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Universal 205:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 205:

Original
No set of case marking elements express neither subject-object nor concrete relations.
Standardized
IF a relational marker (case, adposition) does not express subject-object relations, THEN it will express local relations.
IF it does not express local relations, THEN it will express subject-object relations.
Keywords
case, adposition, grammatical relations, local relations
Domain
inflection, syntax
Type
mutual implication
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
Russian (Slavic, Indo-European), Evenki (Tungus), Japanese (Japanese-Ryukyuan), Tagalog (W. Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian), Amharic (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic), Estonian, Karelian, Vepsian (all Finnic, Uralic)
Source
Kilby 1981: 116 (I)
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Kilby 1981: 120-121: “Given that bound morphemes fit naturally into the expression of subject-object relations, while independent morphemes naturally express concrete relations, this does not appear to leave much room for a system which expresses neither. Isolated individual forms, such as the English possessive postposition ’s, are the only case marking elements which can be expected to fill this gap.”

    1. May 2020

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