Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1958: Original If a language has the basic word-form stem+suffix, the accent will fall on a non-final syllable. If a language has the basic…

Universal 1974: Original Existential verbs of indefinite subjects tend toward clause-initial position. Standardized Existential verbs of indefinite subjects tend toward clause-initial position. Keywords verb, existence,…

Universal 1990: Original In terms of the above tree model, we may say that gender systems have their genesis in the left branching of the…

Universal 2006: Original If vowel length is contrastive, pitch is the most important cue, intensity the second-most important cue, and duration the least important cue…

Universal 2022: Original In all languages, there are alternative grammatical constructions for describing (and interpreting) cognitively based feelings, conceptualizing “emotions” as “involuntary” or as “uncontrollable”,…

Universal 6: case with only zero exponence ⇒ functions of that case include that of encoding IntrSubj Original Where there is a case system, the…

Universal 22: Original In all languages, if Suffixaufnahme occurs when the adnominal case is the same as the head case, then it also occurs when…

Universal 38: Original If a language has Suffixaufnahme both in headed and headless NPs at one time and at some later time it has Suffixaufnahme…

Universal 54: Original If in the NP-internal distribution of case a lexically assigned case competes with a structurally or otherwise assigned case, lexical case takes…

Universal 70: Prep & ¬SVO ⇒ (N A ⇒ N G) Original If a language has prepositions and any verb position other than SVO, then…