Category: Universals Archive

Universal 123: Original In some languages objects [sic] — whether objects of transitive or subjects of intransitive sentences — may be alternatively marked by an…

Universal 139: Original If in a language a property is expressed alternatively by a noun and an adjective and there is an associated difference between…

Universal 155: Original Overt marking in the unitransitive clause implies overt dative marking. Any suspension of dative marking implies suspension of object marking; the restriction…

Universal 171: Original If a noun phrase constituent carries case and number inflection when co-occurring with a noun, it can also fill a nominal slot…

Universal 187: Original No language adds to the pair /t/ – /d/ a voiced aspirate /dh/ without having its voiceless counterpart /th/. Standardized IF there…

Universal 203: Original No set of case marking elements both participate in agreement and fail to express subject-object relations. Standardized IF a relational marker (case,…

Universal 219: Original In all languages: if there are non-root morphemes, then all such morphemes have a more limited inventory of phonemes than root-morphemes and…

Universal 235: numeral &, V quantifier ⇒ preposition ⇒ adjective ⇒ noun & verb Original In phases of inflectional reduction and expansion of the fund…

Universal 251: rigid language & ¬manner adverb ⇒ ¬predicative use (nominal & possessive) Original All rigid languages for which the class of manner adverbs is…

Universal 267: reduplication ⇒ it expresses ‘change of quantity or degree’ Original If in a language reduplication (full or partial) exists as a productive grammatical…