Category: Universals Archive

Universal 607: Switch-Reference (1 &, V 2) ⇒ Switch-Reference (3) Original If there is Switch-Reference marking with 1st and/or 2nd Person, then also with 3rd…

Universal 623: Original If a language has distributive-share quantifier words, it has non-configurational NPs, and does not distinguish between nouns of low and high countability…

Universal 639: Original A repluralized or a double plural pronominal form indicates greater respect or social distance than an original, archaic or simple plural, when…

Universal 655: Original In languages in which categories of proximity, inclusiveness and definiteness are employed to convey social meaning, non-proximate, exclusive, and indefinite or impersonal…

Universal 671: Original Lexical items that are more stable than other items in one language family tend to be among the more stable items in…

Universal 687: Original CV (Consonant + Vowel) is the only universal model of the syllable. There are languages lacking syllables with initial vowels and/or syllables…

Universal 703: Original The number of vowels in a column of interior vowels cannot exceed the number in the front or back columns. Standardized IF…

Universal 719: Original Languages which permit a sequence of unlike tones on a word or morpheme also permit like tones on a word or morpheme.…

Universal 735: predicate nominals encoded verbally ⇒ predicate adjectives encoded verbally Original The Adjective-Nominal Universal:If predicate nominals are encoded verbally, then predicative adjectives are encoded…

Universal 751: Original The Multiple-Switch Universal:In a language with tense-induced M-switching, category switching (if any) is restricted to Present Tense. Standardized IF there is tense-induced…