Category: Universals Archive

Universal 423: Prep ⇒ (¬ SOV ⇒ N Rel) Original If a language has Prep word order, then if the verb position is not SOV,…

Universal 439: non-accusative alignment ⇒ verb-initial Original Non-accusative alignment may be associated with verb-initial order. Standardized IF alignment is non-accusative, THEN there will be verb-initial…

Universal 455: Original An inalienably possessed, non-vocative noun does not necessarily imply that the corresponding vocative noun is inalienably possessed. Standardized IF a noun is…

Universal 471: ergative/nominative (3 person &, V Dem) ⇒ ergative/nominative (noun) Original If in a language personal and/or demonstrative pronouns of the 3rd person have…

Universal 487: long affricates ⇒ long stop ⇒ long fricative Original The presence of long affricates implies the presence of long stops. Further, in all…

Universal 503: discontinuous affixes ⇒ prefixes &, V. suffixes Original If a language has discontinuous affixes, it always has either prefixing or suffixing or both.…

Universal 519: case marking is ergative > verb agreement is ergative > relativization is ergative > coreferential deletion in purposive constructions is ergative > conjunction…

Universal 535: Original If a number is expressed by subtraction as y – x, then every number z (z > y > n) is also…

Universal 551: link for addition is final ⇒ postpositions Original If a link for addition is final, the language is postpositional. Standardized IF a link…

Universal 567: Original If there are high and low social varieties of a language and only one of them has an article, it will usually…