Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1365: Original All numeral series have the same mathematical structure. Standardized All numeral series have the same mathematical structure. Keywords numeral Domain word formation…

Universal 1381: Original Gap Subcategorizor Hierarchy:If a gap can be subcategorized by P, it can be subcategorized by V. Standardized Gap Subcategorizor Hierarchy:IF a gap…

Universal 1397: Original No language has adverbial predicates which are expressed as case prefixes. Standardized Adverbial case affixes are always suffixes. Keywords adverbial, case, affix,…

Universal 1413: Original All languages have constructions whose function is to place focus at the beginning of the sentence and old, already established topics at…

Universal 1429: (agglutinative morphology ⇒)¬ gender ⇒ categorial markers with hydronyms Original If a language lacks the category of gender, then hydronyms always contain categorial…

Universal 1445: Original In an overwhelming majority of languages, there is a special form to denote the metaperson ‘hearer’ in the singular. Standardized In an…

Universal 1461: Original If some form denotes the metaperson ‘speaker + hearer(s)’, then(a) in some languages this form can also denote the metaperson ‘speaker +…

Universal 1477: Original In all languages, if the metaperson ‘speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s)’ is not the only meaning of a certain form, then this…

Universal 1493: Original Incorporated nouns attach to the left of the verb stem in not-verb-initial languages. Standardized IF basic word order is not-verb-initial (i.e. verb-medial…

Universal 1509: motion > position (location) > shape > formless qualities Original Hierarchy of agency and discreteness for one place-predicates, which is manifested in voice…