Category: Universals Archive

Universal 207: VO ⇒ complex syllable structure Original VO languages tend to have complex syllable structure. Standardized IF basic order is VO, THEN syllable structure…

Universal 223: Original In all languages: if there is a phonemic alternation in root morphemes, then there is a phonemic alternation in non-root morphemes as…

Universal 239: free word order ⇒ declension for case, number, gender Original If constituent order is free, all potentially declinable kinds of nominal words in…

Universal 255: number (noun) ⇒ the same number (pronoun) Original If there exists a regular number distinction in a language, this distinction is necessarily present…

Universal 271: gender (verb (1 & 2)) ⇒ gender (verb (3)) Original If there exists a certain gender distinction in verb forms of the 1st…

Universal 287: verb morpheme ‘dativus commodi’ ⇒ causative morpheme Original If there is a verb morpheme with the meaning of dativus commodi, there is a…

Universal 303: ergative construction (non-past V imperfect) V. passive voice (non-past V imperfect) ⇒⇒ ergative construction (past V perfective) V. passive voice (past V perfective)…

Universal 319: Original If in a language there is a syntactic form of the absolutive, it also has a syntactic form of the ergative. Standardized…

Universal 335: Original If subject of transitive verb is expressed by a confix, then at least one of the parts of such a confix (prefixal…

Universal 351: Original In a dominant order the subject and the object are juxtaposed, i.e. no verb is placed between them. Standardized In a dominant…