Category: Universals Archive

Universal 99: Rel ≥ Gen ≥ Adj ≥ (Dem/Num) Original Heaviness Serialization Principle:Rel ≥ Gen ≥ Adj ≥ (Dem/Num). Relative heaviness is a composite notion…

Universal 115: Original It is common for certain case distinctions to be neutralized for a given number, while the opposite phenomenon perhaps never occurs. Standardized…

Universal 131: Original If an ANC retains its sentential head-marking for some argument, it also retains its sentential dependent-marking for the same argument. Standardized IF…

Universal 147: Original If attributive adjectives have the form of relative clauses, there is a positive correlation with SVO. Standardized IF attributive adjectives have the…

Universal 163: Original No language uses different dative or spatial function markers for affirmative and negative clause. Standardized Overt marking of dative or spatial functions…

Universal 179: agreement in Case ⇒ agreement in Gender ⇒ agreement in Number Original There is a hierarchy: Number > Gender > Case, such that…

Universal 195: Original If in a language adjectives assign morphological case to their complements, the range of cases assigned by them will include the genitive.…

Universal 211: nominative alignment ⇒ case (Nom/Acc) & personal affix (SUB) Original The most important implications of the nominative type are: the single “subject” series…

Universal 227: Original If a language has only affixes which derive causatives form intransitive verbs, it is unlikely that these affixes will have a permissive…

Universal 243: Du (verb) ⇒ Du (noun) Original If verbs inflect for dual number, nouns inflect for dual number as well. Standardized IF verbs inflect…