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Universal 74: Prep ⇒ (N Num ⇒ N A)

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 74: Prep ⇒ (N Num ⇒ N A)

Original
If a language has Prep word order, then if the numeral follows the noun, the adjective follows the noun.
Standardized
IF there are prepositions, THEN IF the numeral follows the noun, THEN the adjective follows the noun.
Keywords
order, preposition, noun, numeral, adjective
Domain
syntax
Type
nested implication
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical (according to author absolute)
Basis
sample of 350 languages in Hawkins 1983
Source
Hawkins 1983: 72
Counterexamples
Prep & NNum & AN: Gbeya Bossangoa, Sango, Linda, Zande, Nzakara, Barambu (Adamawa-Ubangian); Gude (Biu-Mandara, Chadic, Afroasiatic), Hausa, Pa’anci (Chadic, Afroasiatic) (Dryer 2000).

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    1. Dryer 1988: 198: “There is no clear evidence for the correlation between Adposition-Noun and Adjective-Noun order.”2. Since the 1990s, Hawkins proposes alternative explanations of his universals (see e.g. Hawkins 1993: 234).

    1. May 2020

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