The evolution of gender and number agreement in the noun phrase

We test the dependency relations between gender and number posited by Greenberg’s Universal 36 by focusing on patterns of gender and number agreement in the noun phrase from an evolutionary perspective. To do so, we use data from Grambank, the largest existing database of morphosyntactic structures in the world’s languages. Based on data from 1,608 languages worldwide, we use a Reverse Jump Markov Chain Monte Carlo method to investigate the order of emergence of gender and number marking on adjectives, demonstratives and (for a smaller dataset) articles. Globally, our findings support Greenberg’s idea that gender marking hinges on number marking. In addition, they show that both adjectives and demonstratives play a special role in the development of noun-phrase internal agreement, in that under different evolutionary scenarios the occurrence of gender and number agreement on adjectives or demonstratives may favor the spreading of agreement to other target types. We compare these results with family-specific patterns of language change and further discuss their relevance to the general understanding of nominal morphosyntax.