Category: Universals Archive

Universal 914: speaker (1st person pronouns) > addressee (2nd person pronouns) > kin > rational > human > animate > inanimate Original Whenever there is…

Universal 930: Original Standardized IF there are syllabic obstruents, THEN there will be syllabic s§ or s§‡ (given that there is nonsyllabic s or s‡).…

Universal 946: Original The more a language is fusional, the more phonological rules are needed to serve morphological fusion. Standardized The more a language is…

Universal 962: (DefArt ≠ Dem) & VO ⇒ DefArt N;(DefArt ≠ Dem) & OV ⇒ N DefArt Original The more distinct the definite article form…

Universal 978: Original When the plural allomorphs are morphologically conditioned in a language, and the conditioning depends on whether the word belongs to one or…

Universal 994: particle comparative ⇒ ¬ deranking & total identity deletion;particle comparative ⇒ balancing & total identity deletion Original Languages with a particle comparative are…

Universal 1010: Original There is no language in which there are more labials or velars than dentals. Standardized IF there are n labials or velars,…

Universal 1026: Original Languages with dominant order VSO and parts-of-speech system of types 1-3/4 always have the adjective after the noun. Standardized IF there is…

Universal 1042: Original When length distinctions are limited to certain positions in the word, these always include or are even confined to the stressed syllable.…

Universal 1058: Original If verbs agree in Gender, they are likelier to agree than not to agree in Person. Standardized IF verbs agree in Gender,…