List of Language Universals

List of Linguistic Universals. Sorted by most true to least true. (EU %) = Euroversal Key:

  1. Absolute Universal
  2. > 99% of languages/cultures
  3. > 95% of languages/cultures
  4. > 90% of languages/cultures
  5. > 75% of languages/cultures
  6. > 50% of languages/cultures

Phonology

Phoneme Implication Universals

The following data is taken from Phoible. All implications are >95% true. When // are separate that means the implications are separate. When phonemes are grouped in // that means the implication is grouped.

Data From UPSID. All below are absolute universals - please send me any counterexamples I missed. If any phoneme on the left is part of a phonology, every phoneme on the right, and only the phonemes on the right, are also part of the phonology.

Phonemes Implications
3 Monophthongs //
≥ 3 Diphthongs /m a/
≥ 5 Bilabials /m a/
≥ 5 Nasals /m N j/
≥ 9 Voiceless Plosives /p m a/
/9/ /b H m j/
/99/ /b g H S m j h/
/?/ /i/
/"sh/ /p ph "t "th k kh "s S m "n i e a u o/
/G b hh kW x xW/ //
/H/ /m j/
/R/ /p b k g m E/
/S nj/ /m i/
/X q r s/ /m/
/Z/ /i u/
/c/ /p m/
/kh/ /a/
/lj rA/ /p k m/
/nU/ /m j w i a/
Both of /l r/ /m n j/
Both of /t d/ /k m i/
Both of /t z/ /i a u k s m n l/
Diphthong /p k m/
Front Rounded Vowel /m/
Nasal Vowel /a/
Pharyngeal /m j H/
Pharyngealized /k S m j/
Silibant //
Voiceless Approximant /m i a/
Voiceless Nasal /hm j i a/
Voiceless Trill /p k m w j a/
¬ /k/ //
¬ /m/ /p k i/
¬ Approximant /k i/
¬ Fricative /m/
¬ Glottal //
¬ High Vowel /p m j/
¬ Nasal /p/
¬ Palatal /k i/
¬ Silibant //
¬ Velar /p b i e E a O o u i~ E~ a~ O~ u~/
¬ Velar Plosive /a/
¬ Voiced Bilabial /k ? i u/

Family Stats

Family Implications
Anatolian /p t k m n r l s i u "e a/
Baltic /m n p b t d k g ts dz tS dZ v s z S Z r j i: u: e: &: a:/
Balto-Slavic /m p b k j/
Celtic /m n p k f S h v l j E O a/
Germanic /m n p t k s l E/
Indo-Aryan /k b g m n s hh l/
Indo-Iranian /k b g m n s l/
Indo-European /m k/
Italic /b d g p t k f s m n l a/
Slavic /m p b k x j/

Phoneme Stats

Average Consonants, Vowels.

Phonemes C V Inventory
Min Mean Max Min Mean Max
< 15 6 7.8 9 3 4.8 6
  • 2-3 Labial
  • 2-3 Coronal
  • 1-2 Dorsal
  • 0-2 Laryngeal
  • 1-2 High Vowel
  • 1-2 Front Vowel
  • 1-3 Back Vowel
15 - 16 9 11.5 13 3 4.3 6
  • 3-4 Labial
  • 3-6 Coronal
  • 2-5 Dorsal
  • 0-1 Laryngeal
  • 2 High Vowel
  • 1-3 Front Vowel
  • 1-2 Back Vowel
17 10 11.7 14 3 5.3 7
  • 2-5 Labial
  • 3-6 Coronal
  • 2-4 Dorsal
  • 0-2 Laryngeal
  • 0-2 High Vowel
  • 1-4 Front Vowel
  • 1-2 Back Vowel

Vowel Systems

n 1st 2nd 3rd
3
i u
a
47.8%
I U
a
17.4%
e o
a
8.7%
4
i u
@
a
12.0%
i
"e "o
a
i u
"e
a
i uu u
a
8.0% each
5
i u
"e "o
a
47.8%
i u
E O
a
12.0%
i u
E "o
a
5.4%
6
i u
"e "@ "o
a
16.9%
i i_ u
"e "o
a
10.8%
i u
e o
O
a
5.4%
7
i u
e o
E O
a
21.2%
i i_ u
"e "@ "o
a
9.6%
i u
I U
"e "o
a
5.8%
8
i u
e o
"@
E O
a
7.1% 		-
9
i u
I U
e o
E O
a
12.1% 		-
10
i i~ u u~
"e "e~ "o "o~
a a~
21.2%
i i~ u u~
E E~ O O~
a a~
i u
I U
e o
E 4 O
a
i u
I U
e @ o
E O
a
6.1% each

