Author: FP

Universal 1972: Original An existential or copulative element tends to be omitted more often in a construction which involves a full predication such as a…

Universal 1973: Original A grammatical element is less likely to be omitted the greater the ambiguity which would result from its omission. Standardized A grammatical…

Universal 1974: Original Existential verbs of indefinite subjects tend toward clause-initial position. Standardized Existential verbs of indefinite subjects tend toward clause-initial position. Keywords verb, existence,…

Universal 1975: Original When a language with a full copula begins to lose it, or when a language with a zero copula begins to develop…

Universal 1976: Original When a language with zero copula inserts a pro-copula it does so between the subject and complement regardless of the normal position…

Universal 1977: Original In a language with optional omission of a copula (under the conditions of , there is a tendency for the optional copula…

Universal 1978: Original rigid type III (verb-final) …Conjunctive verb form. There is a frequently-used, non-final verb form, a “conjunctive”, with the semantic value ‘having done…

Universal 1979: Original rigid type III (verb-final) …Compound verbs. In addition to simple verbs there are compound verbs including such types as (a) noun-like or…

Universal 1980: Original rigid type III (verb-final) …Sequences of events of the ‘go, do, and return’ type appear as ‘having done, return’ rather than ‘go…

Universal 1981: Original rigid type III (verb-final) …Optional plural. Expression of plural in the noun is optional and is normally absent in nouns when they…