Category: Universals Archive

Universal 638: Original In variation of number in pronominal reference showing different degrees of respect or social distance, the non-singular typically indicates a higher degree…

Universal 654: pejorative pronominal affixes ⇒ honorific pronominal affixes Original Honorific affixes to pronouns are more common than pejorative ones; if a language has pejorative…

Universal 670: binary choice tags ⇒ sentence final;multiple choice tag ⇒ sentence initial Original Binary choice tags are almost always sentence final, multiple choice tags…

Universal 686: Original When becoming a fricative or determining the place of articulation of adjacent fricatives by assimilation, [w] shows itself primarily as a labial.…

Universal 702: Original Languages with two or more interior vowels always have a high one. Standardized IF there are two or more interior vowels, THEN…

Universal 718: 2 > (1, 3) ⇒ Incl Original If a language has a deictic salience of the 2nd person, then it has the category…

Universal 734: Original The Minimal Distribution of Zero Copulas:If a language allows a zero copula at all, it will minimally select this option for predicate…

Universal 750: Original The Universal of Multiple N/L-Switching:In cases of conditioned multiple N/L-switching, the nominal strategy is limited to the Present Tense. Standardized IF there…

Universal 766: Original There is a highly significant tendency for languages to have at least one primary fricative. Standardized There is at least one primary…

Universal 782: voiced primary oral stop ⇒ unvoiced primary oral stop Original The presence of a voiced primary oral stop in a language is highly…