Tendency: in SOV-languages adjectives can be the head of NPs whereas SVO-languages and VSO-languages tend to require a dummy head noun (‘thing’, ‘person’, ‘one’).
Standardized
IF basic order is SOV, THEN adjectives can be the head of NPs. IF basic order is SVO or VSO, THEN adjectives tend to be unable to be heads of NPs and to require a dummy head noun (‘thing’, ‘person’, ‘one’).
Keywords
order, SOV, SVO, VSO, NP, head, adjective, dummy head noun
Old Egyptian (Afro-Asiatic): adjectives occur with or without a head noun; e.g. nfr-t [good-FEM] vs. jX-t nb nfr-t [thing-FEM every good-FEM]) (F. Kammerzell, p.c.);
