There is a positive correlation between higher syllable-per-sentence and syllable-per word ratios, simpler (or shorter) syllables, agglutinative morphology, and (S)OV basic word order on the one hand and between lower syllable-per-sentence and syllable-per-word ratios, more complex (or longer) syllables, flective (or no) morphology, and (S)V(S)O basic word order on the other.
Standardized
IF there are high syllable-per-sentence and high syllable-per-word ratios & simple syllables & agglutinative morphology, THEN basic word order will be (S)OV. IF there are low syllable-per-sentence and low syllable-per-word ratios & complex syllables & flexive [or no] morphology, THEN basic word order will be (S)V(S)O.
