Category: Universals Archive

Universal 497: VSO => initial interrogative word;SOV ⇒ ¬initial interrogative word Original If a language has dominant order VSO in declarative sentences, it always puts…

Universal 513: gender ⇒ number Original If a language has the category of gender, it always has the category of number. Standardized IF there is…

Universal 529: Original No number is ever expressed in any numeral system by means of a function any of whose arguments is ≥ L. Standardized…

Universal 545: Original The degree of morphological fusion varies inversely with the size of the numerical value. Standardized The degree of morphological fusion varies inversely…

Universal 561: Du (non-pronominal agreement forms) ⇒ Du (personal pronoun & noun) Original If the dual extends to non-pronominal agreement forms, it also extends to…

Universal 577: Original If any inflectional category is expressed through suppletion in nouns, it is also expressed suppletively in pronouns or verbs. Standardized IF any…

Universal 593: Original In all languages, there are some utterances where simultaneity of morphemes symbolizes semantic relatedness. (Cf. the placement of meaning-bearing suprasegmental features). Standardized…

Universal 609: Original Reference clauses for Switch-Reference marking are never subordinate to Marking clauses. Standardized Reference clauses for Switch-Reference marking are never subordinate to Marking…

Universal 625: distributive-share quantifier word ⇒ distributive-share numeral word Original If a language has a distributive-share quantifier word, it has a distributive-share numeral word. Standardized…

Universal 641: Original Variation of the category of person in personal pronouns so as to show degrees of respect or social distance usually occurs in…