Category: Universals Archive

Universal 882: Original Maximal back vowel height is never higher than maximal front vowel height, although the converse may be true. Standardized IF maximal back…

Universal 898: coalescence of the object ⇔ non-referentiality of object & habitual aspect Original The coalescence of the object generally goes hand in hand with…

Universal 914: speaker (1st person pronouns) > addressee (2nd person pronouns) > kin > rational > human > animate > inanimate Original Whenever there is…

Universal 930: Original Standardized IF there are syllabic obstruents, THEN there will be syllabic s§ or s§‡ (given that there is nonsyllabic s or s‡).…

Universal 946: Original The more a language is fusional, the more phonological rules are needed to serve morphological fusion. Standardized The more a language is…

Universal 962: (DefArt ≠ Dem) & VO ⇒ DefArt N;(DefArt ≠ Dem) & OV ⇒ N DefArt Original The more distinct the definite article form…

Universal 978: Original When the plural allomorphs are morphologically conditioned in a language, and the conditioning depends on whether the word belongs to one or…

Universal 994: particle comparative ⇒ ¬ deranking & total identity deletion;particle comparative ⇒ balancing & total identity deletion Original Languages with a particle comparative are…

Universal 1010: Original There is no language in which there are more labials or velars than dentals. Standardized IF there are n labials or velars,…

Universal 1026: Original Languages with dominant order VSO and parts-of-speech system of types 1-3/4 always have the adjective after the noun. Standardized IF there is…