Object–subject–verb word order

In linguistic typology, the object–subject–verb (OSV) or object–agent–verb (OAV) word order is a structure where the object of a sentence precedes both the subject and the verb. Although this word order is rarely found as the default in most languages, it does occur as the unmarked or neutral order in a few Amazonian languages, including Xavante and Apurinã. In many other languages, OSV can be used in marked sentences to convey emphasis or focus, often as a stylistic device rather than a normative structure. OSV constructions appear in languages as diverse as Chinese, Finnish, and British Sign Language, typically to emphasize or topicalize the object. Examples of OSV structures can also be found in certain contexts within English, Hebrew, and other languages through the use of syntactic inversion for emphasis or rhetorical effect. The OSV order is also culturally recognizable through its use by the character Yoda in Star Wars.

An example of this word order in English would be "Oranges Sam ate" (meaning, Sam ate oranges).

Unmarked word order

Natural languages

OSV is rarely used in unmarked sentences, which use 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, Warao, Kayabí and Nadëb.^[1] Mizo language also uses OSV in unmarked sentences. Here is an example from Apurinã:^[1]

anana

pineapple

nota

I

apa

fetch

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 is OSV.

Marked word order

Various languages allow OSV word order but only in marked sentences, which emphasise part or all of the sentence.

Chinese

Passive constructions in Chinese follow an OSV (OAV) pattern through the use of the particle 被:

这个

Zhège

this

橘子

júzi

orange

被

bèi

by

我

wǒ

me

吃

chī

eat

掉

diào

 

了

le

PFV

这个 橘子 被 我 吃 掉 了

Zhège júzi bèi wǒ chī diào le

this orange by me eat {} PFV

This orange was eaten by me.

English

In English, object-subject-verb order is atypical but can be used for contrastive focus, as in: That car we bought at least five years ago. The other one we only bought last year.^[2]

Finnish

Finnish has a remarkably lax word order^[3] and so emphasis on the object is often marked simply by putting it first in the sentence.^[4] The word by word translation in example (1) would be "you I love!" and expresses a contrast to maybe loving someone else.

(1)

Sinua

2SG.PTV

minä

1SG.NOM

rakastan!

1SG.love.PRS.IND

Sinua minä rakastan!

2SG.PTV 1SG.NOM 1SG.love.PRS.IND

"I love you!"

This word order is totally natural and quite often used for emphasis. Example (2) expresses the contrast of refusing to eat something else (like something more healthy).

(2)

Suklaata

chocolate.PTV

se

3.SG

kyllä

INT

suostuu

3SG.consent.PRS.IND

syömään

eat.ILL

Suklaata se kyllä suostuu syömään

chocolate.PTV 3.SG INT 3SG.consent.PRS.IND eat.ILL

"He instead consents to eating chocolate."

Hebrew

In Modern Hebrew, OSV is often used instead of the normal SVO to emphasise the object. אני אוהב אותה would mean "I love her", but "אותה אני אוהב" would mean "It is she whom I love".^[5] Possibly an influence of Germanic (via Yiddish), as Jewish English uses a similar construction ("You, I like, kid") much more than many other varieties of English and often with the "it is" left implicit.

Hungarian

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

Korean and Japanese have SOV by default, but since they are topic-prominent languages, they often seem to be OSV when the object is topicalized. Here is an example in Korean:

그 사과는 제가 먹었어요.

그

geu

that

 

사과–는

sagwa-neun

apple-TOP

Object

제–가

je-ga

I.POL-NOM

Subject

먹–었–어–요

meog-eoss-eo-yo

eat-PST-DEC-POL

Verb

그 사과–는 제–가 먹–었–어–요

geu sagwa-neun je-ga meog-eoss-eo-yo

that apple-TOP I.POL-NOM eat-PST-DEC-POL

{} Object Subject Verb

As for the apple, I ate it. (or) The apple, I ate.

