Category: Universals Archive

Universal 855: Original No succession of consonants only differing in that one is unvoiced and the other is glottalized occurs in initial or final clusters…

Universal 871: Original In final clusters, the existence of at least one combination of sonant + voiced obstruent implies the existence of at least one…

Universal 887: agglutinative ⇒ pitch accent;flexive ⇒ stress accent Original If a language is agglutinative, then accent is primarily pitch.If a language is flexive, then…

Universal 903: omnisyllabic tone ⇒ purely emotional/affective particles Original … omnisyllabic tone languages typically have a repertoire of particles whose only job is to convey…

Universal 919: /©/ ⇒ /x/ Original Standardized IF there is the voiced velar fricative phoneme /©/, THEN there will be the voiceless velar fricative phoneme…

Universal 935: Original When in a given language there is extensive neutralization among the primary nasal consonants, this occurs in prejunctural and/or preconsonantal positions. Standardized…

Universal 951: Original If direct and indirect/non-direct objects are syntagmatically distinguished at all, then they are distinguished in all ditransitive constructions. Standardized IF direct and…

Universal 967: Plural word ⇒ isolating V head-marking Original Plural words are most commonly found in languages which are isolating or head-marking. Standardized IF there…

Universal 983: exceeded comparative ⇒ SVO Original If a language has an exceed comparative, then it is SVO. Standardized IF there is an exceed comparative,…

Universal 999: Original Terminal intonations are almost universally low or falling for finality and assertion, and high or rising for the opposite, including yes-no questions.…