Universal #1115

Legacy number: 1115

 Number  1111
 Original  Lack of inflectional morphology implies fixed word order of direct nominal arguments. The converse is not true, hardly even a tendency.
 Standardized  IF case inflection on direct nominal arguments gets lost, THEN their word order becomes fixed, but not vice versa.
 Formula  ¬ inflectional morphology ⇒ fixed word order of nominal arguments;
 Keywords  word order, inflection
 Domain  inflection, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  diachronic
 Quality  statistical?
 Basis  English, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, German, Dutch, West Flemish, Frisian, Afrikaans, Icelandic (all Germanic), Grisons (Romance, all IE)
 Source  Kiparsky 1997: 461

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Discussion
Notes
Is this exclusively a diachronic law, or are the relevant developments governed by an achronic implication that must not be infringed on in change?IF there is no case inflection on direct nominal arguments, THEN their word order is rigid. Explanatory note:“direct” (subj, dir, indir obj) as opposed to “oblique.”
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Is this exclusively a diachronic law, or are the relevant developments governed by an achronic implication that must not be infringed on in change?

IF there is no case inflection on direct nominal arguments, THEN their word order is rigid.

Explanatory note: "direct" (subj, dir, indir obj) as opposed to "oblique."