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Universal 1486: Incl/Excl (Du) ⇒ Incl/Excl (Pl)

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1486: Incl/Excl (Du) ⇒ Incl/Excl (Pl)

Original
If in a language there is an opposition of the metapersons ‘speaker + hearer’ and ‘speaker + non-participant’ (i.e. inclusive vs. exclusive) in the dual, then usually there is such opposition in the plural.
Standardized
IF there is an opposition of the metapersons ‘speaker + hearer’ and ‘speaker + non-participant’ (i.e. inclusive vs. exclusive) in the dual, THEN usually there is such opposition in the plural too.
Keywords
personal pronoun, person, 1st, hearer, speaker, non-participant, inclusive, exclusive, number, dual, plural
Domain
inflection, syntax, lexicon
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
400 world-wide distributed languages, see Sokolovskaja 1980: 98-99; Sokolovskaja surveyed systems of independent personal pronouns only.
Source
Sokolovskaja 1980: 98, U49
Counterexamples
Coos (Coosan), Lhota (Baric, Sino-Tibetan) have inclusive/exclusive opposition in Dual but not in Plural (mentioned by Sokolovskaja);The same pattern is found in: Nomad (Trans-New Guinea), for details see Voorhoeve 1975: 392, Franklin 1973; Tübatulabal (Uto-Aztecan), for details see Voegelin 1935: 135, but also caveat in Counterexamples to #578; Wik-Munkan (Pama-Nyungan), for details see Godfrey 1964: 76 (EF).

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    1. Sokolovskaja recognizes the following metapersons:’speaker’, ‘hearer’, ‘non-participant’, ‘speaker + hearer(s)’, ‘speaker + non-participant(s)’, ‘hearer(s) + non-participant(s)’, and ‘speaker + hearer(s) + non-participant(s). 2. The reverse is often not true.3. Universals ##1489 and 1490 follow from the more general statements suggested by B. Uspensky (##276, 716) (however, he does not point out any counterexamples).

    1. May 2020

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