Month: May 2020

Universal 1515: OS & transitive verbs show agreement ⇒ s-V-o Original If transitive verbs in subject-final languages present agreement at all, then they have a…

Universal 1514: OS ⇒ no verb agreement V. agreement with two noun phrases Original If a language is subject-final then either transitive verbs of unmarked…

Universal 1513: VOS (basic) ⇒ SVO (alternative) Original SVO is a grammatical (although marked) word order in all VOS languages. Standardized If basic word order…

Universal 1512: OS ⇒ #V Original Subject-final languages are always verb-initial. Standardized IF full noun phrase subjects must follow full noun phrase direct objects, THEN…

Universal 1511: Original In languages whose numeral systems consists of less than five numerals, the highest numeral is likely to be derived from an approximate…

Universal 1510: Direct object (two-place verb) > Direct object (bitransitive verb) > Coargument NP > Non-coargument NP > NP in a non-finite subordinate clause >…

Universal 1509: motion > position (location) > shape > formless qualities Original Hierarchy of agency and discreteness for one place-predicates, which is manifested in voice…

Universal 1508: general psych-verbs > general emotion verbs > evaluation, WANT > verbs of authority, ruling Original Hierarchy of verb classes often using subject or…

Universal 1507: Original Reciprocal constructions, which are morphologically related to the reflexive constructions, are never (or, at least, far less often) “lighter” then the latter;…

Universal 1506: Original Parameters for intransitive-based passives:1 person > Volitional Human > Volitional Animate/Human > Animate & Potent > Inanimate > No Protagonist. If a…