Universal 399: inflectional number(1 &/V. 2 person pronoun ) ⇒ inflectional number (3 person pronoun)

Universal 399: inflectional number(1 &/V. 2 person pronoun ) ⇒ inflectional number (3 person pronoun)

Original

If a language indicates number in the 1st and/or 2nd person pronoun by inflection, it does so also in the 3rd person.

Standardized

IF number is indicated by inflection in the 1st and/or 2nd person pronouns, THEN it is indicated by inflection in the 3rd person.

Keywords

number, personal pronoun, person, 1, 2, 3

Domain

inflection

Type

implication

Status

achronic

Quality

almost absolute

Basis

languages mentioned in Moravcsik 1978b, Moravcsik 1994a

Source

Moravcsik 1978b: 354, Moravcsik 1994a: 44

Counterexamples

Haida (isolate), where 1st and 2nd person pronouns form their plural forms by inflection, and 3rd person pronouns by suppletion (for details see Swanton 1911/1969) (Filimonova 2001).