Category: Universals Archive

Universal 344: VS (transitive verb) ⇒ VS (intransitive verb) Original If the order VS is dominant with transitive verbs, then it will be dominant with…

Universal 360: free word order ⇒ words are longer than one syllable;SVO ⇒ words tend to be monosyllabic Original Words tend to be longer than…

Universal 376: topic markers ⇒ SOV Original If a language has topic markers, then these will always be postpositional and basic word order in the…

Universal 392: Original If a language has the category of group plural at all, it will use it only with singular definite nouns, such as…

Universal 408: (person marker (possessee) = (person marker (INTR (non-perfective))) ⇒(person marker (possessee) = person marker (INTR (perfective))) Original If person marking is phonologically identical…

Universal 424: Original There is no language where, given a constituent class some members of which are immediate constituents of the sentence at the point…

Universal 440: SOV ⇒ SO Neg V v SOV Neg Original In SOV languages the negation is commonly placed before or after the verb. Standardized…

Universal 456: /h/ occurs in syllable-initial position ⇒ /h/ occurs in relative initial position ⇒/h/ occurs in absolute initial position; or $hV ⇒ #hV=>##hV Original…

Universal 472: ergative/nominative (noun) ⇒ ergative/nominative (3 person &, V Dem) Original If in a language nouns have the opposition “ergative/nominative”, then with a high…

Universal 488: Original In declarative sentences with nominal subject and object, the dominant order is always one in which the subject precedes the object. Standardized…