Universal #553

Legacy number: 553

 Number  551
 Original  If a link for addition is final, the language is postpositional.
 Standardized  IF a link for addition is final, THEN there are postpositions.
 Formula  link for addition is final ⇒ postpositions
 Keywords  numeral, postposition
 Domain  word formation, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  56 languages mentioned in Greenberg 1978a
 Source  Greenberg 1978a: 277 (#31)

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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 occurs medially, it always goes with the following numeral in a prepositional language and with the preceding numeral in a postpositional language (#543).2. 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.
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 occurs medially, it always goes with the following numeral in a prepositional language and with the preceding numeral in a postpositional language (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=543"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">).

2. 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.