Types of universals – exercises (based on dr Kilarski's materials)

1. Assume it always holds that "If a language has gender categories in the noun, it has gender

categories in the pronoun". Assume that it is true that "Language X has gender categories in the
pronoun". From these it follows that

a) language X must have gender categories in the noun
b) language X cannot have gender categories in the noun
c) language X may or may not have gender categories in the noun
d) most probably (but not certainly) X doesn’t have gender categories in noun.

2. All languages have pronominal categories involving at least three persons and two numbers. This

universal can be classified as:

a) substantive, tendency

b) substantive, absolute

c) implicational, tendency

d) implicational, absolute

3. T or F: An individual language can provide the evidence to justify postulating an implicational

universal.

4. In VO languages an Auxiliary preceds the Main Verb. This information can be stated in the form

of a/an ____________ universal.

5. For the universal “If VSO, then Noun preceeds Adj.”, the presence of which configuration would

count as a counterexample?

a) SVO -> Noun Adj

b) VSO -> Adj Noun

c) SOV -> Noun Adj

d) SVO -> Adj Noun

6. Classify the universals with respect to the properties:

a) No language has a trial number unless it has a dual.

entity generalised: __________________

b) VO languages tend to have stress accent accompanied by reduction of unstressed vowels.

type: __________________

c) In no language the subject must be first passivized before it can be relativized.

quality: ________________

d) All languages have folk terms for the categories of adoration, alarm, and depression.

entity generalised: ____________

e) All languages name ‘(finger)nail’ and ‘(toe)nail’.

entity generalised: _______________

7. Classify the following language universals with respect to the entity generalized, type and

quality, and give one argument (for each type) why you have classified it as such.

a) If a language has front rounded vowels, then it also has front unrounded vowels.
b) Noun-phrase-internal case distribution between head noun and any agreeing co-constituents is

determined by dominance relations defined on X-bar structures, not by linear order, contiguity
of constituents, or control by the head noun.

c) All languages use reduplication as a productive grammatical way of word formation and

inflection.

d) Case affixes on the Noun are always suffixed.
e) For most languages, if there is word order V+Adv, then there is word order N+Adj.
f) Only noun phrases can be controllers of agreement.
g) If there is at least one term for the category of eagerness, then there is most likely at least one

term for the categories of alienation, arousal, and agony.

h) In all languages, inversion of the word order can be used as a logical or emotional emphasis.
i) Languages that do not have the genitive, may or may not have the accusative, whereas languages

that have the genitive, also have the accusative.

j) Attributive constituents are likelier to agree with head nouns which follow them and not to agree

with head nouns which precede them than the other way round.

k) If either the subject or object noun agrees with the verb in gender, then the adjective always

agrees with the noun in gender.

l) No language has a dual unless it has a plural.
m) Nouns never have a trial number.
n) If there are aspirated stops (especially voiceless labial and alveolar), then there is /h/.
o) The presence of the category of gender is connected with the development of the morphological

opposition of nominative/accusative.

p) If a language has inflection it always has derivation.

8. Check the distribution of one feature (vowel quality) in the

World Atlas of Language

Structures

(WALS). Languages with complex vowel inventories are common on which

continents?