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Universal 520:

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 520:

Original
In more than one language, but not in all, the adnominal and pronominal demonstratives stems are fully or partially identical.
Standardized
It is possible but not necessary for the adnominal and pronominal demonstratives stems to be fully or partially identical.
Keywords
demonstrative
Domain
morphology, syntax
Type
unconditional
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
Latin, French (both Italic), German, Yiddish (both W. Germanic), Breton (Celtic), Balti (Sino-Tibetan), Diyari (Pama-Nyungan), Japanese (Japanese-Ryukyuan)
Source
Moravcsik 1997: 316
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Does “in more than one language but not all” mean: It is possible that …; or: It is probable that …?Presumably, universal possibility statements are of some interest too, especially if circumstances are such as to suggest impossibility.

    1. May 2020

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