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Never violate a universal unless it seems like a good idea atthe time

From:David Peterson <thatbluecat@...>
Date:Friday, September 5, 2003, 0:42
<soapbox>Has anyone ventured the "universals are bunk" opinion yet? Latin violates #4.
Several of my languages violate several. And if these are to hold as
universals, they should probably have an asterisk saying that they don't apply
to creoles, or saying that creoles should have their own set, because many
creoles violate many of these. I'm also fairly certain I've seen a language
that violates 38. I'd like to see a natural language that doesn't violate at
least one. As for creation, I think it'd be unrealistic to create only
languages which violate none of the universals in one way or another. It'd be
equally unrealistic to have it violate, say, more than five or six, but I don't
think one should strive for violating none at all. That said, these are good
guidelines, but should be, IMHO, considered no more than guidelines.</soapbox>

-David

Replies

Isidora Zamora <isidora@...>
BP Jonsson <bpj@...>