Author: FP

Universal 1912: Original In addition to DAT/BEN objects, other object cases lower on the topicality hierarchy may also be “promoted” to DO — but always…

Universal 1913: Original VO languages tend to have an unmarked accusative. Standardized IF basic order is VO, THEN the “promoted” direct object tends to be…

Universal 1914: Original OV languages, on the whole, tend to have a marked accusative. Standardized IF basic order is OV, THEN the “promoted” direct object…

Universal 1915: polysynthesis ⇒ ¬ semantically significant determiners Original The lack of semantically significant determiners seems to be a property of the polysynthetic languages as…

Universal 1916: Original It seems likely that no polysynthetic language has, within its system of pronominal affixes, a set of contrasts large enough to make…

Universal 1917: Original If a language lacks a definite article, it tends to lack (fully) indirect speech. Standardized IF there is no definite article, THEN…

Universal 1918: Original If a language lacks a definite article, it tends to lack a transitive verb of possession (‘have’). Standardized IF there is no…

Universal 1919: Original If the verb in main clauses is inflected for subject or object agreement, then the verb in any sentence-like complement type will…

Universal 1920: Original Only languages that distinguish tense and/or aspect in their verbal morphology will be likely to have an indicative-subjunctive distinction in complementation. Standardized…

Universal 1921: Original It seems that all languages with subjunctive complements can use subjunctives as main clauses (though the reverse may not be true). Standardized…