Linguistic typology
Morphological
Isolating
Synthetic
Polysynthetic
Fusional
Agglutinative
Morphosyntactic
Alignment
Accusative
Ergative
Split ergative
Philippine
Active–stative
Tripartite
Inverse marking
Syntactic pivot
Theta role
Word Order
VO languages
Subject Verb Object
Verb Subject Object
Verb Object Subject
OV languages
Subject Object Verb
Object Subject Verb
Object Verb Subject
Time Manner Place
Place Manner Time
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Verb Subject Object (VSO) is a term in linguistic typology. 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 (especially Classical) Arabic, the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, that is Gaelic languages (Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx) and Brythonic languages (Welsh, and Breton with the exception of Cornish^[1]), Classic Maya, ancient Egyptian, Tagalog, Cebuano, Hawaiian, Pangasinan, Māori, Classical Hebrew, and Tongan. Very formal, literary Spanish will occasionally employ the form as well, such as in Cervantes: "Vino la cena, y vinieron músicos..."(The dinner came, and the musicians entered...). This construction is employed only rarely in modern Spanish.

Contents 1 Examples 2 Inversion into VSO 3 See also 4 Notes and references

[edit] Examples

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

Sentence	قرأ المدرس الكتاب
Words	الكتاب	المدرس	قرأ
DIN 31635	al-kitāba	al-mudarrisu	Qara'a
Gloss (words are in reverse order as Arabic is written right-to-left)	Read the teacher the book.
Parts	Object	Subject		Verb
Translation	Read - the teacher - book.

In Welsh, some tenses use simple verbs, which are found at the beginning of the sentence followed by the subject and any objects. An example of this is the preterite:

Sentence	Siaradodd Aled y Gymraeg
Words	Siaradodd	Aled	y Gymraeg
Gloss	spoke	Aled	DEF Welsh
Parts	Verb	Subject	Obect
Translation	Aled spoke Welsh

Other tenses may use compound verbs, where the conjugated form of, usually, bod (to be) precedes the subject and other verb-nouns come after the subject. Any objects then follow the final verb-noun. This is the usual method of forming the present tense:

Sentence	Mae Aled yn siarad y Gymraeg
Words	Mae	Aled	yn siarad	y Gymraeg
Gloss	is	Aled	V-N.speak	DEF Welsh
Parts	Aux. Verb	Subject	Verb-Noun	Object
Translation	Aled speaks Welsh

[edit] 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 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 questions include English, many Germanic languages, French, and Spanish (though not always).

[edit] See also

• Subject Object Verb
• Subject Verb Object
• Object Subject Verb
• Object Verb Subject
• Verb Object Subject

[edit] Notes and references

1. ^ Jenner, Henri. 1904. A Handbook of the Cornish Language London: D. Nut p.158