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Inlinguistic 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. An example of this would be "Oranges Sam ate."
| Order | Example | Usage | Languages | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOV | "Cows grass eat." | 45% | 45
|
Bengali, Burmese, Hindustani, Japanese, Korean, Oromo, Persian, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Turkish |
| SVO | "Cows eat grass." | 42% | 42
|
Arabic (modern spoken varieties), Chinese, English, French, German, Hausa, Hebrew, Italian, Malay, Portuguese, Spanish, Standard Average European, Swahili, Thai, Vietnamese |
| VSO | "Eat cows grass." | 9% | 9
|
Filipino, Geʽez, Irish, Māori, Tuareg-Berber, Welsh |
| VOS | "Eat grass cows." | 3% | 3
|
Car, Fijian, Malagasy, Qʼeqchiʼ, Terêna |
| OVS | "Grass eat cows." | 1% | 1
|
Hixkaryana, Urarina |
| OSV | "Grass cows eat." | 0% | Tobati, Warao | |
| Frequency distribution of word order in languages surveyed by Russell S. Tomlin in the 1980s[1][2] (
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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.[3] Here is an example from Apurinã:[3]
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.
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Various languages allow OSV word order but only in marked sentences, which emphasise part or all of the sentence.
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.
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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.[4]
Finnish has a remarkably lax word order[5] and so emphasis on the object is often marked simply by putting it first in the sentence.[6] 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."
InModern 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".[7] 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.
InHungarian, 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 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.
OSV is one of the permissible word orders in Malayalam, the other being SOV.
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
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.