Category: Universals Archive

Universal 378: Original Every language has syntactic topic constructions in which an expression which refers to the topic of the sentence is adjoined to the…

Universal 394: Original If a language has cross-referential inflection, it also has some self-referencing expression of the same categories. Standardized IF there is cross-referential inflection,…

Universal 410: ((person marker (possessee) = person marker (INTR)) (non-subordinate)) ⇒((person marker (possessee) = person marker (INTR)) (subordinate)) Original If person marking is phonologically identical…

Universal 426: agreement in gender & number (any constituent) ⇒ agreement in gender & number (anaphoric pronoun) Original It holds both for gender and number…

Universal 442: Original Hierarchy of proneness to lose sentential head-marking: A > S > P, where sentential head-marking is impossible for A, and possible for…

Universal 458: geminates after long vowels ⇒ geminates after short vowels Original The presence of long consonants after long vowels implies the presence of long…

Universal 474: Original Correlation between Types of Exponence and the Number of Terms of inflexional categories (TENT):Cumulative and sensitive separatist exponents limit the number of…

Universal 490: Original All languages with dominant VSO order have SVO as an alternative or as the only alternative order. Standardized IF dominant order is…

Universal 506: inflection ⇒ word formation Original If a language has inflection, it always has derivation. Standardized IF there is inflection, THEN there is derivation.…

Universal 522: Original In more than one language, but not in all, the demonstrative and the definite article co-occur. Standardized In more than one language,…