Category: Universals Archive

Universal 488: Original In declarative sentences with nominal subject and object, the dominant order is always one in which the subject precedes the object. Standardized…

Universal 504: only suffixes ⇒ postposition;only prefixes ⇒ preposition Original If a language is exclusively suffixing, it is postpositional; if it is exclusively prefixing, it…

Universal 520: Original In more than one language, but not in all, the adnominal and pronominal demonstratives stems are fully or partially identical. Standardized It…

Universal 536: Original If in a language, in any sum the smaller addend precedes the larger, then the same order holds for all smaller numbers…

Universal 552: Original If there is variation in Noun Quantifier order depending on the identity of the numeral, one of the two orders is used…

Universal 568: Original If both present and past tenses have completely identical stems, they must have means of differentiation. Standardized IF present and past tenses…

Universal 584: Original If degree of complexity in phonetic form is systematically correlated with degree of complexity in meaning, the former always pertains to the…

Universal 600: ergative verb agreement ⇔ perfective sentences;non-ergative verb agreement ⇔ imperfective sentences Original If in a language there are two classes of sentences such…

Universal 616: NPrel as a pronoun for subject ⇒ NPrel as a pronoun for direct object ⇒ NPrel as a pronoun for non-direct object ⇒…

Universal 632: SA ⇒ agglutinative Original If a language has Suffixaufnahme, then it has agglutinative nominal inflection. Standardized IF there is Suffixaufnahme, THEN nominal inflection…