In no language will the morphological bulk of a direct case affix exceed that of the oblique case affixes, as a general rule. There will be languages, however, in which the morphological bulk of oblique case affixes exceeds that of direct case affixes.
Standardized
The morphological bulk of affixes for direct cases, measured in number of syllables, will not exceed that of affixes for oblique cases.
Keywords
case, direct, oblique, syllable
Domain
inflection
Type
unconditional
Status
achronic
Quality
statistical
Basis
languages mentioned in Haiman 1985, including Eskimo (Eskimo-Aleut), French, Spanish, Latin (all Romance, IE), Hungarian (Ugric, Uralic), Diyari, Guugu-Yimidhirr, Kalkatungu , Pitta-Pitta, Walbiri, Yidin (all Pama-Nyungan, Uralic)
1. Haiman measures morphological bulk in syllables (1985: 137).2. Can presumably be reformulated as an implication.