Month: May 2020

Universal 65: SOV ⇒ (A N ⇒ G N) Original If a language has SOV word order, then if the adjective precedes the noun, the…

Universal 64: Original In nominative-accusative languages the causee of causative verbs derived from transitive verbs is an oblique object, whereas in ergative languages it is…

Universal 63: Original When the adjective follows the noun, the adjective expresses all the inflectional categories of the noun. In such cases the noun may…

Universal 62: Rel N ⇒ Postposition &/v Adj N Original If the relative expression precedes the noun either as the only construction or as an…

Universal 61: Standard-marker-adjective ⇒ postpositions;Adjective-marker-standard ⇒ prepositions Original If in comparisons of superiority the only order, or one of the alternative orders, is standard –…

Universal 60: Adj Adv ⇒ N Adj & VO Original If some or all adverbs follow the adjective they modify, then the language is one…

Universal 59: Original When any or all of these items — demonstrative, numeral, descriptive adjective — precede the noun, they are always found in that…

Universal 58: Original When the general rule is that the descriptive adjective follows, there may be a minority of adjectives which usually precede, but when…

Universal 57: Adj N ⇒ Dem N & Num N Original When the descriptive adjective precedes the noun, the demonstrative and the numeral, with overwhelmingly…

Universal 56: VSO ⇒ N Adj Original With overwhelmingly more than chance frequency, languages with dominant order VSO have the adjective after the noun. Standardized…