Category: Universals Archive

Universal 965: (IndefArt ≠ ‘One’) & VO ⇒ IndefArt N(IndefArt ≠ ‘One’) & OV ⇒ N IndefArt Original Languages where indefinite articles are quite distinct…

Universal 981: allative comparative ⇒ VSO Original If a language has an allative comparative, then it is VSO. Standardized IF there is an allative comparative,…

Universal 998: Exceed-1 Comparative ⇒ adjectives are verby Original If a language has an Exceed-1 (i.e. a serial) Comparative, it is verby. If an Exceed…

Universal 1013: Original A compact nasal consonant implies the the presence of two diffuse consonants, one acute and the other grave. Standardized IF there is…

Universal 1029: Original It is these three features – stress, tone and length (with the possible addition of … glottalization) – which function accentually and…

Universal 1045: Original When tonal contrasts are neutralized in certain syllables, stress seems invariably to be involved, with tone neutralized in unstressed syllables. Standardized IF…

Universal 1061: Original For languages which have agreement both within clauses and within NPs, if clause-constituents agree in Number, NP constituents are very likely also…

Universal 1077: Original Apart from being much rarer than voiceless aspiration, these voiced stops with “murmured” aspiration generally only occur in a system also possessing…

Universal 1093: Original If there is a contrast in glottal feature, length, or other secondary articulation, then that feature is also contrastive in the oral…

Universal 1109: person marking (predicate nouns) ⇒ person marking (predicate verbs) Original There is no language in which person marking applies to predicate nouns and…