All Topics  
Verb Subject Object

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Verb Subject Object
 
 
  Topics Verb Subject Object Topic Home

Verb Subject Object (VSO) is a term in linguistic typology
Linguistic typology

Linguistic typology is a subfield of linguistics that studies and classifies languages according to their structural features. Its aim is to describe and explain the structural diversity of the world's languages....
. It represents one type of languages when classifying languages according to the sequence of these constituents in neutral expressions: Ate Sam oranges.

Examples of languages with VSO word order include formal
Literary Arabic

Literary Arabic or Standard Arabic is the literary and standard variety of Arabic used in writing and in formal speech. It is part of the Arabic language macrolanguage....
 (especially Classical
Classical Arabic

Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad Caliphate and Abbasid Caliphate times ....
) Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
, the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family
Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European languages language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul....
, that is Gaelic languages
Goidelic languages

The Goidelic languages, , historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, through the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland....
 (Irish
Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
, Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic languages branch of Celtic languages. This branch also includes the Irish language and Manx language languages....
 and Manx
Manx language

Manx , also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages spoken on the Isle of Man. The last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974, but in recent years it has been the subject of language revival efforts, and it is now the medium of education at the , a primary school for four- to eleven-year-olds in St....
) and Brythonic languages
Brythonic languages

The Brythonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Wales Celtic studies Sir John Rhys from the Welsh language word Brython, meaning an indigenous Brython as opposed to an Anglo-Saxons or Gaels....
 (Welsh
Welsh language

Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
, Cornish
Cornish language

The Cornish language is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages. The language continued to function as a community language in parts of Cornwall until the late 18th century, and there have been attempts to revive the language since the early 20th century....
 and Breton
Breton language

The Breton language is a Celtic languages spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany in France....
), Classic Maya, ancient Egyptian
Egyptian language

Egyptian is a branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family along with the Chadic languages, Berber languages, Semitic languages, Cushitic languages and possibly Omotic languages languages....
, Tagalog
Tagalog language

Tagalog is one of the major languages used in the Philippines. It is a basis for the Filipino language, which is the principal language of the national television and radio, though broadsheet newspapers are almost completely in English....
, Cebuano
Cebuano language

Cebuano is an Austronesian language language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people. It is the largest member of the Visayan languages, and is also referred to as "Visayan"....
, Hawaiian
Hawaiian language

The Hawaiian language is an Austronesian languages that takes its name from Hawaii , the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed....
, Pangasinan
Pangasinan language

The Pangasinan language is one of the twelve major languages in the Philippines.The language is spoken by more than one and a half million Pangasinan people in the province of Pangasinan alone....
, Maori
Maori language

Maori or te reo Maori, also commonly shortened to te reo , functions as one of the official languages of New Zealand. Linguists classify it within the Eastern Polynesian languages as closely related to Cook Islands Maori, Tuamotuan language and Tahitian language; somewhat less closely to Hawaiian language and Marquesan language; a...
, Classical Hebrew, and Tongan
Tongan language

Tongan is an Austronesian languages language spoken in Tonga. It has around 100,000 speakers and is a national language of Tonga. It is a Verb Subject Object language....
.

al Arabic is a prime example of a language that favors VSO.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Verb Subject Object'
Start a new discussion about 'Verb Subject Object'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Verb Subject Object (VSO) is a term in linguistic typology
Linguistic typology

Linguistic typology is a subfield of linguistics that studies and classifies languages according to their structural features. Its aim is to describe and explain the structural diversity of the world's languages....
. It represents one type of languages when classifying languages according to the sequence of these constituents in neutral expressions: Ate Sam oranges.

