Universal #969

Legacy number: 969

 Number  965
 Original  Languages where indefinite articles are quite distinct from the numeral ‘one’ exhibit a statistical correlation between the order of article and noun and that of verb and objects.
 Standardized  IF indefinite articles are quite distinct from the numeral ‘one’ and the object follows the verb, THEN they will precede the noun.

IF indefinite articles are quite distinct from the numeral ‘one’ and the object precedes the verb, THEN they will follow the noun.
 Formula  (IndefArt ≠ ‘One’) & VO ⇒ IndefArt N
(IndefArt ≠ ‘One’) & OV ⇒ N IndefArt
 Keywords  order, verb, object, article, indefinite, numeral, noun
 Domain  syntax, lexicon
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  sample of 125 languages in Dryer 1989a
 Source  Dryer 1989a: 92

← Back to Universals Archive

Discussion
Notes
Cf. with #966. This suggests that the correlation between the order of article and noun and that of verb and object may be strongest for articles which are categorically more distinct from other words.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Cf. with <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=966"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">
This suggests that the correlation between the order of article and noun and that of verb and object may be strongest for articles which are categorically more distinct from other words.