Category: Universals Archive

Universal 1200: dislocation of non-NPs ⇒ dislocation of NPs Original Dislocated phrase universal:If a language allows phrases to occur in a dislocated position associated with…

Universal 1216: local postpositions ⇒ case (noun) Original If there are (local) postpositions, then there will also be nominal case inflection (not necessarily including local…

Universal 1232: Original Diachronically, local cases tend to acquire temporal meanings; in particular, a terminative local case is predestined to acquire temporal meaning. Standardized Diachronically,…

Universal 1248: multiplication ⇒ addition Original The existence of multiplication implies the existence of addition. Standardized In numeral systems, IF there is multiplication, THEN there…

Universal 1264: assimilation of tense vowels ⇒ assimilation of lax vowels Original Assimilation of tense vowels implies assimilation of lax vowels. Standardized IF there is…

Universal 1280: Original If the direct object is marked when its referent is inanimate, it is also marked when its referent is animate; if the…

Universal 1296: unobservable > irreversible observable > monovalent reversible > bivalent locational Original In languages where both resultatives proper and derived statives have the same…

Universal 1312: Original Every minuend is a base of the system or a multiple of the base. Standardized In numeral systems, every minuend is a…

Universal 1328: Original A historical tendency toward phonological symmetry is universal. Standardized A historical tendency toward phonological symmetry is universal. Keywords phoneme inventory Domain phonology…

Universal 1344: VO ⇒ adjective-marker-standard;OV ⇒ standard-marker-adjective Original In comparative structures (e.g. ‘taller than John’) there’s a correlation betweenVO order and adjective-marker-standard order and between…