Re: Greenberg's Word Order Universals
| From: | SMITH,MARCUS ANTHONY <smithma@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, September 14, 2000, 23:18 |
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On Thu, 14 Sep 2000, Nik wrote:
> Marcus Smith wrote:
> > 6. All languages with dominant VSO order have SVO as an alternative or as the
> > only alternative basic order.
>
> All? There are none that are purely VSO? Because Watakassí is purely
> verb-initial.
Well, all from his study apparently. I can't recall how big his sample
was though. 60 langs from all corners of the globe come to mind, but I'm
really not sure. There was a 300 lang one (IIRC), but I don't know who
did that one.
> > The dual and the trial are almost never expressed by zero.
>
> "Almost never"? There are langs wherein they are expressed by zero?
> Interesting.
Yes indeed. I've been meaning to find out which ones those are, but
haven't been able to so far.
Marcus