Universal 908: Location word (adverb) > Object word (noun) > Property word (adjective) > Action word (verb)
- Original
- The Verbalization Hierarchy of Intransitive Main Predicates:
Semantic: (activity) > property > class > location;
Morphosyntactic: (verb) > adjective > noun > adverb.If the verbal strategy is used for a semantic function (c. q., the corresponding lexical class) on a given position on the hierarchy, then it can use verbal strategy for all positions higher (i.e., to the left) on the hierarchy.
- Standardized
- IF Location (adverb) is encoded by the verbal strategy, THEN all intransitive main predicates will be encoded by that strategy.
IF Class Membership (noun) is encoded by the verbal strategy, THEN Property (adjective) will be encoded by that strategy.
- Keywords
- verbalization, hierarchy, verb, adjective, noun, adverb
- Domain
- inflection, syntax
- Type
- implicational hierarchy
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- absolute
- Basis
- languages in Stassen 1992; see Stassen 1992: 198-9
- Source
- Stassen 1992: 193
- Counterexamples
1. The highest position on the hierarchy, i.e., activity or verb, is put in brackets. This notation is meant to stipulate that the highest position is verbalized by definition, and is therefore not a part of the hierarchy in the same way as the other positions are.2. The same hierarchy is found for the possibility that a word will be used with a copula (Croft 1991); here #94.