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Universal 1541: verb-initial ⇒ little or no nominal case-marking
- Original
- In verb-initial languages, all major NPs may be case marked, but it is very common for most major NPs to carry little or no nominal case marking.
- Standardized
- IF word order is verb-initial, THEN it is very common for most major NPs to carry little or no nominal case marking.
- Keywords
- order, verb-initial, case-marking
- Domain
- inflection, syntax
- Type
- implication
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- statistical
- Basis
- unknown
- Source
- unpublished statements of Keenan’s, reproduced in D.Payne 1990
- Counterexamples
- In Tongan (Eastern Malayo-Polynesian), Nandi (Bantoid, Niger-Congo) major NPs appear to be case-marked (D. Payne 1990:13).
Cf. Keenan’s claim about subject-final languages in #1520.