Universal #137

Legacy number: 137

 Number  137
 Original  In no language will the morphological bulk of a direct case affix exceed that of the oblique case affixes, as a general rule. There will be languages, however, in which the morphological bulk of oblique case affixes exceeds that of direct case affixes.
 Standardized  The morphological bulk of affixes for direct cases, measured in number of syllables, will not exceed that of affixes for oblique cases.
 Keywords  case, direct, oblique, syllable
 Domain  inflection
 Type  unconditional
 Status  achronic
 Quality  statistical
 Basis  languages mentioned in Haiman 1985, including Eskimo (Eskimo-Aleut), French, Spanish, Latin (all Romance, IE), Hungarian (Ugric, Uralic), Diyari, Guugu-Yimidhirr, Kalkatungu , Pitta-Pitta, Walbiri, Yidin (all Pama-Nyungan, Uralic)
 Source  Haiman 1985: 137

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Discussion
Notes
1. Haiman measures morphological bulk in syllables (1985: 137).2. Can presumably be reformulated as an implication.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
1. Haiman measures morphological bulk in syllables (Haiman 1985: 137).
2. Can presumably be reformulated as an implication.