Category: Universals Archive

Universal 512: Original There is no language in which the plural does not have some non-zero allomorphs, whereas there are languages in which the singular…

Universal 528: Original In every numerical system some numbers receive simple lexical representation. Standardized In every numerical system some numbers are expressed by basic terms.…

Universal 544: Original If a numeral expression contains a complex constituent, then the numerical value of the complex constituent itself in isolation receives either simple…

Universal 560: Original If an atomic numeral expression is borrowed from one language into another, all higher atomic expressions are borrowed. Standardized IF an atomic…

Universal 576: semantic agreement for personal pronouns ⇒ semantic agreement for relative pronouns ⇒ ⇒ semantic agreement for predicates ⇒ semantic agreement for attributes Original…

Universal 592: Original In all languages, some instances of adjacency relations among syntactic constituents symbolize semantic relatedness between the corresponding meanings; but in all languages…

Universal 608: reflexive (1 &, v 2 ) ⇒ reflexive (3 ) Original If there are reflexive pronouns distinct from non-reflexive ones with 1st and/or…

Universal 624: SA ⇒ verb-initial V verb-final Original If a language has Suffixaufnahme, then it has verb-initial or verb-final constituent order. Standardized IF there is…

Universal 640: Original Variation of more than one pronominal category may occur in the same language in reference showing different degrees of respect. Standardized Variation…

Universal 656: Original The probability of homophony is inversely related to the number of principal phonemes and to the length of sequence units (phrases, words,…