Universal 117:

Original: In languages with a distinction between active (animate) vs. passive (inanimate) nouns, passive nouns don’t distinguish numbers (SG/PL).
Standardized: IF nouns are grammatically distinguished as active (animate) and passive (inanimate), THEN the passive (inanimate) nouns do not show number distinctions.
Keywords: noun, animate, inanimate, plural number
Domain: inflection
Type: implication
Status: achronic
Quality: absolute
Basis: languages in Ivanov 1958
Source: Ivanov 1958: 39; cited also in Uspensky 1963: 213

Counterexamples: a possible exception could be Yenisei languages (early stages)(isolate)(mentioned in Uspensky 1965)

Search Universals Archive

FP