Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1611: verb-patient agreement ⇒ verb-agent agreement Original All languages with verb-patient agreement, regardless of type, also have verb agreement with the agent as well.…

Universal 1627: Original If a language has the order VOS, OVS, OSV and has a double object construction, the patient in that clause should precede…

Universal 1643: VSO ⇒ ¬ subordinating serial verb phrase structures Original VSO languages with subordinating serial verb phrase constructions are not attested. Standardized IF basic…

Universal 1659: distinction of sex in the second descending generation ⇒ distinction of sex in the second ascending generation Original Distinction of sex in the…

Universal 1675: Original Standardized IF there is a phoneme all of whose allophones are variants of /†/, THEN there is a phoneme whose characteristic variant…

Universal 1691: absolute anterior consecutive deranking ⇒ SOV Original Languages with absolute anterior consecutive deranking typically have SOV word order. Standardized IF there is absolute…

Universal 1707: Original The Law of Finals:Word-medial syllable codas are the more preferred, the less they differ from possible word-final syllable codas of the language…

Universal 1723: Original If the article co-occurs with the noun when the demonstrative or the possessive is preposed, it also co-occurs with the noun when…

Universal 1739: Original The fact that pronominal heads do not take the definite article is a very widespread and possibly universal phenomenon, explainable to an…

Universal 1755: Original For all languages, if the subject of a non-finite form is nominative, then the subject of (at least some) finite forms will…