Month: May 2020

Universal 1975: Original When a language with a full copula begins to lose it, or when a language with a zero copula begins to develop…

Universal 1974: Original Existential verbs of indefinite subjects tend toward clause-initial position. Standardized Existential verbs of indefinite subjects tend toward clause-initial position. Keywords verb, existence,…

Universal 1973: Original A grammatical element is less likely to be omitted the greater the ambiguity which would result from its omission. Standardized A grammatical…

Universal 1972: Original An existential or copulative element tends to be omitted more often in a construction which involves a full predication such as a…

Universal 1971: Original Tenseless or present-tense copulative expressions connecting nouns are more likely to vary diachronically between zero and overt morphemic marking than other copulative…

Universal 1970: Original There are severe limitations on the kinds of synchronic patterns and diachronic restructurings which may occur in existential-copulative-auxiliary systems, and such patterns…

Universal 1969: Original There is a tendency for the existential, copulative, and verb-category carrying dummy elements of a language (a) synchronically to interpenetrate in complex…

Universal 1968: Original In a given language the grammatical categories of the verb (e.g., person, voice, mood, tense, negation) may be carried to a greater…

Universal 1967: Original Every language has at least one set of forms or constructions whose primary function (or one of several major functions) is to…

Universal 1966: Original Every language has at least one set of forms or constructions whose primary function (or one of several major functions) is to…