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Linglib.Phenomena.Directives.Typology

Cross-Linguistic Typology of Imperatives (WALS Chapters 70--73) #

@cite{van-der-auwera-lejeune-2013}

Cross-linguistic data on imperative and related mood systems from four WALS chapters, all authored by Johan van der Auwera and Ludo @cite{van-der-auwera-lejeune-2013}.

Ch 70: The Morphological Imperative #

Whether a language has a dedicated morphological form for second-person imperatives. Five values distinguishing number marking in the imperative paradigm: (1) second singular and second plural, (2) second singular only, (3) second plural only, (4) second person number-neutral, (5) no second-person imperatives.

Sample: 548 languages. The vast majority (426/548 = 77.7%) have a dedicated morphological imperative of some kind; only 122 lack one entirely.

Ch 71: The Prohibitive #

How negative imperatives ("Don't!") are formed relative to regular imperatives and regular negation. Four structural types based on whether the imperative construction and the negation strategy are the same as in declaratives or special:

Sample: 496 languages. Type 2 (normal imperative + special negation) is the most common (182/496 = 36.7%).

Ch 72: Imperative-Hortative Systems #

Whether the language has dedicated morphological forms for first-person hortatives ("let's go") and/or third-person jussives ("let him go"), in addition to the second-person imperative. Four values: imperative only, imperative + hortative, imperative + jussive, or all three.

Sample: 375 languages. Neither-type-of-system is the most common (201/375 = 53.6%); both-types-of-system is the least common (21/375 = 5.6%).

Ch 73: The Optative #

Whether the language has a morphologically dedicated optative construction ("may it rain", "if only she were here"). Binary feature: present or absent.

Sample: 319 languages. Optatives are a minority feature: only 48/319 (15.0%) of sampled languages have a dedicated optative.

WALS Ch 70: Whether a language has a dedicated morphological imperative.

Three categories based on the person distinctions available in the morphological imperative paradigm: (1) Second-person only: a dedicated imperative form exists only for 2nd person (singular and/or plural). (2) Second and other persons: the imperative paradigm extends beyond 2nd person to include 1st and/or 3rd person forms. (3) No morphological imperative: the language lacks a dedicated morphological imperative form; commands are expressed via bare stems, indicative forms, word order, particles, or intonation alone.

  • secondOnly : MorphImpType

    Dedicated morphological imperative for second person only. (e.g., English Go!, Turkish Gel! 'Come!'). The most common pattern worldwide (426/548 = 77.7% have some morphological imperative; of those, second-person-only forms dominate).

  • secondAndOther : MorphImpType

    Morphological imperative for second person and other persons (1st inclusive "let's", 3rd jussive, etc. are also morphologically imperative). (e.g., Latin i '2SG.IMP', eamus '1PL.IMP.SUBJ', Georgian, Quechua).

  • noMorphological : MorphImpType

    No dedicated morphological imperative: commands use bare verb stems, indicative forms, particles, or intonation. (e.g., Mandarin Chinese, Thai, many isolating languages).

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      WALS Ch 71: How prohibitives (negative imperatives, "Don't!") are formed.

      The classification cross-tabulates two binary features:

      • Is the imperative construction the SAME as the affirmative imperative or SPECIAL (a different form)?
      • Is the negation strategy the SAME as in declaratives or SPECIAL?

      This yields four structural types. The key typological finding is that Type 1 (normal+normal) is surprisingly uncommon — languages tend to treat prohibitives differently from simple negation of an imperative.

      • normalImpNormalNeg : ProhibitiveType

        Type 1: Normal imperative + normal negation. The prohibitive is simply the imperative plus regular sentential negation. (e.g., Korean ka-la 'go-IMP' → ka-ci mal-la 'go-NMLZ NEG-IMP'; Hungarian menj!ne menj!).

