Object–subject–verb
| Linguistic typology |
|---|
| Morphological |
| Morphosyntactic |
| Word order |
| Lexicon |
| Word order |
English equivalent |
Proportion of languages |
Example languages | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOV | "She him loves." | 45% | Sanskrit, Hindi, Ancient Greek, Latin, Japanese, Korean | |
| SVO | "She loves him." | 42% | Chinese, English, French, Hausa, Italian, Malay, Russian, Spanish | |
| VSO | "Loves she him." | 9% | Biblical Hebrew, Arabic, Irish, Filipino, Tuareg-Berber, Welsh | |
| VOS | "Loves him she." | 3% | Malagasy, Baure | |
| OVS | "Him loves she." | 1% | Apalaí, Hixkaryana | |
| OSV | "Him she loves." | 0% | Warao, (certain dialects of) Korean | |
()
In linguistic typology, object–subject–verb (OSV) or object–agent–verb (OAV) is a classification of languages, based on whether the structure predominates in pragmatically-neutral expressions. It is occasionally used in English: "Him I know."
Contents
Unmarked word order[edit]
Natural languages[edit]
OSV is rarely used in unmarked sentences, those using a normal word order without emphasis. Most languages that use OSV as their default word order come from the Amazon basin, such as Xavante, Jamamadi, Apurinã, Kayabí and Nadëb.[3] Here is an example from Apurinã:[3]
anana nota apa pineapple I fetch I fetch a pineapple
British Sign Language (BSL) normally uses topic–comment structure, but its default word order when topic–comment structure is not used as OSV.
Marked word order[edit]
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Various languages allow OSV word order but only in marked sentences, those that emphasise part or all of the sentence.
American Sign Language[edit]
 | This section needs attention from an expert in deaf. The specific problem is: contradictory and uncited information about ASL's word order. (August 2015) |
American Sign Language uses topics to set up referent loci.
ASL normally also uses topic–comment structure, similar to BSL.
Arabic[edit]
Arabic also allows OSV in marked sentences:
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينَ. Iyyāka naʿbudu wa-iyyāka nastaʿīn You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.
English and German[edit]
In English and German, OSV appears primarily in relative clauses if the relative pronoun is the (direct or indirect) object: "What I do is my own business" and "Was ich mache, ist meine Angelegenheit."
In English, OSV appears in the future tense or as a contrast with the conjunction but: "Rome I shall see!" and "Oranges I may hate; (but)* Apples I shall eat!"[citation needed]
- Note: The inclusion of the word "But" may be optional.
Hebrew[edit]
In Modern Hebrew, OSV is often used instead of the normal SVO to emphasise the object: while אני אוהב אותה would mean "I love her", "אותה אני אוהב" would mean "It is she whom I love".[4] Possibly an influence of Germanic (via Yiddish), as Jewish English uses a similar construction ("You, I like, kid")—see above —much more than many other varieties of English, and often with the "but" left implicit.
Hungarian[edit]
In Hungarian, OSV emphasises the subject:
A szócikket én szerkesztettem = The article/I/edited (It was I, not somebody else, who edited the article).
Korean and Japanese[edit]
Korean and Japanese have SOV by default, but word order is relatively free if the verb is at the end, and OSV is common if the object is topicalised.
Sentence 그 사과는 제가 먹었어요. Words 그 사과 는 제 가 먹 었 어요 Romanization geu sagwa neun je ga meog eoss eoyo. Gloss the/that apple (topicalization marker) I (polite) (sub. marker) eat (past) (polite) Parts Object Subject Verb Translation It is I who ate that apple. (or) As for the apple, I ate it. (or) The apple was eaten by me.
An almost identical syntax is possible in Japanese:
Sentence そのりんごを私が食べました。 Words その りんご を 私 が 食べ まし た。 Romanization sono ringo wo watashi ga tabe mashi ta. Gloss the/that apple (object marker) I (sub. marker) eat (polite) (past/perfect) Parts Object Subject Verb Translation It is I who ate that apple.
Malayalam[edit]
OSV is one of two permissible word orders in Malayalam, the other being SOV.
Nahuatl[edit]
OSV emphasises the object in Nahuatl.[5]
Cah cihuah in niquintlazohtla (indicative marker) women (topicalization marker) I-them-love women I love them It is the women whom I love.
Turkish[edit]
OSV is used in Turkish to emphasise the subject:
Yemeği ben pişirdim = The meal/I/cooked (It was I, not somebody else, who cooked the meal).
See also[edit]
- Subject–object–verb
- Subject–verb–object
- Object–verb–subject
- Verb–object–subject
- Verb–subject–object
- Yoda, a popular Star Wars character who uniquely speaks in object-subject-verb order
References[edit]
- ^ Meyer, Charles F. (2010). Introducing English Linguistics International (Student ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Tomlin, Russell S. (1986). Basic Word Order: Functional Principles. London: Croom Helm. p. 22. ISBN 9780709924999. OCLC 13423631.
- ^ a b O'Grady, W. et al Contemporary Linguistics (3rd edition, 1996) ISBN 0-582-24691-1
- ^ Friedmann, Naama; Shapiro, Lewis (April 2003). "Agrammatic comprehension of simple active sentence with moved constituents: Hebrew OSV and OVS structures". Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 46 (2): 288–97. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2003/023).
- ^ Introduction to Classical Nahuatl[vague]
