Category: Universals Archive

Universal 352: Original In a dominant order not more than one of these principles – i.e. , , – can be violated. Standardized In a…

Universal 368: vowel harmony ⇒ agglutinative morphology Original Typically, agglutinative languages, where stems and affixes are bound together more loosely than in flective and introflective…

Universal 384: Original If in a language topic-comment structure is coded by intonation, then primary stress always falls inside the focus. Standardized IF topic-comment structure…

Universal 400: (plural marker (1 &/V. 2 person pronoun) = plural marker (noun)) ⇒ the same plural marker (3 person pronoun) Original If a language…

Universal 416: Original The degree of bounding between stem and affix is in proportion to the semantic relevance of the affix to the stem. Standardized…

Universal 432: voice (non-indicative mood) ⇒ voice (indicative mood) Original If there is a certain distinction as to voice in the forms of a non-indicative…

Universal 448: Original A genitive-marked constituent in a pronominally possessed construction implies genitive marking of the corresponding constituent in a nominally possessed construction. Standardized IF…

Universal 464: Original With more than chance frequency, an NP with a semantic role of peregrinator (the one who moves) is considered a subject of…

Universal 480: (word-level progressive form) & (phrase -level progressive constructions) ⇒ word-level (present tense) Original If there is a word-level progressive form for some tenses…

Universal 496: initial question word ⇒ inversion Verb-Subject;inversion Verb-Subject (interrogative question) ⇒ inversion Verb-Subject (yes-no question) Original Inversion of statement order so that verb precedes…