Cross-Linguistic Patterns in Language Typology

The use of articles before nouns is not a universal cross-linguistic pattern. Many languages, such as Japanese and Chinese, do not have articles.

Isolating languages are characterized by a low morpheme-to-word ratio, meaning that each word typically consists of a single morpheme.

A prefixing language is one in which prefixes are used to mark grammatical categories, such as tense, aspect, or number.

Consonant clusters are not a universal cross-linguistic pattern in phonology. Some languages, such as Hawaiian and Samoan, have very few consonant clusters, while others, such as Georgian and Abkhaz, have complex consonant clusters.

Oligosynthetic languages are characterized by a relatively small number of phonemes, typically fewer than 30.

The use of articles before nouns is not a universal cross-linguistic pattern in syntax. Many languages, such as Japanese and Chinese, do not have articles.

Polysynthetic languages are characterized by the use of single words to express complex concepts, often through the incorporation of multiple morphemes into a single word.

The use of color terms is not a universal cross-linguistic pattern in semantics. Some languages, such as Pirahã, have a very limited number of color terms, while others, such as English, have a large number of color terms.

Synthetic languages are characterized by a relatively large number of grammatical cases, typically more than 10.

The use of humor is not a universal cross-linguistic pattern in pragmatics. Some cultures have a strong tradition of humor, while others do not.

Analytic languages are characterized by a relatively small number of grammatical tenses, typically fewer than 10.

The use of hedging is not a universal cross-linguistic pattern in discourse. Some cultures have a strong tradition of hedging, while others do not.

Synthetic languages are characterized by a relatively large number of grammatical moods, typically more than 10.

The use of templatic morphology is not a universal cross-linguistic pattern in morphology. Some languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew, have templatic morphology, while others, such as English and Mandarin, do not.