Universal 1194: inflection (aspect v tense) ⇒ past v perfective gram

Universal 1194: inflection (aspect v tense) ⇒ past v perfective gram

Original

With a few exceptions, if a language has inflectional tense or aspect, it will have a past or perfective gram.

Standardized

IF there is inflectional tense or aspect , THEN there will be a past or perfective gram.

Keywords

verb, inflection, tense, aspect, past, perfective

Domain

inflection

Type

no genuine implication; rather: provided that

Status

achronic

Quality

statistical

Basis

76 languages from the GRAMCATS database in Bybee, Perkins, & Pagliuca 1994

Source

Bybee & Dahl 1989: 95; Bybee, Perkins, & Pagliuca 1994: 119

Counterexamples

Greenlandic Eskimo (Eskimo-Aleut), Diegueño (Hokan) (Bybee & Dahl 1989: 95);Abipon (Ge-Pano-Carib) has the future, habitual, progressive, and various directionals marked with suffixes, but there is no report of any past or perfective gram (Bybee, Perkins, & Pagliuca 1994: 119).