Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1354: Original The maximum number of sporadic addends is two. Standardized In numeral systems, the maximum number of sporadic addends is two. Keywords numeral…

Universal 1370: Original Intra-locative classifier languages have no quanta classifiers at all. Standardized IF there are intra-locative classifiers, THEN there are no quanta classifiers. Keywords…

Universal 1386: Original No language will exist where auxiliary does not potentially include tense; that is, in a sentence with tense and an auxiliary, tense…

Universal 1402: Original If a language has adverbial predicates which are analyzable into a noun and a case affix, then any postposed arguments of such…

Universal 1418: Original It is almost always possible to use the least marked indicative verb from in a narrative context. Standardized It is almost always…

Universal 1434: many tenses ⇒ ¬ aspect Original A large number of tense oppositions correlates with the absence of aspect differentiation. Standardized IF there are…

Universal 1450: Original In all languages, if some form denotes the metaperson ‘hearer’ in the non-singular, then this form includes among its meanings the metaperson…

Universal 1466: Original In all languages, if the metaperson ‘speaker + non-participant(s)’ is not the only meaning of some form, then this form must also…

Universal 1482: Original If a language has a special form with the meaning ‘hearers’ and/or ‘hearer(s) + non-participant(s)’, then it has a special form with…

Universal 1498: Original A hierarchy of grammaticalization from verb to complementizer to adverbial conjunction.If a language uses the morpheme at a given level on the…