07_Verb Subject Object
| Definition |
|---|
| The property Verb Subject Object has the value "yes" when the order Verb Subject Object can be used in a neutral context. The clause in this property is an active (non-passive) declarative (non-interrogative) clause. In this property, the subject and
object are not pronouns. Furthermore, the verb must be clause initial (see German example below). As with all word order properties, we restrict our attention to productive word order patterns. Definition of Subject Definition of Object General Note on Word Order Properties: A "yes" value for Verb Subject Object does not exclude a "yes" value for any other order of these categories. NA (Not Applicable): All known languages have subjects and objects in the defined sense, so this property is always defined and never has the value NA. Examples: 1. Welsh is "yes" for Verb Subject Object: Bwytodd Llion fara eat.PST.3SG Llion bread "Llion ate bread." 2. In general, a language will be classified as Verb Subject Object when that order is possible with a clause initial verb. German admits the order Verb Subject Object, but only in the presence of an initial adverb (this is the so-called Verb-Second property). Therefore, we assume that German is not Verb Subject Object. Heute kauft Hans den Wein today buz.3SG Hans the.ACC wine "Today Hans buys the wine." 3. English is "no" for Verb Subject Object since this order is always ungrammatical: *sees John the airplane. (* means ungrammatical) 4. Japanese is "no" for Verb Subject Object, since this order is always ungrammatical: *otosi-ta dareka-ga koppu-o. drop-Past someone-NOM cup-ACC "Someone dropped a cup." |
| Contributed by: Andrea Cattaneo, Chris Collins, Jim Wood |
| Language | Value | Contributor | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| =Hoan | No | Chris Collins | |
| Acehnese | No | Julie Legate | |
| Afrikaans | No | Theresa Biberauer | This is an order which is exclusively possible in narrative contexts. |
| + Agni indénié | No | Amoikon Dyhié ASSANVO | |
| + Albanian | Yes | Dalina Kallulli | |
| American Sign Language | Yes | Natasha Abner | |
| Amharic | No | Girma Demeke | |
| + Ancient Greek | Yes | Richard Faure | |
| + Arabic, Gulf | Yes | Dimitrios Ntelitheos | |
| Bajau, West Coast | Yes | Mark Miller | |
| Bambara | No | Hilda Koopman | |
| Bardi | Yes | Claire Bowern | |
| Basaa | No | Paul Roger Bassong | |
| Basque | No | Karlos Arregi | |
| + Bellinzonese | No | Andrea Cattaneo | |
| Beng | No | Denis Paperno | |
| Bengali | No | Priyanka Biswas | |
| Bole | No | Alhaji Gimba | |
| Brazilian Portuguese | No | Bruna Moreira | |
| Breton | Yes | Steve Hewitt | |
| Bulgarian | No | Ljuba Veselinova | |
| Burgenland-Romani | No | Michelle McComb | |
| Burmese | No | Timothy Ho | |
| Calabrian (Northern) | No | Giuseppina Silvestri | |
| Catalan | No | Txuss Martin | |
| + Chalcatongo Mixtec | Yes | Jess Combs | |
| Chichewa | No | Sam Mchombo | |
| Chickasaw | No | Pam Munro | |
| + Chol | Yes | Jessica Coon | |
| + Czech | No | Pavel Caha | |
| Dagaare | No | Adams Bodomo | |
| Dholuo | No | Hilda Koopman | |
| Digo | No | Steve Nicolle | |
| Digor Ossetic | Yes | David Erschler | |
| Dutch | No | Hilda Koopman | |
| + Eastern Armenian | Yes | Karine Megerdoomian | |
| Egyptian Arabic | Yes | Arwa Rangwala | |
| English | No | Chris Collins | |
| English (Singapore) | No | Adam Chong | |
| European Portuguese | No | Salvador Mascarenhas | |
| Ewe | No | Chris Collins | |
| Farefari | No | Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu | |
| Faroese | No | Gunnar Hrafn Hrafnbjargarson | |
| Finnish | No | Anders Holmberg | |
| French | No | Chris Collins | |
| Frisian (West Frisian) | No | Jarich Hoekstra | |
| Ga | No | Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu | |
| galician | Yes | Naír García | |
| Garifuna | Yes | Teresa O'Neill (contributor till 2012) | |
| georgian | Yes | Lea Nash | |
| German | No | Chris Collins | |
| + Greek | Yes | Arhonto Terzi | |
| Greenlandic, West (Kalaallisut) | No | Stephen Mayeaux | |
| Gungbe (Porto-Novo) | No | Enoch Oladé Aboh | |
| Gurene | No | Samuel Atintono | |
| Haitian | No | Michel DeGraff | |
| Hakka | No | Iris Wu | |
| Hanga | No | Geoffrey Hunt | |
| Hausa | No | Russell Schuh | |
| Hebrew | No | Ur Shlonsky | |
| Hindi | No | Anoop Mahajan | |
| Hittite | No | Mattyas Huggard | |
| Hixkaryana | No | Laura Kalin | |
| + Hungarian | Yes | Anna Szabolcsi | |
| Ibibio | No | Willie Willie | |