Morphology

Syntax

Articles

Source: WALS 37A "Definite Articles", WALS 38A "Indefinite Articles"

+DEF -DEF
+INDEF 32.0% 8.3%
-INDEF 18.5% 41.2%

Tense

Source: WALS 66A "Past Tense", WALS 67A "Future Tense" (nb. WALS counts inflectional future but grammatical past)

+PAST -PAST
+FUTURE 33.8% 15.8%
-FUTURE 26.6% 23.9%

Simple Clauses

Complex Sentences

Word Order Implications

If a word order has a majority, it is shown below. Otherwise, it is marked Ø. Features are only listed if they have a majority for at least three word orders.

Feature WALS SVO SOV VSO VOS OSV OVS
Subj, Obj, Verb 81A 35% 41% 7% 2% 0% 1%
Morphology
Fusion of Selected Inflectional Formatives 20A Exclusively concatenative
63%		 Exclusively concatenative
89%		 Ø Exclusively concatenative
63%		 Ø Exclusively concatenative
100%
Exponence of Selected Inflectional Formatives 21A No case
80%		 Monoexponential case
61%		 Monoexponential case
55%		 Ø Ø Ø
Locus of Marking: Whole-language Typology 25A Inconsistent or other
58%		 Ø Inconsistent or other
58%		 Inconsistent or other
57%		 Ø Ø
Reduplication 27A Productive full and partial reduplication
68%		 Productive full and partial reduplication
73%		 Productive full and partial reduplication
79%		 Productive full and partial reduplication
89%		 Ø Productive full and partial reduplication
67%
Case Syncretism 28A No case marking
80%		 No case marking
59%		 No case marking
75%		 No case marking
88%		 Ø No case marking
75%
Nominal Categories
Number of Genders 30A Ø None
68%		 None
64%		 None
63%		 Ø Ø
Coding of Nominal Plurality 34A All nouns, always obligatory
55%		 Ø All nouns, always obligatory
58%		 No nominal plural
100%		 Ø Ø
Plurality in Independent Personal Pronouns 35A Person-number stem
58%		 Ø Ø Person-number stem
50%		 Ø Person-number stem + pronominal plural affix
60%
Inclusive/Exclusive Distinction in Independent Pronouns 39A No inclusive/exclusive
71%		 No inclusive/exclusive
71%		 No inclusive/exclusive
54%		 Inclusive/exclusive
71%		 Ø Inclusive/exclusive
75%
Distance Contrasts in Demonstratives 41A Two-way contrast
59%		 Two-way contrast
53%		 Three-way contrast
50%		 Three-way contrast
75%		 Ø Three-way contrast
67%
Pronominal and Adnominal Demonstratives 42A Identical
78%		 Identical
55%		 Ø Identical
50%		 Ø Identical
100%
Third Person Pronouns and Demonstratives 43A Ø Ø Unrelated
71%		 Unrelated
60%		 Ø Related for all demonstratives
75%
Gender Distinctions in Independent Personal Pronouns 44A No gender distinctions
51%		 No gender distinctions
74%		 No gender distinctions
71%		 No gender distinctions
82%		 No gender distinctions
100%		 Ø
Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns 45A No politeness distinction
54%		 No politeness distinction
67%		 No politeness distinction
67%		 No politeness distinction
71%		 Ø No politeness distinction
100%
Intensifiers and Reflexive Pronouns 47A Differentiated
54%		 Identical
62%		 Identical
78%		 Identical
67%		 Ø Differentiated
67%
Person Marking on Adpositions 48A No person marking
64%		 No person marking
57%		 Ø Ø No person marking
100%		 Ø
Number of Cases 49A No morphological case-marking
70%		 Ø No morphological case-marking
59%		 No morphological case-marking
75%		 Ø Ø
Position of Case Affixes 51A None
68%		 Suffixes
56%		 None
56%		 None
61%		 Ø Ø
Comitatives and Instrumentals 52A Ø Differentiation
73%		 Differentiation
71%		 Ø Differentiation
100%		 Differentiation
100%
Numeral Classifiers 55A Absent
67%		 Absent
78%		 Absent
67%		 Absent
67%		 Ø Absent
75%
Nominal Syntax
