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Universal 1274:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1274:

Original
The same nuclear tagmeme which occurs initially in the unitransitive dominant order will occur initially in the bitransitive order.
Standardized
IF an NP in a given nuclear grammatical relation occurs initially in the dominant order of bitransitive clauses, THEN NPs in this relation will also occur initially in the dominant order of unitransitive clauses.
Keywords
order, bitransitive, unitransitive
Domain
syntax
Type
no genuine implication; rather: provided that
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
sample of 107 languages in Blansitt 1973
Source
Blansitt 1973: 19
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    The universal rules out the possibility of a dominant bitransitive order with initial indirect object, which does not occur in an unitransitive clause, or with the initial direct object, if the direct object does not occur initially in any of the dominant unitransitive orders (Blansitt 1973: 19-20).

    1. May 2020

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