Universal 653: large phoneme inventory ⇒ short morphemes;
small phoneme inventory ⇒ long morphemes

Universal 653: large phoneme inventory ⇒ short morphemes;
small phoneme inventory ⇒ long morphemes

Original

There is an inverse relationship between the number of phonemes in a language and the average length of its morphemes.

Standardized

IF the phoneme inventory is large, THEN morpheme length is short.
IF the phoneme inventory is small, THEN morphemes length is long.

Keywords

phoneme, morpheme length

Domain

phonology

Type

implication

Status

achronic

Quality

statistical

Basis

?

Source

Byrne 1885, cited by Plank 1998

Counterexamples