      • normalImpSpecialNeg : ProhibitiveType

        Type 2: Normal imperative + special negation. The imperative verb form is retained, but the negation marker is different from the one used in declaratives. (e.g., Ancient Greek: indicative ou vs imperative me; Tagalog: declarative hindi vs imperative huwag).

      • specialImpNormalNeg : ProhibitiveType

        Type 3: Special imperative + normal negation. The negation strategy is the same as in declaratives, but the verb appears in a different form (e.g., subjunctive, infinitive, or a special negative imperative stem). (e.g., Italian va! IMP → non andare! NEG+INF; Finnish mene! IMP → ala mene NEG.AUX go.CONNEG).

      • specialImpSpecialNeg : ProhibitiveType

        Type 4: Special imperative + special negation. Both the verb form and the negation marker differ from the declarative and the affirmative imperative. (e.g., Sinhala; many Austronesian and African languages).

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          WALS Ch 72: Whether the language has morphological hortative (1st person command: "let's go") and/or jussive (3rd person command: "let him go") in addition to the basic second-person imperative.

          Four system types based on paradigm richness:

          • Imperative only: only 2nd person morphological commands
          • Imperative + hortative: 1st and 2nd person
          • Imperative + jussive: 2nd and 3rd person
          • All three: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person
          • imperativeOnly : ImpHortSystem

            Imperative only: the language has a morphological imperative (2nd person) but no dedicated hortative or jussive forms. (e.g., English Go! — "let's go" uses a periphrastic construction, not a morphological hortative).

          • imperativeAndHortative : ImpHortSystem

            Imperative + hortative: the language has morphological forms for both 2nd person commands and 1st person (inclusive) hortatives ("let's"). (e.g., Turkish gel! 'come.IMP.2SG', gelelim 'come.HORT.1PL').

          • imperativeAndJussive : ImpHortSystem

            Imperative + jussive: the language has morphological forms for both 2nd person commands and 3rd person jussives ("let him/them"). (e.g., Hindi-Urdu jao 'go.IMP.2PL', jaae 'go.JUSS.3SG').

          • allThree : ImpHortSystem

            All three: the language has dedicated morphological forms for 2nd person imperatives, 1st person hortatives, and 3rd person jussives. (e.g., Latin i 'go.IMP.2SG', eamus 'go.SUBJ.1PL', eat 'go.SUBJ.3SG'; Georgian; Quechua).

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              WALS Ch 73: Whether the language has a morphologically dedicated optative.

              An optative is a mood expressing wishes or hopes ("may it rain", "if only she were here", "long live the king"). The key criterion is whether the optative is morphologically distinct — languages that express wishes only via particles, intonation, or subjunctive forms shared with other functions are classified as lacking a dedicated optative.

              • present : OptativePresence

                The language has a morphologically dedicated optative. (e.g., Ancient Greek -oimi / -oihn, Turkish -sA, Georgian, Finnish conditional used optatively).

              • absent : OptativePresence

                The language lacks a dedicated morphological optative. Wishes are expressed by other means (subjunctive, particles, conditional, or periphrasis). (e.g., English, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese).

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                  A single row in a WALS frequency table: a category label and its count.

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                        Chapter 70 distribution: morphological imperative types (N = 548).

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                          Chapter 71 distribution: prohibitive types (N = 496).

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                            Chapter 72 distribution: imperative-hortative systems (N = 375).

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                              Chapter 73 distribution: optative presence (N = 319).

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                                A language's imperative system profile across WALS Chapters 70--73.

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                                    English: second-person-only morphological imperative (Go!, Be quiet!). The imperative is typically the bare stem, identical to the infinitive but distinguished from declaratives by the absence of a subject and do-support. Prohibitives use the regular negation strategy with do-support: Don't go! — normal imperative with normal negation (Type 1). No dedicated hortative (*Go-we!); periphrastic Let's go instead. No morphological optative; wishes expressed by may or subjunctive relics (Long live the king).

