Universal #71

Legacy number: 71

 Number  71
 Original  If a language has Postp word order, and if the adjective precedes the noun, then the genitive precedes the noun.
 Standardized  IF there are postpositions, THEN IF the adjective precedes the noun, THEN the genitive precedes the noun.
 Formula  Postp ⇒ (A N ⇒ G N)
 Keywords  order, postposition, adjective, noun, attributive, genitive
 Domain  syntax
 Type  nested implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical (according to author absolute)
 Basis  sample of 350 languages in Hawkins 1983
 Source  Hawkins 1979: 628, Hawkins 1980: 203, Hawkins 1983: 67

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Nomatsiguenga (Campa, Arawak): Postp & AN & NG (Payne 1985).
Notes
1. Dryer 1988: 198: “There is no clear evidence for the correlation between Adposition-Noun and Adjective-Noun order.”Dryer 1988: 200: “There is no clear evidence for the correlation between Genitive-Noun and Adjective-Noun order.” 2. Since the 1990s, Hawkins proposes alternative explanations of his universals (see e.g. Hawkins 1993: 234).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. Dryer 1988: 198: "There is no clear evidence for the correlation between Adposition-Noun and Adjective-Noun order." Dryer 1988: 200: "There is no clear evidence for the correlation between Genitive-Noun and Adjective-Noun order."

2. Since the 1990s, Hawkins proposes alternative explanations of his universals (see e.g. Hawkins 1993: 234).