Abstract
The study of linguistic typology is rooted in
the implications we find between linguistic
features, such as the fact that languages with
object-verb word ordering tend to have postpositions. Uncovering such implications typically amounts to time-consuming manual processing by trained and experienced linguists,
which potentially leaves key linguistic universals unexplored. In this paper, we present a
computational model which successfully identifies known universals, including Greenberg
universals, but also uncovers new ones, worthy of further linguistic investigation. Our approach outperforms baselines previously used
for this problem, as well as a strong baseline
from knowledge base population