Universal 714:
- Original
- A language may contrast up to five levels of tone, but no more.
- Standardized
- There will be no more than five phonological tone levels (underlyingly).
- Keywords
- tone
- Domain
- phonology
- Type
- unconditional
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- absolute
- Basis
- languages in Maddieson 1978
- Source
- Maddieson 1978: 338
- Counterexamples
Sometimes the limit has been set lower, at four.