Universal #1038

Legacy number: 1038

 Number  1034
 Original  Morphemically simple words must have one main stress.
 Standardized  Morphemically simple words must have one main stress.
 Keywords  stress, accent
 Domain  prosodic phonology
 Type  unconditional
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  sample of almost 200 languages in Greenberg & Kaschube 1976
 Source  Greenberg & Kaschube 1976: 6

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Discussion
Counterexamples
Possible counterexamples: many stress languages are described as having at least some (non-clitic!) words lacking a stress, e.g. Kitsai (Caddoan), Saho (Cushitic, Afro-Asiatic), Seneca (Iroquoian) (Hyman 1977: 38).
Notes
Accent = phonetic features occurring just once or at most once in the phonological word, with cumulative or demarcative function (Greenberg & Kaschube 1976).Not actually stated, but may be assumed to follow from the definition of ‘accent‘ above.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Accent = phonetic features occurring just once or at most once in the phonological word, with cumulative or demarcative function (Greenberg & Kaschube 1976). Not actually stated, but may be assumed to follow from the definition of 'accent' above.