Month: May 2020

Universal 175: Prep ⇒ (N G ⇒ N Rel) Original If a language has Prep word order, then if the genitive follows the noun, the…

Universal 174: Prep ⇒ (N Num ⇒ N G) Original If a language is prepositional, then if the numeral follows the noun, the genitive follows…

Universal 173: Prep ⇒ (N Dem ⇒ N G) Original If a language is prepositional, then if the demonstrative follows the noun, the genitive follows…

Universal 172: Verb agreement: Erg ⇒ Abs Original In languages with ergative/absolutive distinction, the frequency prediction holds: if the verb agrees with the ergative, then…

Universal 171: Original If a noun phrase constituent carries case and number inflection when co-occurring with a noun, it can also fill a nominal slot…

Universal 170: Original If a language has case affixes on nouns, they are almost always suffixed. Standardized IF there are case affixes on nouns, THEN…

Universal 169: Original If an adposition and a case affix are involved in a government relation, it is always the adposition that governs the affix…

Universal 168: TO/ FROM ≥ AT Original The morphological complexity of a case marker to signal “direction to” is never less than that of a…

Universal 167: “direction from” ⇒ “direction to” ⇒ “location” OR FROM ⇒ TO ⇒ AT Original If a language has a distinct case marker to…

Universal 166: Original If a verb agrees in prefix with the direct object, then at least some of the verbs agree with the subject. Standardized…