Category: Universals Archive

Universal 643: Original Variation of person in pronominal reference indicates greater difference in degree of respect or social distance than does variation of number. Standardized…

Universal 659: Original There is no reduplication pattern which would not involve reference to lexical identity. Standardized There is no reduplication pattern which would not…

Universal 675: Original It very rarely happens that prenominal Relative Clauses regularly retain personal pronoun in the NPrel position. Standardized IF relative clauses are prenominal,…

Universal 691: Original In initial sounds: the heterorganic sequence of an obstruent consonant and a nasal consonant (e.g. bn) implies a heterorganic sequence of a…

Universal 707: Original If a nasal vowel system is smaller than the corresponding basic vowel system, it is most often a mid vowel that is…

Universal 723: Original Morphemes subject to a rule which assigns a tone opposite to an adjacent tone are much more frequently encountered than morphemes in…

Universal 739: Original The Material-Gender Universal:In a split-adjective language, items which belong to the adjectival categories of Material and Gender will be on the nonverbal…

Universal 755: Original Preferences regarding point of articulation for glottalic obstruents are as follows: injectives tend to have front articulation, ejectives back articulation. Standardized Preferences…

Universal 771: Original The preferred number of primary fricatives in a given language is two. Standardized The preferred number of primary fricatives in a given…

Universal 787: glottal stop ⇒ primary oral stop Original No language has a glottal stop unless it also has a primary oral stop. Standardized IF…