Re: NG-NA correlation ...

Quoting JS Bangs <jaspax@...>:

> Andreas Johansson sikyal:
>
> > In the languages I know of, noun-genitive syntax seems to correlate with
> noun-
> > adjective, and similarly genitive-noun with adjective-noun. Is this
> > a "universal" tendency, or just an artifact of the smallish sample?
>
> From what I know it's a statistical universal, but not an absolute. (Like
> the statistical universal that languages have exactly one rhotic :). It
> makes sense, because both noun-genitive and noun-adjective are instances
> of the general pattern head-modifier.
By _"universal" tendency_, I meant "statistical universal". I guess I should
try and be a little more precise in my terminology ...

> > I'm wondering because I'm trying to decide on Meghean's behaviour on this
> > point. Of course, to complexify matters, Meghean uses noun-genitive syntax,
> but
> > possessive pronominal clitics go before their nouns (as in _me-ghean_, lit
> "our-
> > words").
>
> That's typical. I say go with it.
I'm leaning that way.

                                                           Andreas