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Universal 91: Prep ⇒ (N A ⇒ N Rel)

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 91: Prep ⇒ (N A ⇒ N Rel)

Original
IF a language has Prep word order, then if the adjective follows the noun, the relative clause follows the noun.
Standardized
IF there are prepositions, THEN IF the adjective follows the noun, THEN the relative clause follows the noun.
Keywords
preposition, order, noun, adjective, relative clause
Domain
syntax
Type
nested implication
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
sample of 350 languages in Hawkins 1983
Source
Hawkins 1983: 74
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    1. Derived by transitivity from ##69 and 175.2. Dryer 1988: 198: “There is no clear evidence for the correlation between Adposition-Noun and Adjective-Noun order.”3. For postpositional languages, all four co-occurrences are productively attested: Postp => ((A N v N A) & (Rel N v N Rel).4. Since the 1990s, Hawkins has proposed alternative explanations of his universals (see e.g. Hawkins 1993: 234).

    1. May 2020

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