Joseph Greenberg 
Language Universals [PDF ebook] 

„This is the latest version of the 1956 book which began the modern study of universals, and provides the foundation for many inquiries that followed. The hypotheses are cast at a moderate level of abstraction, and so are likely to survive as a basis for inquiry for many decades to come.”
Prof. Dr. William Labov, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Linguistics.