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Universal 149:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 149:

Original
The number of inflectional classes of adjectives is never larger than the number of inflectional classes of nouns.
Standardized
The number of inflectional classes of adjectives cannot be larger than the number of inflectional classes of nouns.
Keywords
inflection class, word class, adjective, noun
Domain
inflection
Type
unconditional
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
languages in Carstairs 1984
Source
Carstairs 1984, also cited in Plank 1991b: 35
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    can presumably be reformulated as an implication:IF there are n inflection classes for adjectives, THEN there will be at least n inflection classes for nouns.

    1. May 2020

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