Universal #13

Legacy number: 12

 Number  12
 Original  Consistent VO languages tend to be inflectional in their morphology.
 Standardized  IF basic order is consistently VO, THEN the morphology tends to be flexive.
 Formula  VO ⇒ flexion
 Keywords  order, VO, flexion
 Domain  morphology, syntax
 Type  implication
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  languages in Lehmann 1973
 Source  W.P.Lehmann 1973: 47

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Discussion
Notes
See also #11."Flexion" designates a morphological type, as opposed "inflection". Its hallmark is cumulative exponence (which is sometimes also called "fusion" after Sapir, though Sapir’s notion of "fusion" is arguably not equivalent to cumulation: adjacent morphemes can be "fused" through regular phonology, or they can be morphologically cumulated in the first place).
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
See also <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=11"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">.
"Flexion" designates a morphological type, as opposed "inflection". Its hallmark is cumulative exponence (which is sometimes also called "fusion" after Sapir, though Sapir's notion of "fusion" is arguably not equivalent to cumulation: adjacent morphemes can be "fused" through regular phonology, or they can be morphologically cumulated in the first place).