The claim and its denominator
A striking claim should be rewritten as a testable statement about a particular construction. “This language has one-word sentences” might concern a verbal form with several bound morphemes; “it has no words” would require a very different argument. “It has only three numbers” may concern an indigenous numeral lexicon in one documented variety and period, not all quantitative reasoning. Name what was measured, who measured it, and which forms were included.
For a global rarity claim, inspect the comparative sample. Are several related languages counted as independent cases? Are living languages described more fully than ancient ones? Does a map lack data in the relevant area? WALS categories compress grammatical facts for comparison. The chapter’s definition and original grammar are part of a defensible citation.
Four evidence layers
Record (1) the object or recording, (2) the transcription or transliteration, (3) the grammatical analysis, and (4) the teaching explanation. A different choice at one layer can change the conclusion. In Meroitic, knowing a sign’s reading does not supply the meaning of an undeciphered word. In a polysynthetic example, an editor’s hyphens are an analysis, not scratches visible on a tablet.
For a claim based on a translation, return to the source-language form. English word count, tense, articles, and information-source phrases may not align one to one. Compare at least one alternate context or form from the same variety. If the required evidence is not available, state a narrower conclusion.
A reproducible note
A short research note should give the claim, feature definition, language variety and date, exact cited example, source page or stable link, alternate analysis, and confidence. For an online map, record the date accessed and the chapter’s coding criteria. When an example comes through a secondary typological chapter, credit the original grammar named there and seek it if a disputed detail matters.
Practice: take a popular claim about an unusual language. Find the primary grammar or an authoritative typological chapter. Rewrite the claim so that each noun phrase has a referent and each frequency word has a denominator. Finish with one question the evidence cannot answer.
Modern-language examples on this page clarify a linguistic pattern. They do not establish unattested sounds or forms for an ancient language. Follow the cited sources below and keep editorial readings separate from the surviving trace.