Obligatory Possessive Inflection 58A Absent
91%		 Absent
81%		 Absent
92%		 Absent
100%		 Ø Absent
92%
Possessive Classification 59A No possessive classification
53%		 No possessive classification
53%		 No possessive classification
62%		 Ø Ø Ø
Genitives, Adjectives and Relative Clauses 60A Highly differentiated
56%		 Highly differentiated
68%		 Adjectives and relative clauses collapsed
83%		 Ø Ø Ø
Adjectives without Nouns 61A Without marking
55%		 Without marking
68%		 Without marking
50%		 Ø Ø Ø
Noun Phrase Conjunction 63A Ø 'And' different from 'with'
70%		 'And' identical to 'with'
61%		 'And' different from 'with'
100%		 Ø 'And' different from 'with'
100%
Nominal and Verbal Conjunction 64A Identity
58%		 Differentiation
52%		 Differentiation
53%		 Identity
83%		 Ø Differentiation
67%
Verbal Categories
Perfective/Imperfective Aspect 65A No grammatical marking
60%		 No grammatical marking
55%		 Grammatical marking
75%		 No grammatical marking
60%		 Ø Ø
The Past Tense 66A No past tense
50%		 Ø No past tense
69%		 No past tense
80%		 Ø Ø
The Future Tense 67A No inflectional future
53%		 Inflectional future exists
62%		 No inflectional future
69%		 No inflectional future
80%		 Ø No inflectional future
100%
The Perfect 68A Ø Other perfect
51%		 No perfect
63%		 No perfect
80%		 Ø No perfect
100%
The Morphological Imperative 70A Ø Second singular and second plural
60%		 Second singular and second plural
58%		 Second singular and second plural
57%		 Ø Second singular and second plural
60%
Imperative-Hortative Systems 72A Neither type of system
56%		 Neither type of system
58%		 Neither type of system
55%		 Neither type of system
50%		 Ø Neither type of system
67%
The Optative 73A Absent
97%		 Absent
79%		 Absent
94%		 Absent
88%		 Ø Absent
100%
Situational Possibility 74A Verbal constructions
87%		 Verbal constructions
57%		 Verbal constructions
71%		 Verbal constructions
100%		 Ø Verbal constructions
50%
Epistemic Possibility 75A Verbal constructions
54%		 Ø Other
69%		 Other
50%		 Ø Other
60%
Overlap between Situational and Epistemic Modal Marking 76A Ø No overlap
58%		 Overlap for either possibility or necessity
50%		 No overlap
100%		 Ø No overlap
100%
Semantic Distinctions of Evidentiality 77A No grammatical evidentials
67%		 Ø Indirect only
52%		 No grammatical evidentials
64%		 Ø No grammatical evidentials
50%
Coding of Evidentiality 78A No grammatical evidentials
67%		 Ø Ø No grammatical evidentials
64%		 Ø No grammatical evidentials
50%
Suppletion According to Tense and Aspect 79A None
66%		 None
63%		 None
63%		 None
60%		 Ø None
67%
Word Order
Obj, Obl, Verb 84A VOX
91%		 Ø VOX
98%		 VOX
100%		 Ø OVX
100%
Adpositions 85A Prep
82%		 Post
92%		 Prep
89%		 Prep
91%		 Post
100%		 Post
73%
Genitives 86A NGen
63%		 GenN
90%		 NGen
92%		 NGen
88%		 GenN
100%		 GenN
56%
Adjectives 87A NAdj
80%		 NAdj
56%		 NAdj
69%		 NAdj
62%		 NAdj
67%		 NAdj
75%
Demonstratives 88A NDem
72%		 DemN
63%		 Ø NDem
52%		 NDem
67%		 Ø
Numerals 89A NNum
66%		 NNum
53%		 NumN
73%		 NumN
65%		 NumN
57%		 Ø
Relative Clauses 90A NRelC
97%		 Ø NRelC
97%		 NRelC
94%		 NRelC
100%		 NRelC
75%
Order of Degree Word and Adjective 91A Adj-Deg
53%		 Deg-Adj
62%		 Ø Deg-Adj
50%		 Ø Ø
Interrogative Phrases 93A Not Init.
73%		 Not Init.
81%		 Init.
68%		 Init.
67%		 Not Init.
100%		 Ø
Adverbial Subordinator 94A Init.
88%		 Ø Init.
92%		 Init.
83%		 Init.
100%		 Ø
Simple Clauses
Case Marking - NPs 98A Neutral
95%		 Ø Neutral
67%		 Neutral
63%		 Ø Neutral
67%
Case Marking - Pronouns 99A Neutral