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                                      Japanese: second-person-only morphological imperative. The plain imperative suffix -e / -ro is used for 2nd person commands (ike! 'go!', tabero! 'eat!'). Prohibitives use the negative form -na which is a special negation marker distinct from the declarative -nai: iku-na! 'go-PROH' — normal imperative stem + special negation (Type 2). No dedicated hortative morphology; volitional -ou / -you serves a related but distinct function. No morphological optative.

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                                        Mandarin Chinese: no morphological imperative. Commands are expressed by bare verb forms, intonation, and sentence-final particles (ba, a). Zou! 'Go!' is identical to the declarative verb form. Prohibitives use the special negative particle bie (别) rather than the declarative bu or mei: bie zou! 'PROH go' — no morphological imperative + special negation (closest to Type 2, but no morphological imperative at all). No hortative or jussive morphology. No optative.

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                                          Turkish: second-person and other-person morphological imperative. Turkish has a full imperative paradigm: 2SG gel (bare stem), 2PL gelin, 3SG gelsin, 3PL gelsinler, and 1PL hortative gelelim. Prohibitives use the regular negative suffix -mA- with the imperative: gelme! 'come-NEG.IMP' — normal imperative + normal negation (Type 1). Has both hortative and jussive morphology (all three). Optative expressed by the suffix -sA (desiderative/conditional).

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                                            Finnish: second-person morphological imperative with dedicated forms (mene! 'go.IMP.2SG', menkaa! 'go.IMP.2PL'). Prohibitives use the negative auxiliary verb ala (imperative form of the negative verb ei) followed by the connegative: ala mene! 'NEG.IMP go.CONNEG' — the verb form changes from imperative to connegative (special imperative + normal negation, Type 3). Has hortative and jussive morphology. No dedicated optative (conditional -isi- serves optative functions).

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                                              Russian: second-person-only morphological imperative (idi! 'go.IMP.2SG', idite! 'go.IMP.2PL'). Prohibitives use the regular negation ne with the imperative form: ne idi! 'NEG go.IMP' — normal imperative + normal negation (Type 1). Periphrastic hortative davaj(te) + infinitive/verb. No dedicated optative morphology.

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                                                Latin: full morphological imperative paradigm with forms for 2SG, 2PL, and future imperative. Also has subjunctive forms used as hortative (1PL) and jussive (3SG/3PL): i! 'go.IMP.2SG', ite! 'go.IMP.2PL', eamus! 'go.SUBJ.1PL' (hortative), eat! 'go.SUBJ.3SG' (jussive). Prohibitives use the special negative ne (distinct from declarative non) with the subjunctive: ne eas! 'PROH go.SUBJ.2SG' — special imperative form (subjunctive replaces imperative) + special negation (Type 4). No dedicated optative (wishes use subjunctive).

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                                                  Hindi-Urdu: second-person and other-person morphological imperative. Three levels of imperative politeness: intimate (ja 'go.IMP.2SG.INTIM'), familiar (jao 'go.IMP.2PL'), and polite (jaiye 'go.IMP.2HON'). 3SG jussive jaae. Prohibitives use mat (special negative particle distinct from declarative nahin): mat jao! 'PROH go' — normal imperative + special negation (Type 2). No dedicated optative.

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                                                    Swahili: second-person and other-person morphological imperative. 2SG imperative is the bare stem (njoo! 'come!', soma! 'read!'); 2PL adds -ni (njooni!). Subjunctive forms serve as hortative/jussive: tu-some '1PL-read.SUBJ' (hortative), a-some '3SG-read.SUBJ' (jussive). Prohibitives use the regular negative prefix usi- with subjunctive: usi-some! 'NEG.2SG-read.SUBJ' — special verb form + normal negation strategy (Type 3). No dedicated optative.

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                                                      Arabic (Modern Standard): second-person and other-person morphological imperative. 2SG.M uktub! 'write!', 2SG.F uktubii!. Jussive (3rd person) uses the jussive mood li-yaktub 'let him write'. Prohibitives use the special negative particle laa (distinct from declarative lam/lan/maa) with the jussive verb form: laa taktub! 'PROH write.JUSS' — special verb form + special negation (Type 4). No dedicated optative.

