Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1953: Original Wo nun der Druckakzent eine feste Stelle erhält, hat er oft zur Folge, daß die Vokale der nichtbetonten Silben flüchtig gesprochen werden…

Universal 1969: Original There is a tendency for the existential, copulative, and verb-category carrying dummy elements of a language (a) synchronically to interpenetrate in complex…

Universal 1985: Original The negative of past tense forms of Ex and/or Cop tends to be more regular in formation than the present-tense negative. Standardized…

Universal 2001: Original It appears likely that there are generalizations [concerning “neutral agreement”] of the type “if infinitive phrases are are non-prototypical then so are…

Universal 2017: Original All languages have words comparable, though not necessarily identical in meaning, with cry and smile; that is words referring to bodily expression…

Universal 4: Original If the exponent of vocative is a prefix, then this prefix has arisen from 1st person possessor or a 2nd person subject.…

Universal 18: SA multi-level ⇒ SA single-level Original In all languages, if Suffixaufnahme occurs in multi-level possessive constructions, it also occurs in single-level ones. Standardized…

Universal 34: SA ⇒ affix sequences Original If a language has Suffixaufnahme, it also has affix sequences outside the construction. Standardized IF there is Suffixaufnahme,…

Universal 50: Original In agreement of adnominal modifiers with their heads (NP internal agreement), the agreement features may include case but not person. Standardized The…

Universal 66: OV ⇒ (A N ⇒ GN) Original If a language has OV word order, then if the adjective precedes the noun, the genitive…