Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1276: Original If a language of the unitransitive SVO type has different relative orders depending upon whether the direct object is marked or unmarked,…

Universal 1292: definite article (possessed NPs with a kinship term as head noun) ⇒ definite article (possessed NPs with a non-kinship term as head noun)…

Universal 1308: SOV ⇒ tense affixes on V are suffixed Original If a language has SOV, tense affixes on verb (if any) are suffixed with…

Universal 1324: Original Every human language has a common clause type with bipartite structure in which the constituents can reasonably be termed “topic” and “comment”.…

Universal 1340: voiced obstruent word-finally ⇒ voiceless obstruent word-finally Original If a language has voiced obstruents word-finally, then it also has voiceless obstruents word-finally. Standardized…

Universal 1356: Original All the bases of systems are divisible by the fundamental base. Standardized All the bases of numeral systems are divisible by the…

Universal 1372: SOV v. VOS ⇒ ¬ verb HAVE;verb HAVE ⇒ SVO Original A lexically distinct form of verb HAVE is generally missing in verb…

Universal 1388: Original If the future is periphrastic, the auxiliary will always be a present tense or unmarked form. Standardized When the future is periphrastic,…

Universal 1404: Original If a language expresses general number then it will do so (either solely, or as the normal case) through the maximally unmarked…

Universal 1420: Original If a language has a distributive-key quantifier word, it has a distributive-key universal quantifier. Standardized IF there is a distributive-key quantifier word,…