Deriving Greenberg's Universal 20 and Its Exceptions

2005/07/01 by Guglielmo Cinque · 4 citations
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · #Historical Linguistics and Language Studies #Natural Language Processing Techniques #Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

paper · doi:10.1162/0024389054396917

crossref issued 2005/07/01 · crossref published 2005/07/01 · crossref published-print 2005/07/01 · openalex publication_date 2005/07/01 · crossref created 2005/07/08 · crossref deposited 2021/03/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Of the 24 mathematically possible orders of the four elements demonstrative, numeral, adjective, and noun, only 14 appear to be attested in the languages of the world. Some of these are unexpected under Greenberg's Universal 20. Here it is proposed that the actually attested orders, and none of the unattested ones, are derivable from a single, universal, order of Merge (Dem > Num > Adj > N) and from independent conditions on phrasal movement.

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