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                                                        Tagalog: no morphological imperative in the strict sense; commands use the basic verb form (infinitive/imperative neutral form). Prohibitives use the special negative huwag (distinct from declarative hindi): Huwag kang pumunta! 'PROH you go' — normal imperative + special negation (Type 2). Periphrastic hortative with tayo na 'us already'. No optative.

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                                                          Quechua (Cuzco): second-person and other-person morphological imperative with a rich paradigm. 2SG -y (ri-y! 'go-IMP.2SG'), 2PL -ychis. 1PL hortative -sun (ri-sun 'go-HORT.1PL'), 3SG jussive -chun (ri-chun 'go-JUSS.3SG'). Prohibitives use the regular negation ama with the imperative followed by the suffix -chu: ama ri-y-chu! 'PROH go-IMP-PROH' — this involves a special construction (special imperative + special negation, Type 4, since both ama and -chu are prohibitive-specific). Has a dedicated optative (desiderative) suffix.

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                                                            Georgian: second-person and other-person morphological imperative. Georgian has a complex verbal system with imperative, optative, and conjunctive moods. 2SG ts'eri! 'write!'. Prohibitives use the preverb nu- and the conjunctive: nu ts'er — special verb form + special construction (Type 4). Has all three: imperative, hortative (1PL), and jussive (3SG). Morphologically dedicated optative mood exists.

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                                                              Hungarian: second-person-only morphological imperative. 2SG menj! 'go!', 2PL menjetek!. Prohibitives use the regular negation ne with the imperative/subjunctive form: ne menj! 'NEG go.IMP' — normal imperative + normal negation (Type 1). Subjunctive serves as jussive for 3rd person. No dedicated optative.

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                                                                Korean: second-person morphological imperative with speech-level distinctions. Imperative endings vary by politeness: -a/eo (plain), -seyo (polite), -(eu)sipsiyo (formal). Prohibitives use regular negation -ji ma- with the imperative: ga-ji ma! 'go-NMLZ NEG.IMP' — the structure involves the same imperative construction and the verbal negation pattern with mal- (normal imperative + normal negation, Type 1). Hortative -ja for 1PL. No dedicated optative.

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                                                                  Italian: second-person morphological imperative. 2SG va'! 'go!', 2PL andate!. Prohibitives use the regular negation non but with the infinitive instead of the imperative for 2SG: Non andare! 'NEG go.INF' — special verb form (infinitive replaces imperative) + normal negation (Type 3). 3SG/3PL uses subjunctive as jussive. No dedicated optative (subjunctive covers wishes).

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                                                                    Ancient Greek: second-person and other-person morphological imperative with present and aorist stems. Prohibitives use the special negative me (distinct from declarative ou/ouk) with the subjunctive (aorist) or imperative (present): me graphe! 'PROH write' — normal imperative form

                                                                    • special negation (Type 2 for present imperative prohibitives). Rich optative mood paradigm (graphoimi 'may I write').
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                                                                      All language profiles in the sample.

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                                                                        Does a language use a special prohibitive construction (Type 2, 3, or 4)? That is, does the prohibitive differ from simply negating the imperative?

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                                                                          Count of languages with a given morphological imperative type.

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                                                                            Count of languages with a given imperative-hortative system.

