Universal 109: SVO ⇒ S Neg V O

Universal 109: SVO ⇒ S Neg V O

Original

The most common position for negatives in SVO languages is between the subject and the verb, yielding S Neg V O order.

Standardized

IF basic order is SVO, THEN the negation marker most commonly occurs between subject and verb.

Keywords

order, SVO, negation

Domain

syntax

Type

implication

Status

achronic

Quality

statistical

Basis

sample of 345 languages in Dryer 1988b

Source

Dryer 1988b: 98

Counterexamples

Middle Egyptian (Afro-Asiatic): split system (S Neg V O or Neg S V O, depending on construction).Coptic (Afro-Asiatic): split system (Neg S V (Neg) O or S V Neg O, depending on construction). (F. Kammerzell, p.c.)