Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1749: Original Provided at least some ordinal numerals are formally distinguished from cardinal numerals, if the distinction is by suppletion for higher numbers, then…

Universal 1765: Original Nasal effacement applies preferentially to weak nasals, thus to velar nasals in preference to dental or labial nasals. Standardized IF dental or…

Universal 1781: Original If a language has stop + fricative onset clusters, then it has stop + stop onset clusters. Standardized IF there are stop…

Universal 1797: Original Preferential Vowel-Lengthening Parameter:Vowel lengthening preferably occurs before the cluster nasal + fricative than nasal + stop.Vowel lengthening preferably occurs before the cluster…

Universal 1813: Original Standardized IF there is a nasalized high back rounded vowel, THEN there is a high back rounded vowel. Keywords vowel, nasal, high,…

Universal 1829: Original Standardized IF there is a prenasalized labialized voiced velar stop, THEN there is also a prenasalized voiced bilabial stop. Keywords stop, velar,…

Universal 1845: Original Standardized IF there is a breathy voice bilabial stop, THEN there is also a voiceless aspirated velar stop. Keywords stop, bilabial, velar,…

Universal 1861: Original Vowel Height Parameter: The development of some or all of the distinctive nasal processes occur preferentially in the context of low vowels…

Universal 1877: Original It seems that polarity [in gender/number systems] is never complete (i.e., polarity is never the sole configuration of gender/number markers under all…

Universal 1893: Original A lexical item whose meaning is verbal can never be included in the set of borrowed properties. Standardized A lexical item whose…