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                                                                              theorem Phenomena.Directives.Typology.sg_pl_most_common :
                                                                              (List.filter (fun (x : Core.WALS.Datapoint Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative) => x.value == Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative.secondSingularAndSecondPlural) Phenomena.Directives.Typology.f70✝).length > (List.filter (fun (x : Core.WALS.Datapoint Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative) => x.value == Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative.secondPersonNumberNeutral) Phenomena.Directives.Typology.f70✝¹).length (List.filter (fun (x : Core.WALS.Datapoint Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative) => x.value == Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative.secondSingularAndSecondPlural) Phenomena.Directives.Typology.f70✝²).length > (List.filter (fun (x : Core.WALS.Datapoint Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative) => x.value == Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative.noSecondPersonImperatives) Phenomena.Directives.Typology.f70✝³).length (List.filter (fun (x : Core.WALS.Datapoint Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative) => x.value == Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative.secondSingularAndSecondPlural) Phenomena.Directives.Typology.f70✝⁴).length > (List.filter (fun (x : Core.WALS.Datapoint Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative) => x.value == Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative.secondSingular) Phenomena.Directives.Typology.f70✝⁵).length (List.filter (fun (x : Core.WALS.Datapoint Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative) => x.value == Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative.secondSingularAndSecondPlural) Phenomena.Directives.Typology.f70✝⁶).length > (List.filter (fun (x : Core.WALS.Datapoint Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative) => x.value == Core.WALS.F70A.MorphologicalImperative.secondPlural) Phenomena.Directives.Typology.f70✝⁷).length

                                                                              Ch 70: Second-singular-and-second-plural imperatives (292) are the most common single type.

                                                                              Ch 71: The majority of languages (383/496 = 77.2%) use a special construction for prohibitives — they do NOT simply negate the imperative. Only 113/496 (22.8%) use normal imperative + normal negation (Type 1). This is van der Auwera's key finding: prohibitives are typologically marked relative to affirmative imperatives.

                                                                              In our sample, every language with an "all three" imperative-hortative system (Ch 72) also has a second-and-other morphological imperative (Ch 70). This makes sense: if a language has morphological hortative and jussive forms, its imperative paradigm extends beyond 2nd person.

                                                                              In our sample, more languages have a special prohibitive construction (Type 2, 3, or 4) than a normal one (Type 1). This mirrors the WALS finding that simply negating the imperative is the exception, not the rule.

                                                                              In our sample, every language with a dedicated optative also has a second-and-other morphological imperative (extended paradigm). Rich mood morphology tends to come as a package.

                                                                              In our sample, languages without a morphological imperative (Ch 70) are always classified as imperative-only for Ch 72. This is expected: if a language lacks even a 2nd-person morphological imperative, it is unlikely to have morphological hortatives or jussives.

                                                                              theorem Phenomena.Directives.Typology.jussive_mostly_extended_paradigm :
                                                                              have jussLangs := List.filter (fun (x : ImperativeProfile) => x.hasJussive) allLanguages; have extended := List.filter (fun (x : ImperativeProfile) => x.hasExtendedParadigm) jussLangs; extended.length * 4 jussLangs.length * 3

                                                                              In our sample, most languages with a jussive (Ch 72) also have a second-and-other morphological imperative (Ch 70). The exception is Hungarian, where the subjunctive serves as jussive while the imperative paradigm is second-person-only. At least 3/4 of jussive languages have extended paradigms.

                                                                              In our sample, Turkish, Russian, Hungarian, English, and Korean all use Type 1 prohibitives (normal imperative + normal negation). These include agglutinative languages where negation is a regular affix/particle that combines freely with the imperative morphology.

                                                                              In our sample, every language with a morphological imperative that extends to other persons (Ch 70 = secondAndOther) has at least some non-second-person command morphology (Ch 72 ≠ imperativeOnly), unless the extension is limited to features like number or formality within 2nd person. In fact, all secondAndOther languages in our sample have hortative or jussive or both.

                                                                              In our sample, no language without a morphological imperative has a dedicated optative. Mood-poor languages tend to be consistently mood-poor across the board.

                                                                              In our sample, most languages with a dedicated optative also have a special prohibitive construction (Type 2, 3, or 4). The exception is Turkish, where both the optative (-sA) and the prohibitive (regular negation + imperative) are well-integrated into the agglutinative morphology. At least 3/4 of optative languages have special prohibitives.

                                                                              Number of languages in our sample.

                                                                              Every language in our sample has a Ch 73 classification.