An almost identical syntax is possible in Japanese:

そのりんごは私が食べました。

その

sono

that

 

りんご゠は

ringo-wa

apple-TOP

Object

私゠が

watashi-ga

I.POL-NOM

Subject

食べ゠まし゠た

tabe-mashi-ta

eat-POL-PST/PERF

Verb

その りんご゠は 私゠が 食べ゠まし゠た

sono ringo-wa watashi-ga tabe-mashi-ta

that apple-TOP I.POL-NOM eat-POL-PST/PERF

{} Object Subject Verb

As for the apple, I ate it. (or) The apple, I ate.

Malayalam

OSV is one of the permissible word orders in Malayalam, the other being SOV.

Portuguese

OSV is possible in Portuguese to emphasize the object.

De maçã eu não gosto

De

of

 

maçã

apple

Object

eu

I

Subject

não

NEG

 

gosto

like-1SG

Verb

De maçã eu não gosto

of apple I NEG like-1SG

{} Object Subject {} Verb

I do not like apple

Turkish

OSV is used in Turkish to emphasize the subject:

Yemeği ben pişirdim.

yemeğ-i

meal-ACC

ben

I

pişir-di-m

cook-PST-1SG

yemeğ-i ben pişir-di-m

meal-ACC I cook-PST-1SG

It was I, not somebody else, who cooked the meal.

See also

• Yoda, a popular Star Wars character who speaks in the object–subject–verb word order
• Yoda conditions - a style of writing conditionals in computer programming languages

Order	Example	Usage		Languages
SOV	"Sam oranges ate."	45%	45	Abaza, Abkhaz, Adyghe, Ainu, Amharic, Ancient Greek, Akkadian, Armenian, Avar, Aymara, Azerbaijani, Bambara, Basque, Bengali, Burmese, Burushaski, Chukchi, Elamite, Hindustani, Hittite, Hopi, Itelmen, Japanese, Kabardian, Korean, Kurdish, Latin, Lhasa Tibetan, Malayalam, Manchu, Mongolian, Navajo, Nepali, Nivkh, Oromo, Pali, Pashto, Persian, Quechua, Sanskrit, Sinhala, Tamil, Telugu, Tigrinya, Turkish, Yukaghir
SVO	"Sam ate oranges."	42%	42	Arabic (modern spoken varieties), Chinese, many European languages, Hausa, Hebrew, Indonesian, Kashmiri, Malay, Swahili, Thai, Vietnamese
VSO	"Ate Sam oranges."	9%	9	Arabic (modern standard), Berber languages, Biblical Hebrew, Filipino, Geʽez, Irish, Māori, Scottish Gaelic, Tongan, Welsh
VOS	"Ate oranges Sam."	3%	3	Algonquian languages, Arawakan languages, Austronesian languages, Car, Chumash, Fijian, Malagasy, Mayan languages, Otomanguean languages, Qʼeqchiʼ, Salishan languages, Terêna
OVS	"Oranges ate Sam."	1%	1	Äiwoo, Hixkaryana, Urarina
OSV	"Oranges Sam ate."	0%		Tobati, Warao, Haida
Frequency distribution of word order in languages surveyed by Russell S. Tomlin in the 1980s[6][7] ( v t e )

References

1. O'Grady, William; Dobrovolsky, Michael; Aronoff, Mark (1997). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-582-24691-1.
2. "Word order and focus". Retrieved 11 May 2023.
3. "Sanajärjestys jäsentää tekstiä - Kielikello".
4. "Word order and basic noun cases — Hyvää Päivää Suomi documentation".
5. 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). PMC 3392331. PMID 14700372.
6. Meyer, Charles F. (2010). Introducing English Linguistics (Student ed.). Cambridge University Press.
7. Tomlin, Russell S. (1986). Basic Word Order: Functional Principles. London: Croom Helm. p. 22. ISBN 9780709924999. OCLC 13423631.