Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1122: Original If predicates can incorporate their arguments (i.e., verbs their subjects and objects), then head nouns can incorporate their attributive clauses. Standardized IF…

Universal 1138: Original The passive-to-ergative change is unidirectional. There are no passive constructions which have been shown to have developed from ergative constructions. Standardized The…

Universal 1154: Original Occurrence of a resumptive pronoun in the relative clause in cases where the identical element is subject or object of the clause…

Universal 1170: Original If a language possesses simple and distributive-share universal quantifiers, then the distributive-share universal quantifier is derived from the simple universal quantifier by…

Universal 1186: Original Sun and wind provide important templates for expressions of cardinal orientation but apparently never for deictic orientation. Standardized When sun and wind…

Universal 1202: Original Monotonicity correspondence universal:There is a simple NP which expresses the monotone decreasing quantifier ~Q if and only if there is a simple…

Universal 1218: Original If there are no local cases but non-local (grammatical, abstract) cases, then localization will preferably be expressed by adpositions plus non-local cases…

Universal 1234: Original If a language provides intransitive verbs that take patients as their theme (as in English ‘These wine glasses break easily, so be…

Universal 1250: Original Sonants tend to participate in consonant gradation much more than other phonemes. Standardized Sonants tend to participate in consonant gradation much more…

Universal 1266: assimilation of unrounded vowels ⇒ assimilation of rounded vowels Original Assimilation of unrounded vowels implies assimilation of rounded vowels. Standardized IF there is…