Universal 1649: clause-final position > clause-initial position > clause-internal position

Universal 1649: clause-final position > clause-initial position > clause-internal position

Original

Sentential NP Position Hierarchy:
clause-final position > clause-initial position > clause-internal position.

Standardized

FINAL-OVER-INITIAL-POSITION HYPOTHESIS: IF sentential NPs and simple NPs of the same grammatical relation differ in their relative tendencies to occur in clause-final position as opposed to clause-initial position, THEN sentential NPs will exhibit a greater tendency than simple NPs to occur in clause-final position rather than clause-initial position.

INITIAL-OVER-INTERNAL-POSITION HYPOTHESIS: IF sentential NPs and simple NPs of the same grammatical relation differ in their relative tendencies to occur in clause-initial position as opposed to clause-internal position, THEN sentential NPs will exhibit a greater tendency than simple NPs to occur in clause-initial position rather than clause-internal position.

FINAL-OVER-INTERNAL-POSITION HYPOTHESIS: IF sentential NPs and simple NPs of the same grammatical relation differ in their relative tendencies to occur in clause-final position as opposed to clause-internal position, THEN sentential NPs will exhibit a greater tendency than simple NPs to occur in clause-final position rather than clause-internal position.

Keywords

order, clause-final, clause-internal, clause-initial, simple NP, sentential NP

Domain

syntax

Type

implication

Status

achronic

Quality

statistical

Basis

languages surveyed by Dryer 1980, including Wappo (Yukian), Hopi, Yaqui, Tarahumara (all Uto-Aztecan), Persian, Latin, Lithuanian, English, Welsh, Marathi (all IE), Turkish (Altaic), Wichita (Caddoan), Mojave (Hokan), Lakhota (Siouan), Finnish (Uralic), Malagasy, Toba Batak, Woleaian, Indonesian (all Austronesian), Blackfoot, Ojibwa (both Algonquian), Jacaltec (Mayan), Kinyarwanda (Bantu), Hare (Athabaskan), Japanese (Japanese-Ryukyuan), Thai (Daic), Tuscarora (Iroquioan), Mandarin Chinese (Sino-Tibetan), and others

Source

Dryer 1980: 126

Counterexamples

Final-Over-Internal-Position Hypothesis: Jacaltec (Mayan). Final-Over-Initial-Position Hypothesis: Mandarin Chinese (Sino-Tibetan), possibly English and Jacaltec (Dryer 1980: 176-184).