Category: Universals Archive

Universal 911: subject > direct object > indirect object > oblique object Original The grammatical encoding of the causee proceeds as follows: the causee occupies…

Universal 927: Original A consonant may become syllabic only if it is an adjacent margin of a syncopated vowel. Standardized A consonant may become syllabic…

Universal 943: Original A merger of oral vowels always presupposes the merger of the corresponding nasal vowels if they exist. Standardized IF there is a…

Universal 959: vowel harmony ⇒ ¬ vowel reduction;vowel reduction ⇒ ¬ vowel harmony Original Vowel harmony and vowel reduction typically do not co-occur. Standardized IF…

Universal 975: Original If there are analogical changes in their inflectional paradigms, the forms (stems and affixes) of local cases of geographical names are more…

Universal 991: absolute posterior consecutive deranking ⇒ VSO Original Languages with absolute posterior consecutive deranking typically prefer VSO word order. Standardized IF there is absolute…

Universal 1007: Original Pidginization processes tend to replace fricatives other than s by stops. Standardized Pidginization processes tend to replace fricatives other than s by…

Universal 1023: Original If a language has a parts-of speech system of types 1-2/3 and has Predicate-final basic word order, then it has Modifier Head…

Universal 1039: Original Root accent is systematically favoured over inflectional accent. Standardized Root accent is systematically favoured over inflectional accent. Keywords root, affix, accent Domain…

Universal 1055: Original If verbs agree in Person, they are even likelier also to agree in Number. Standardized IF verbs agree in person, THEN they…