Category: Universals Archive

Universal 11: OV ⇒ agglutinative Original Consistent OV languages tend to be agglutinative in their morphology. Standardized IF basic order is consistently OV, THEN the…

Universal 27: SA with ligative ⇒ Internal Ligative External Original In Suffixaufnahme constructions the ligative (if there is one) is always ordered between the internal…

Universal 43: Original New (not borrowed) case forms enter the nominal morphology through the affixation of adpositions, but such a development is possible only if…

Universal 59: Original When any or all of these items — demonstrative, numeral, descriptive adjective — precede the noun, they are always found in that…

Universal 75: N Num ⇒ N A;equivalently: A N ⇒ Num N Original If a language has noun before numeral, then it has noun before…

Universal 91: Prep ⇒ (N A ⇒ N Rel) Original IF a language has Prep word order, then if the adjective follows the noun, the…

Universal 107: VO ⇒ N Rel & N Adj & N Gen;OV ⇒ Rel N & Adj N & Gen N Original Nominal modifiers (such…

Universal 123: Original In some languages objects [sic] — whether objects of transitive or subjects of intransitive sentences — may be alternatively marked by an…

Universal 139: Original If in a language a property is expressed alternatively by a noun and an adjective and there is an associated difference between…

Universal 155: Original Overt marking in the unitransitive clause implies overt dative marking. Any suspension of dative marking implies suspension of object marking; the restriction…