Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1897: Original The use of variation of any pronominal category to show degrees of respect or social distance is more widespread among different langages…

Universal 1913: Original VO languages tend to have an unmarked accusative. Standardized IF basic order is VO, THEN the “promoted” direct object tends to be…

Universal 1929: Original If there is a word-form loan of a free-choice indefinite in a language, then there is a word-form loan of other than…

Universal 1945: Original In deixis, person and related spatial, 1st and 3rd person never align as against 2nd. 2nd person may align with 1st or…

Universal 1961: Original Vowel co-occurrence displays an associative tendency.Consonant co-occurrence displays a dissociative tendency. Standardized Within words (or also relevant other domains, such as stems),…

Universal 1977: Original In a language with optional omission of a copula (under the conditions of , there is a tendency for the optional copula…

Universal 1993: Original Free forms are more easily susceptible to morphological replacement through analogical levelling or otherwise than bound forms. Standardized IF a bound form…

Universal 1994: Original Hier nun war es möglich, scheinbar sich sogar auf einen einzigen Gegenstand zu beschränken, nämlich DIE STELLUNG DES AFFIXLOSEN GENITIVS in bezug…

Universal 2025: Original the presence of a word-initial geminate in a given language implies that medial geminates are also present in that language. Standardized IF…

Universal 10: Common Proper ⇒ G N Original With much better than chance frequency, if in apposition the common noun usually precedes the proper noun,…