Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1944: Original When three-degree systems of demonstratives where proximal/medial/distal correspond to 1st/2nd/3rd person develop into two-degree systems, the opposition will be proximal&medial vs. distal…

Universal 1960: Original [???] CHECK! Standardized IF a sequence of consonants (possibly only consisting of one) occurs in a consonant cluster of n members, THEN…

Universal 1976: Original When a language with zero copula inserts a pro-copula it does so between the subject and complement regardless of the normal position…

Universal 1992: Original In synchronic as well as diachronic treatments of languages, the pronominal system is much more basic and primary than pronominal agreement in…

Universal 2009: Original Suggested hierarchy of base types for diminutivisation and augmentativisation:Noun > Adjective, Verb > Adverb, Numeral, Pronoun, Interjection > Determiner Standardized IF augmentatives/diminutives…

Universal 2024: Original [IF there is Scrambling, then basic order is SOV.] Standardized IF there is Scrambling, then basic order is SOV. Keywords order, SOV,…

Universal 8: SOV v OSV ⇒ case system Original If in a language the verb follows the nominal subject and the nominal object as the…

Universal 24: SA with continuous NPs ⇒ SA with discontinuous NPs Original In all languages, if Suffixaufnahme occurs with continuous NPs, it also occurs with…

Universal 40: Original If a language has Suffixaufnahme both in NPs where the attributive and the head are prosodically separated and in NPs where two…

Universal 56: VSO ⇒ N Adj Original With overwhelmingly more than chance frequency, languages with dominant order VSO have the adjective after the noun. Standardized…