Category: Universals Archive

Universal 785: secondary oral stops ⇒ primary oral stops Original A language is highly unlikely to have secondary oral stops unless it also has primary…

Universal 801: complex morphology ⇔ noun classes Original Languages that have a complex morphological structure are more likely to show systems of noun classes. Standardized…

Universal 817: Original Voiced > voiceless neutralization takes place most commonly in final position and never intervocally. Standardized IF voiced > voiceless neutralization occurs in…

Universal 833: Original Languages with two or more laterals may contrast them either in manner or voice, but not both (e.g. a language will not…

Universal 849: Original In initial clusters, the existence of at least one fricative + fricative combination implies the presence of at least one stop+ fricative…

Universal 865: Original In initial clusters the existence of at least one sequence consisting of a voiced liquid followed by a nasal implies the existence…

Universal 881: lower high back rounded vowel ⇒ high v lower high front vowel Original A lower high back rounded vowel implies a high or…

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…