71%		 Ø Neutral
64%		 Ø Ø Neutral
67%
Case Marking - Verbs 100A Accusative
64%		 Accusative
58%		 Accusative
58%		 Accusative
80%		 Ergative
100%		 Ø
Expression of Pronominal Subjects 101A Affixes
58%		 Affixes
68%		 Affixes
53%		 Ø Opt. Pron.
100%		 Affixes
100%
Verbal Person Marking 102A Ø Ø Ø Both
70%		 Only A
100%		 Both
57%
Third Person Zero of Verbal Person Marking 103A No zero realization
52%		 Ø Ø No zero realization
70%		 Zero in all 3rd person forms
100%		 No zero realization
71%
Order of Person Markers on the Verb 104A Not both
53%		 Not both
51%		 Not both
50%		 A Precedes P
60%		 Not both
100%		 Ø
Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb 'Give' 105A Ø Indirect-object construction
60%		 Indirect-object construction
57%		 Ø Secondary-object construction
100%		 Ø
Reciprocal Constructions 106A Distinct from reflexive
56%		 Distinct from reflexive
61%		 Ø Distinct from reflexive
50%		 Ø Ø
Passive Constructions 107A Absent
55%		 Absent
62%		 Present
63%		 Present
55%		 Present
100%		 Absent
57%
Antipassive Constructions 108A Absent
96%		 Absent
74%		 Absent
67%		 Absent
67%		 Ø Absent
50%
Applicative Constructions 109A Absent
60%		 Absent
55%		 Absent
64%		 Ø Ø Absent
75%
Periphrastic Causative Constructions 110A Ø Purposive but no sequential
69%		 Purposive but no sequential
64%		 Purposive but no sequential
84%		 Ø Ø
Nonperiphrastic Causative Constructions 111A Morphological but no compound
77%		 Morphological but no compound
81%		 Morphological but no compound
92%		 Morphological but no compound
75%		 Ø Morphological but no compound
60%
Negative Morphemes 112A Ø Ø Particle
64%		 Particle
53%		 Particle
100%		 Ø
Symmetric and Asymmetric Standard Negation 113A Ø Both
52%		 Ø Symmetric
64%		 Asymmetric
100%		 Ø
Subtypes of Asymmetric Standard Negation 114A Ø Ø Ø Non-assignable
64%		 A/Fin
100%		 A/Fin
50%
Negative Indefinite Pronouns and Predicate Negation 115A Predicate negation also present
77%		 Predicate negation also present
95%		 Predicate negation also present
73%		 Ø Ø Ø
Polar Questions 116A Particle
69%		 Particle
51%		 Particle
72%		 Particle
71%		 Ø Intonation
67%
Predicative Adjectives 118A Ø Nonverbal encoding
54%		 Verbal encoding
67%		 Verbal encoding
86%		 Ø Mixed
50%
Nominal and Locational Predication 119A Different
71%		 Different
60%		 Different
100%		 Different
100%		 Ø Identical
75%
Zero Copula for Predicate Nominals 120A Impossible
51%		 Impossible
51%		 Impossible
70%		 Impossible
86%		 Ø Possible
75%
Comparative Constructions 121A Exceed
53%		 Locational
71%		 Locational
60%		 Particle
67%		 Ø Conjoined
67%
Complex Sentences
Relativization on Subjects 122A Gap
78%		 Gap
59%		 Gap
100%		 Gap
100%		 Gap
100%		 Gap
100%
Relativization on Obliques 123A Ø Gap
53%		 Gap
60%		 Gap
60%		 Gap
100%		 Ø
'Want' Complement Subjects 124A Subject is left implicit
53%		 Subject is left implicit
54%		 Subject is left implicit
50%		 Ø Ø Subject is left implicit
100%
Purpose Clauses 125A Ø Deranked
75%		 Deranked
50%		 Balanced
75%		 Ø Deranked
100%
'When' Clauses 126A Balanced
63%		 Deranked
54%		 Balanced/Deranked
50%		 Balanced
67%		 Ø Balanced/Deranked
50%
Reason Clauses 127A Balanced
64%		 Ø Ø Balanced
83%		 Ø Balanced
50%
Utterance Complement Clauses 128A Balanced
81%		 Balanced
70%		 Balanced
67%		 Balanced
100%		 Ø Balanced
100%
Word Order
Order of Negative Morpheme and Verb 143A Ø Ø NegV
77%		 NegV
75%		 Ø Ø
Position of Negative Word With Respect to Subject, Object, and Verb 144A Ø Ø NegVSO
70%		 NegVOS
75%		 Ø Ø

Lexicon

Culture