Universal #587
Legacy number: 587
| Number | 584 |
| Original | If degree of complexity in phonetic form is systematically correlated with degree of complexity in meaning, the former always pertains to the number of phonetic segments, rather than to the number of (positively specified) phonetic features. That is to say, semantically more complex morphemes may be longer than semantically simpler ones but they will not systematically contain more complex sound types. |
| Standardized | Where phonetic complexity is systematically correlated with semantic complexity, the former will be measured in terms of segments rather than features; therefore, semantically more complex morphemes may be longer than semantically simpler ones but they will not systematically contain more complex sound types. |
| Keywords | morpheme, complexity |
| Domain | phonology, semantics |
| Type | no genuine implication; rather: provided that |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | unspecified |
| Source | Moravcsik 1980: 26 |
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