Languages across the world differ in countless ways—vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar—but despite this diversity, they also share remarkable similarities. These common features, found in most or all human languages, are called language universals. They provide valuable insights into the structure of human communication and the cognitive processes underlying it.
In this article, we’ll explore what language universals are, their types, examples, their role in linguistics, and what they reveal about how humans acquire and use language.
1. Defining Language Universals
Language universals are features, patterns, or properties that are consistent across all known natural languages or occur in a statistically significant majority of them. They reflect common constraints in how languages evolve and how the human brain processes language.
Key Points
- First systematically studied by Joseph Greenberg (1963).
- Help linguists identify patterns that might be tied to cognition, communication needs, or biological factors.
- Found in phonology (sounds), syntax (sentence structure), semantics (meaning), and pragmatics (context).
Example:
Every language has nouns and verbs—a universal distinction essential for communication.
2. Types of Language Universals
Linguists classify universals into several categories based on how widely they occur and how they operate.
a) Absolute Universals
Features present in every known language without exception.
Examples:
- All languages distinguish between nouns and verbs.
- Every language has a way to form questions.
- All languages allow speakers to negate statements.
Significance:
Absolute universals are rare but demonstrate core structures essential to human communication.
b) Statistical Universals
Features found in most languages, but not all.
Examples:
- SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) word order occurs in about 42% of languages.
- Nasal sounds like /m/ and /n/ are present in nearly every language, but not all.
Significance:
They show strong tendencies influenced by ease of communication, cognition, or historical evolution.
c) Implicational Universals
“If a language has feature X, it will also have feature Y.”
Examples:
- If a language has dual pronouns (for “two people”), it will also have plural pronouns.
- If a language has future tense, it will also distinguish past tense.
Significance:
Implicational universals reveal hierarchies and dependencies in how languages organize grammar.
d) Unrestricted vs. Restricted Universals
- Unrestricted universals: Apply to all contexts within a language.
Example: “All languages distinguish between consonants and vowels.” - Restricted universals: Apply only under specific conditions.
Example: “If a language has nasal vowels, it also has oral vowels.”
3. Examples of Language Universals
Language universals are found across every level of linguistic structure.
a) Phonological Universals
Patterns related to sounds:
- All languages distinguish between consonants and vowels.
- Most languages have the vowel /a/ or its equivalent.
- Nasal sounds like /m/ and /n/ are nearly universal.
b) Morphological Universals
Patterns in word formation:
- Every language has a way to express plurality.
- All languages distinguish between at least two grammatical roles, like subject and object.
- Pronouns exist universally to replace nouns.
c) Syntactic Universals
Patterns in sentence structure:
- Every language has a way to indicate who is doing what to whom.
- Most languages use one of three dominant word orders:
- SVO: “I eat apples.” (English, Mandarin)
- SOV: “I apples eat.” (Japanese, Hindi)
- VSO: “Eat I apples.” (Classical Arabic, Irish)
- If a language uses prepositions (e.g., “on the table”), adjectives typically follow nouns (“book red” is rare in such cases).
d) Semantic and Pragmatic Universals
Patterns in meaning and context:
- All languages have terms to describe basic kinship relationships like “mother” and “father.”
- Every language distinguishes between questions and statements.
- Universals exist in expressing negation, time, and quantity.
4. Why Do Language Universals Exist?
The existence of universals raises the question: why do all languages share these traits? Linguists have proposed several explanations.
a) Cognitive Constraints
Our brains process information similarly, shaping how we structure language.
- Humans tend to categorize objects and actions, leading to the universal distinction between nouns and verbs.
- Memory limitations influence sentence structures—shorter, subject-first patterns are easier to process.
b) Functional Needs
Languages must efficiently transmit meaning:
- Universals arise to solve common communication problems.
- For example, having pronouns avoids repeating names constantly.
c) Biological Foundations
Some researchers, like Noam Chomsky, argue that universals reflect a universal grammar hardwired into the human brain.
- Suggests humans are born with innate language abilities.
- Explains why children learn complex grammar rapidly and consistently across cultures.
d) Historical and Cultural Influence
Languages evolve through contact:
- Widespread features like SVO word order may spread through language families.
- Borrowing between neighboring communities can reinforce patterns.
5. Language Universals and Universal Grammar
One of the most debated topics in linguistics is whether language universals exist because of a universal grammar.
Chomsky’s Hypothesis
- Humans are born with a language acquisition device (LAD).
- Universals arise from shared innate cognitive structures.
- Supports why children master language quickly, regardless of culture.
Alternative Views
Some linguists argue that universals result from:
- Shared communication needs, not innate structures.
- Convergent evolution—languages independently develop similar solutions to the same problems.
6. Studying Universals: Greenberg’s Legacy
Linguist Joseph Greenberg pioneered the study of language universals through cross-linguistic comparison.
In his 1963 study of 30 languages, Greenberg identified 45 universals, including:
- “In declarative sentences, the subject precedes the object more often than the reverse.”
- “If a language has gender distinctions, it will also distinguish number.”
Greenberg’s work transformed how linguists study typology—the classification of languages by structural features.
7. Implications for Language Learning
Understanding universals has practical benefits for language acquisition:
- Predictability: Learners can expect certain features to exist, even in unfamiliar languages.
- Transferable skills: Recognizing shared structures speeds up learning multiple languages.
- Teaching methods: Educators use universals to design efficient learning strategies based on common patterns.
For example, knowing that all languages form questions allows teachers to focus on specific forms rather than teaching the concept from scratch.
8. Criticisms and Limitations
While influential, the study of universals faces challenges:
- Exceptions exist: Even “absolute” universals sometimes fail under broader data.
- Sampling bias: Early studies often focused on European languages, skewing results.
- Cultural relativity: Some universals might reflect shared human experiences rather than language-specific properties.
Recent typological studies use larger, more diverse datasets to refine our understanding.
9. Future Research on Language Universals
Advancements in computational linguistics and big data are transforming the study of universals:
- Cross-linguistic databases like WALS (World Atlas of Language Structures) compare hundreds of languages.
- AI-driven models analyze massive text corpora to detect hidden patterns.
- Ongoing research examines how universals relate to cognition, neuroscience, and cultural evolution.
References
- Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. MIT Press.
- Greenberg, J. H. (1963). Universals of Language. MIT Press.
- Comrie, B. (1989). Language Universals and Linguistic Typology. University of Chicago Press.
- Evans, N., & Levinson, S. C. (2009). “The Myth of Language Universals.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32(5), 429–492.
- Song, J. J. (2001). Linguistic Typology: Morphology and Syntax. Routledge.