universal #543

Legacy number: 543

 Number  541
 Original  If a link for addition occurs medially, it always goes with the following numeral in a prepositional language and with the preceding numeral in a postpositional language.
 Standardized  IF a link for addition occurs medially, THEN it always goes with the following numeral in a prepositional language and with the preceding numeral in a postpositional language.
 Keywords  numeral, order, postposition, preposition
 Domain  word formation, syntax
 Type  no genuine implication; rather: provided that
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  56 languages mentioned in Greenberg 1978a
 Source  Greenberg 1978a: 276 (#32)

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Discussion
Notes
1. Cf. other statements about coordinators: A link for addition is never initial in a numeral (#541); If a link for addition is final, the language is postpositional(#553). Greenberg assumes that although probably all languages have overtly expressed markers of coordination, many languages simply juxtapose numerals without overt coordination, e.g. Turkish (Turkic, Altaic). Where coordinators are found, their order properties are clearly related to whether the language is prepositional or postpositional.2. See the analagous statement for subtraction: #545.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. Cf. other statements about coordinators: A link for addition is never initial in a numeral(<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=541"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">); If a link for addition is final, the language is postpositional (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=553"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">). Greenberg assumes that although probably all languages have overtly expressed markers of coordination, many languages simply juxtapose numerals without overt coordination, e.g. Turkish (Turkic, Altaic). Where coordinators are found, their order properties are clearly related to whether the language is prepositional or postpositional.

2. See the analagous statement for subtraction: <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=545"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">