| Icelandic | No | Jim Wood | |
| Igala | No | Johnson Folorunso Ilori | |
| Iha | No | Mark Donohue | |
| + Ilokano | Yes | Jeremy Rafal | |
| imbabura quichua | No | UCLA Linguistics 210 | |
| Indonesian | No | Mark Donohue | |
| + Irish | Yes | Bridget Nixdorf | |
| Iron Ossetic | Yes | David Erschler | |
| Isbukun Bunun | Yes | Iris Wu | |
| Italian | No | Andrea Cattaneo | |
| Jamaican Creole English | No | Tonjes Veenstra | |
| Japanese | No | Ken Hiraiwa | |
| Jarawara | No | Alan Vogel | |
| Jingulu | Yes | Rob Pensalfini | |
| Karachay | No | Steve Seegmiller | |
| Kayan | No | Ken Manson | |
| Khasi | Yes | Gracious Temsen | |
| KiLega | No | Kasangati Kinyalolo | |
| Kiswahili | No | Aggrey Wasike | |
| Kiyaka | Yes | Lukowa Kidima | |
| Konni | No | Michael Cahill | |
| Korean | No | Chung-hye Han | |
| Kuot | Yes | Eva Lindström | VSO is the unmarked word order |
| Kurdish (Sorani) | No | Yadgar Karimi | |
| Kusunda | No | Mark Donohue | |
| Laal | No | Florian Lionnet | |
| Lango | No | Arwa Rangwala | |
| Lani | No | Mark Donohue | |
| Lao | No | Alif Silpachai | |
| Lebanese Arabic | Yes | Lina Choueiri | |
| Lubukusu | No | Aggrey Wasike | |
| Maasai (Kisongo) | Yes | Hilda Koopman | |
| + Malagasy | Yes | Ed Keenan and Laura Kalin | |
| Malayalam | No | Mythili Menon | |
| Mandarin | No | Arthur Wang | |
| Mankanya | No | Tim Gaved | |
| Maori | Yes | Ray Harlow | |
| + Marshallese | No | Heather Willson Sturman | |
| Masarak | No | Jessica Chen | |
| Mbuko | No | Richard Gravina | |
| Medumba | No | KEUPDJIO HERMANN SIDOINE | |
| Middle Dutch | No | Gertjan Postma | |
| Miya | No | Michael A. Estrada | |
| N|u | No | Chris Collins | |
| Nahuatl (Central Huasteca) | Yes | John Garcia | |
| Nahuatl (Classical) | Yes | John Garcia | |
| Naki | No | Jeff Good | |
| Nawdm | No | Hannah Kim | |
| Ndut | No | Daniel Morgan | |
| Nepali | No | Mark Donohue | |
| Niuean | Yes | Diane Massam | |
| Northern Thai | No | Alif Silpachai | |
| Norwegian | No | Marit Julien | |
| + Nupe | No | Jason Kandybowicz | |
| Nweh | No | Hilda Koopman | |
| Occitan | No | Patrick Sauzet | |
| Okinawan | No | Ken Hiraiwa | |
| Old English | No | Steve Seegmiller | |
| + Old French | Yes | Heather Burnett | |
| One | No | Mark Donohue | |
| Palue | No | Mark Donohue | |
| panjabi | No | Gurprit Bains | |
| Papuan Malay | No | Mark Donohue | |
| Pashto | No | Taylor Roberts | |
| Pima | Yes | Marcus Smith | |
| + Polish | No | Barbara Tomaszewicz | |
| Q'anjob'al | Yes | Kathleen O'Flynn | |
| + Romanian | Yes | Oana Savescu | |
| + Russian | No | Stephanie Harves | |
| Salasaca Quichua | No | Pieter Muysken | |
| Samoan | Yes | Vincent Homer | |
| San Dionisio Ocotepec Zapotec | Yes | George Aaron Broadwell | |
| Sandawe | No | Helen Eaton | |
| Saramaccan | No | Tonjes Veenstra | |
| Saweru | No | Mark Donohue | |
| Scottish Gaelic | Yes | Andrew Carnie | |
| Senaya | No | Laura McPherson | |
| Shan | No | Alif Silpachai | |
| Shupamem | No | Abdoulaye Laziz Nchare | This order is possible when the subject is focussed. |
| Skou | No | Mark Donohue | |
| + Slovenian | No | Franc Marušič | |
| + Spanish | No | Violeta Vazquez-Rojas | |
| St'át'imcets | Yes | Lisa Matthewson | |
| + Swedish | No | fredrik heinat | |
| Swiss German | No | Cecile Meier | |
| + Tagalog | Yes | Edith Aldridge | |
| Taiwanese Southern Min | No | Arthur Wang | |
| Thai | No | Peter Jenks | |
| Tigre | No | Zhenyu Sun | |
| Titan | No | Claire Bowern | |
| Tiwa | No | Virginia Dawson | |
| + Tlingit | Yes | James Crippen | |
| Tommo-So | No | Laura McPherson | |
| Tongan | Yes | Hilda Koopman | |
| + Triqui, Copala | Yes | George Aaron Broadwell | |
| + Tukang Besi | Yes | Mark Donohue | |
| Tuki (Tukombo) | No | Edmond Biloa | |
| Turkish | Yes | Murat Kural | |
| Tuvan | No | Brian Hsu | |
| Twi | No | Chris Collins | |
| Udmurt | No | Orsolya Tanczos | |
| + Ukrainian | No | Roksolana Mykhaylyk | possible in certain non neutral contexts |
| Vata | No | Hilda Koopman | |
| Vietnamese | No | Binh Ngo | |
| Vlaški-Žejanski-Istro-Romanian | No | Zvjezdana Vrzic | |
| Wan | No | Tatiana Nikitina | |
| Warlpiri | Yes | Margit Bowler | |
| Welsh | Yes | David Willis | |
| West Flemish | No | Liliane Haegeman | |
| Western Armenian | Yes | Hrayr Khanjian | |
| Wolof | No | Harold Torrence | |
| Yan-nhaŋu | Yes | Claire Bowern | |
| Yawa | No | Mark Donohue | |
| Yiddish | No | Shannon Mooney | |
| Yoruba | No | Johnson Folorunso Ilori | |
| Zulu | No | Claire Halpert |