Category: Universals Archive

Universal 768: Original If a language has only two primary fricatives, the second one is most likely to be /f/. Standardized IF there are only…

Universal 784: Original The preferred number of primary oral stops in a given language is between four and eight. Standardized The preferred number of primary…

Universal 800: isolating ⇒ classifiersagglutinative v flexive ⇒ classes Original Languages that tend towards isolating (such as most of those in east and south-east Asia)…

Universal 817: Original Voiced > voiceless neutralization takes place most commonly in final position and never intervocally. Standardized IF voiced > voiceless neutralization occurs in…

Universal 833: Original Languages with two or more laterals may contrast them either in manner or voice, but not both (e.g. a language will not…

Universal 849: Original In initial clusters, the existence of at least one fricative + fricative combination implies the presence of at least one stop+ fricative…

Universal 865: Original In initial clusters the existence of at least one sequence consisting of a voiced liquid followed by a nasal implies the existence…

Universal 881: lower high back rounded vowel ⇒ high v lower high front vowel Original A lower high back rounded vowel implies a high or…

Universal 897: individuated/thematic object ⇔ objective conjugation;non-individuated/non-thematic object ⇔ subjective conjugation Original Whenever there is an opposition between a subjective and an objective conjugation, the…

Universal 913: speaker (1st person pronouns) > addressee (2nd person pronouns) > kin > rational > human > animate > inanimate Original The Animacy hierarchy:speaker…