Examples of languages with VSO word order include formal
Literary Arabic

Literary Arabic or Standard Arabic is the literary and standard variety of Arabic used in writing and in formal speech. It is part of the Arabic language macrolanguage....
 (especially Classical
Classical Arabic

Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad Caliphate and Abbasid Caliphate times ....
) Arabic
Arabic language

Arabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages languages such as Hebrew language and Aramaic language....
, the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family
Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European languages language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul....
, that is Gaelic languages
Goidelic languages

The Goidelic languages, , historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, through the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland....
 (Irish
Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people....
, Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language

Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic languages branch of Celtic languages. This branch also includes the Irish language and Manx language languages....
 and Manx
Manx language

Manx , also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic languages spoken on the Isle of Man. The last native speaker, Ned Maddrell, died in 1974, but in recent years it has been the subject of language revival efforts, and it is now the medium of education at the , a primary school for four- to eleven-year-olds in St....
) and Brythonic languages
Brythonic languages

The Brythonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Wales Celtic studies Sir John Rhys from the Welsh language word Brython, meaning an indigenous Brython as opposed to an Anglo-Saxons or Gaels....
 (Welsh
Welsh language

Welsh ]], is a member of the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, in England by some along the Welsh Marches and in the Welsh settlement in Argentina in the Chubut Valley in Argentina Patagonia....
, Cornish
Cornish language

The Cornish language is one of the Brythonic group of Celtic languages. The language continued to function as a community language in parts of Cornwall until the late 18th century, and there have been attempts to revive the language since the early 20th century....
 and Breton
Breton language

The Breton language is a Celtic languages spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany in France....
), Classic Maya, ancient Egyptian
Egyptian language

Egyptian is a branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family along with the Chadic languages, Berber languages, Semitic languages, Cushitic languages and possibly Omotic languages languages....
, Tagalog
Tagalog language

Tagalog is one of the major languages used in the Philippines. It is a basis for the Filipino language, which is the principal language of the national television and radio, though broadsheet newspapers are almost completely in English....
, Cebuano
Cebuano language

Cebuano is an Austronesian language language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people. It is the largest member of the Visayan languages, and is also referred to as "Visayan"....
, Hawaiian
Hawaiian language

The Hawaiian language is an Austronesian languages that takes its name from Hawaii , the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed....
, Pangasinan
Pangasinan language

The Pangasinan language is one of the twelve major languages in the Philippines.The language is spoken by more than one and a half million Pangasinan people in the province of Pangasinan alone....
, Maori
Maori language

Maori or te reo Maori, also commonly shortened to te reo , functions as one of the official languages of New Zealand. Linguists classify it within the Eastern Polynesian languages as closely related to Cook Islands Maori, Tuamotuan language and Tahitian language; somewhat less closely to Hawaiian language and Marquesan language; a...
, Classical Hebrew, and Tongan
Tongan language

Tongan is an Austronesian languages language spoken in Tonga. It has around 100,000 speakers and is a national language of Tonga. It is a Verb Subject Object language....
.

Examples

Formal Arabic is a prime example of a language that favors VSO. For example:

Inversion into VSO

There are many languages which switch from SVO (Subject Verb Object) order to VSO order with different constructions, usually for emphasis. For example, sentences in English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 poetry can sometimes be found to have a VSO order; Arabic sentences use an SVO order or a VSO order depending on whether the subject or the verb is more important.

Non-VSO languages that use VSO word order in question
Question

A question may be either a linguistic expression used to make a request for information, or else the request itself made by such an expression. This information is provided with an answer....
s include English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, many Germanic languages
Germanic languages

The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European languages language family. The common ancestor of all the languages in this branch is Proto-Germanic, spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Pre-Roman Iron Age....
, French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, and Spanish
Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
.

See also

  • Subject Object Verb
    Subject Object Verb

    In linguistic typology, Subject Object Verb is the type of languages in which the subject , object , and verb of a sentence appear or usually appear in that order....
  • Subject Verb Object
  • Object Subject Verb
    Object Subject Verb

    Object Subject Verb or Object Agent Verb is one of the permutations of expression used in Linguistic typology.OSV or OAV denotes the sequence "Object Subject Verb" in neutral expressions: Oranges Sam ate....
  • Object Verb Subject
    Object Verb Subject

    Object Verb Subject or Object Verb Agent is one of the permutations of expression used in linguistic typology, although it is rare among languages in general....
  • Verb Object Subject
    Verb Object Subject

    In linguistic typology, 'Verb Object Subject' or 'Verb Object Agent' - commonly used in its abbreviated form 'VOS' or 'VOA' - represents the language-classification type of which the following sequence of the three constituents, in neutral expressions, is an example: "Eats oranges Sam."...