Languages and Culture 6 word orders

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Firestorm, Aug 1, 2005.

  1. Firestorm

    Firestorm New Member

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    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subject_Verb_Object

    Subject-Verb-Object (SVO): Sam ate oranges. (e.g. English, Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Kiswahili, and Indonesian)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subject_Object_Verb

    Subject Object Verb (SOV): Sam oranges ate. (e.g., Japanese, Persian, Hindi, Latin, Turkish, Tibetan, Tamil, Punjabi, Quechua) German and Dutch are basically SOV, but employ SVO in main clauses

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verb_Subject_Object

    Verb-Subject-Object (VSO): Ate Sam oranges. (e.g. Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, Arabic, Ancient Egyptian, Tagalog and Tongan)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verb_Object_Subject

    Verb Object Subject (VOS): Ate oranges Sam. (e.g. Malagasy, (Old) Javanese, Fijian)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_Subject_Verb

    Object Subject Verb (OSV): Oranges Sam ate. (e.g. Xavante, Jamamadi, Apurina, Kayabi and Nadeb)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_Verb_Subject

    Object Verb Subject (OVS): Oranges ate Sam. (e.g. Guarijio, Hixkaryana, and the artificial language of Klingon)

    Note: Those who has not heard of Hixkaryana and Xavante languages, here is an explanation,

    Hixkaryana is one of the Carib languages, spoken by just over 500 people on the Nhamunda river, a tributary of the Amazon River in Brazil. It is one of a few known natural languages that normally use Object Verb Subject word order, and was apparently the first such language to be described (by linguist Desmond C. Derbyshire). However, indirect objects follow the subject, and word order in nonfinite embedded clauses is SOV. [1] (http://www.ling.umd.edu/~soltan/LIN...s/handout3.pdf). Like most other languages with objects preceding the verb, it is postpositional.

    Toto yonoye kamara. Translated as "The jaguar ate the man." Toto means man, yonoye is from the verb meaning "to eat," and kamara means jaguar. Word order is crucial in Hixkaryana for understanding what is meant, as there are no case endings indicating the object and subject roles.


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hixkaryana_language

    The Xavante language is a Macro-Gê language spoken in about 60 villages in the area surrounding Eastern Mato Grosso, Brazil. The Xavante people are renowned as aggressive and prideful, but are most famous for their dualistic societal structure. Two clans, the âwawẽ and po'reza'õno comprise the culture, and marriage is not allowed between members of the same group. The Xavante are also known for their complex initiation rituals for young males in which a wooden earring is inserted in the earlobe. As time passes the size of these adornments is increased. The Xavante language is unique because of its 13 vowels and matching 13 consonants, its Object-Subject-Verb grammatical organization, and its interesting use of honorary and endearment terms in its morphology.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavante_language
     
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