Universal 196: OV ⇒ simple syllable structure
- Original
- OV languages tend to have simple syllable structure.
- Standardized
- IF basic order is OV, THEN syllable structure is simple (tending towards CV).
- Keywords
- order, OV, syllable, complexity
- Domain
- phonology, syntax
- Type
- implication
- Status
- achronic
- Quality
- statistical
- Basis
- Turkish (Turkic, Altaic), Japanese (Japanese-Ryukyuan)
- Source
- W.P.Lehmann 1973: 61, see Plank 1998 for discussion
- Counterexamples
Languages with flexive morphology (which tend to be OV) tend to have the ends of syllables closed, with consonant clusters occurring in this position as freely as in initial position (Lehmann 1973: 61).