Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1389: Original Retrospective languages tend toward finer temporal gradation in the past than in the future and prospective languages tend toward no or equal…

Universal 1405: 2Du pronoun ⇒ 1Du pronoun &, V 3Du pronoun Original The existence of a 2nd person dual pronoun seems to always imply that…

Universal 1421: Original There is a tendency for languages having nasalized vowels to show more asymmetry than languages having long vowels. Standardized There is a…

Universal 1438: anger & guilt > adoration, alarm, amusement, & depression > alienation, arousal, & agony > eagerness > anxiety, aggravation, & pride > contentment…

Universal 1454: Original In all languages, there is a special form to denote the metaperson ‘non-participant’. Standardized In all languages, there is a special form…

Universal 1470: Original In all languages, if the metaperson ‘hearer(s) + non-participant(s)’ is not the only meaning denoted by some form, then this form must…

Universal 1486: Incl/Excl (Du) ⇒ Incl/Excl (Pl) Original If in a language there is an opposition of the metapersons ‘speaker + hearer’ and ‘speaker +…

Universal 1502: Original If there are regular violations of the tonal pattern in imperative or vocative forms, then there is a special redistribution of tones…

Universal 1518: Original In subject-final languages noun phrase questions can always be formed by putting the question word, e.g., Who? What? etc., in a preverbal…

Universal 1534: verb-initial ⇒ QSent Original In verb-initial languages, the question particle, if any, occurs sentence initial in yes-no questions. Standardized IF word order is…