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Universal 367: agglutinative ⇒ phonological structure of affixes is similar to the structure of stems;
flective ⇒ affixes are shorter and structurally simpler than stems

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 367: agglutinative ⇒ phonological structure of affixes is similar to the structure of stems;
flective ⇒ affixes are shorter and structurally simpler than stems

Original
Whereas the phonological structure of affixes is very similar to the structure of stems in the agglutinative type, affixes tend to differ significantly from stems in the flective type: they are much shorter, structurally simpler, and more uniform than their agglutinative counterparts.
Standardized
IF morphology is agglutinative, THEN the phonological structure of affixes tends to be very similar to that of stems.
IF morphology is flexive, THEN affixes tend to be shorter, structurally simpler, and more uniform in their phonemic make-up than stems.
Keywords
phonology, affix, stem, agglutination, flexion
Domain
phonology, morphology
Type
mutual implication
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
unspecified
Source
Dressler 1985, adapted from Skalicka: Plank 1996, Plank 1998
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Implications presumably intended as mutual: “mutually conducive traits”.For a tabular summary of Skalicka’s typological “constructs” see Plank 1998: 204-205.

    1. May 2020

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