Universal 716:

Universal 716:

Original

Systems in which high tones are marked are more frequent than systems in which low tones are marked.

Standardized

More frequently, when tone is privative, high tone is marked relative to low tone, rather than the other way round.

Keywords

tone, level tone, high, low, markedness

Domain

phonology

Type

unconditional

Status

achronic

Quality

statistical

Basis

languages in Maddieson 1978

Source

Maddieson 1978: 342

Counterexamples

Hausa (Chadic, Afro-Asiatic), Korku (Munda, Austroasiatic), Mandekan (Mande, Niger-Congo), Ciluba (Bantu, Niger-Congo) (Maddieson 1978)