Universal #665

Legacy number: 665

 Number  662
 Original  Nonoccurrence of a rising terminal, higher pitched or special stress yes-no-question-contour implies postpositional language.
 Standardized  IF yes-no questions do not have a rising terminal, higher pitched or special stress contour, THEN there are postpositions.
 Formula  ¬(rising terminal V higher pitched V special stress) yes-no question contour ⇒ postposition
 Keywords  interrogative sentence, yes-no question, intonation, stress, postposition
 Domain  syntax, prosodic phonology
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  79 languages surveyed in Ultan 1978c
 Source  Ultan 1978c: 230

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Discussion
Notes
Intonation of yes-no questions almost always involves rising terminal, higher pitched, or special stress contours. The few languages in Ultan’s sample with falling question intonation are all postpositional.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Intonation of yes-no questions almost always involves rising terminal, higher pitched, or special stress contours. The few languages in Ultan's sample with falling question intonation are all postpositional.