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We must not confuse this universal grammar with Chomsky’s Grammar.
On this systemic project about universal grammar, it is presented from an analysis system that is as simplified as possible, aiming to facilitate the comprehension of the complexity of languages. It is an open and adaptable project for present and future need.
Through the understanding of universal grammar, it becomes possible to enhance the comprehension of grammars in general, including our mother tongue.
Syntax can be understood as the combination of two elements, a linguistic binomial, which can be referred to by different names depending on the functions it fulfills.
Using an event-entity and entity-event analysis method, this binomial will result in a phrase or sentence
This method consists of:
Like this, any linguistic structure, no matter how complex, can be reduced to an iterative binomial composition of entity-event and event-entity.
The basic syntactic structure is composed of binomial elements that combine with each other to form a sentence.
The primary binomial consists of an object and a verb (OV), along with the binomials event-entity (eventive) and entity-event (entitive). However, there can be many other types of binomials in a sentence, such as the binomial of a nominal phrase (entitive) and a verbal phrase (eventive), or the binomial of an adjective and a noun, or a verb and an adverb.
The entitive-eventive binomial is relative, meaning that within any binomial, one element is always more entitive or more eventive in comparison to the other.
Some binomials are influenced by other higher-level binomials. Sometimes, the relationships between binomials cause a change in the order of the sentence.
Depending on the order of the basic binomial elements (OV or VO), two major language families are created, each with a similar number of speakers. For example, in Chinese and Japanese, the markers are postpositive:
In small communities, original languages are usually objective, but when they transform into larger communities, they tend to become subjective. In subjective languages, contrary to objective ones, the main element is the actor (who carries out the action), while the object (what action is carried out) takes a secondary role.
This tendency confirms a shift in values, where the emphasis is placed on the actor (subjective) rather than the action itself (objective).
Hindi and Old English are ergative.
Chinese language, characterized by the use of topic and comment, follows similar principles but employs two separate sentences.
The basic binomial structure is formed by the verb-object (VO) and object-verb (OV), complemented interactively with the rest of the sentence’s syntagmas.
In summary, the diagram below illustrates the main characteristics of the two major groups into which any language can be classified: VO structure and OV structure. Languages are originally entitive or eventive, but most of them are hybrid.
| GRAMATIK UNIVERSAL | |
|---|---|
| BINOMIES SINTAXIS POSICIONAL | |
| Event-Ente (Eventive-Entitive) | Ente-Event (Entitive-Eventive) |
| Lengua Subjetiva (VO) | Lengua Objetiva (OV) |
| Verbe – Objet | Objet – Verbe |
| Verbe evente principal | Verbe evente principal |
| Objet no referente (Acusative) | Objet referente (Absolutive) |
| Actor referente (Nominative) | Actor no referente (Ergative) |
| Subjetive | Objetive |
| Preposicion | Postposicion |
| Principal Subordinad | Subordinad – Principal |
| Principal – Complemente | Complemente – Principal |
| Sustantive – Adjetive | Adjetive – Sustantive |
| Verbe – Adverbe | Adverbe – Verbe |
| Objet – Receptor (OR) | Receptor – Objet (RO) |
| Accion active | Accion pasive |
| Actor posicion libere | Actor posicion libere |
| Accion active | Accion pasive |
| Referent no marked | Referent no marked |
| Receptor sempre marked | Receptor sempre marked |
| Particules preoracionales | Particulares postoracionales |
The referent actor and the referent object are the ones that the verb refers to.
They are two joined sentences, the first one introduces the topic, and the second one develops the comment. The verb is omitted in the topic sentence.
This is a typical case in Chinese and Japanese languages, which usually rule the grammar of objective languages (for example, postposition).
An example of a Chinese sentence translated into Multilingua could be the following:
There are several referents: a general one (topic) and a focal one, either regarding the actor or subjective (nominative) or regarding the object (absolutive). In the topic sentence, the general referent will be referred to, while in the comment sentence, the focal referent will be present.
In Chinese, there are no markers to indicate this fact, but for example, in Japanese, the following particles are used:
The combinatorial nature of language structures can be extraordinarily vast.
