Category: Universals Archive

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…

Universal 929: syllabic stops V syllabic affricates ⇒ syllabic fricatives Original If a language contains syllabic stops or affricates, it contains syllabic fricatives. Standardized IF…

Universal 945: Original Of the two vowels i and ü, i may originate from ü but not ü from i. Standardized When there is i…

Universal 961: Original … definite articles are often synchronically identical with or clearly related to demonstratives which are also in the overwhelming majority of cases…

Universal 977: Original If there are analogical changes in their inflectional paradigms, the stems and affixes of common nouns are more likely replaced than stems…

Universal 993: absolute deranking ⇒ SOV v VSO;absolute deranking ⇒ ¬ SVO Original Languages with absolute consecutive deranking have either SOV or VSO . Standardized…

Universal 1010: Original There is no language in which there are more labials or velars than dentals. Standardized IF there are n labials or velars,…

Universal 1026: Original Languages with dominant order VSO and parts-of-speech system of types 1-3/4 always have the adjective after the noun. Standardized IF there is…

Universal 1042: Original When length distinctions are limited to certain positions in the word, these always include or are even confined to the stressed syllable.…