Month: May 2020

Universal 1165: Original Whenever order correlates with definiteness, the definite element tends to be placed at the beginning of the sentence. Standardized Whenever order correlates…

Universal 1164: Original … vocatives do not undergo definitization in any language investigated. Most vocatives take no article at all or take the definite article.…

Universal 1163: indefinite article ⇒ definite article Original If a language has a grammaticalized indefinite article, it is likely to also have a definite article,…

Universal 1162: indefinite article (plural nouns) ⇒ indefinite article (singular nouns) Original If the indefinite article determines plural nouns, then it is also used for…

Universal 1161: indefinite article (mass nouns) ⇒ indefinite article (plural nouns) Original If the indefinite article determines mass nouns, then it is also used for…

Universal 1160: Original Any noun that is pronominalizable may take a definite article, but of these, only those that are numerable may take an indefinite…

Universal 1159: Original Indefinite articles are generally short – that is, they never have more than two syllables. Standardized Indefinite articles are generally short; that…

Universal 1158: Original If the indefinite article is derived from the cardinal ‘one’, non-numerable nouns cannot take indefinite article. Standardized IF the indefinite article is…

Universal 1157: definiteness agreement (head noun & relative clause) ⇒ definiteness agreement (head noun & adjective) Original No language has been found where definiteness agreement…

Universal 1156: Original If the definiteness of the head determines the shape of the relative pronoun, the pronoun co-occurring with the definite head will be…