Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Greenberg's Word Order Universals

From:SMITH,MARCUS ANTHONY <smithma@...>
Date:Thursday, September 14, 2000, 23:18
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