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Universal 831:
- Original
- Languages with two or more liquids are most likely to have at least one lateral, and a lateral/non-lateral contrast.
- Standardized
- In languages with two or more liquids, IF there is one non-lateral, THEN there will also be a lateral.
- Keywords
- lateral, liquid, non-lateral
- Domain
- phonology
- Type
- implication
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- statistical
- Basis
- sample of 321 languages by Maddieson 1980
- Source
- Lass 1984: 158, taken from survey by Maddieson 1980
- Counterexamples
- the Tarascan group (isolate) (Yasugi 1995: 70)
or:In languages with two or more liquids, IF there is any other contrast, THEN there will also be a contrast lateral/non-lateral.