Category: Universals Archive

Universal 2012: Original A system of switch-reference marking is found only in languages with an accusative syntax. Standardized IF there is switch-reference marking, THEN alignment…

Universal 2028: Original Generally agreed upon “facts” about contour tones (marked = more complex, rarer): (a) contour tones are more marked than level tones;(b) rising…

Universal 12: VO ⇒ flexion Original Consistent VO languages tend to be inflectional in their morphology. Standardized IF basic order is consistently VO, THEN the…

Universal 29: Original In all languages, if Suffixaufnahme occurs without pause between the head and the attributive nominal, it also occurs with it. Standardized IF…

Universal 45: verb agrees with attributive ⇒ verb agrees with Oblique Object ⇒ verb agrees with Indirect Object ⇒ verb agrees with Direct Object ⇒…

Universal 61: Standard-marker-adjective ⇒ postpositions;Adjective-marker-standard ⇒ prepositions Original If in comparisons of superiority the only order, or one of the alternative orders, is standard –…

Universal 77: Original Only languages in which (a) the accusative is unmarked, (b) in addition when a non-accusative is dative-shifted it loses its nominal case…

Universal 93: pronominal gender in 2Sg ⇒ pronominal gender in 3Sg Original IF a language has pronominal gender in the 2nd person singular, THEN it…

Universal 109: SVO ⇒ S Neg V O Original The most common position for negatives in SVO languages is between the subject and the verb,…

Universal 125: Original If a language has both SOV in a full sentence and determining N+determined N in a Noun Phrase, then it has at…