Universal #805

Legacy number: 805

 Number  802
 Original  No language has back consonants without containing front consonants.
 Standardized  IF there are back consonants, THEN there will be front consonants.
 Formula  back consonant ⇒ front consonant
 Keywords  back, front, consonant
 Domain  phonology
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic but presumably diachronically motivated
 Quality  almost absolute
 Basis  languages mentioned in Jakobson 1941
 Source  Jakobson 1941: 53

← Back to Universals Archive

Discussion
Counterexamples
Tahitian (E. Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian), Kasimok-Tartar (Turkic, Altaic)