Object Subject Verb

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Object Subject Verb (OSV) or Object Agent Verb (OAV) is one of the permutations of expression used in Linguistic typology. OSV or OAV denotes the sequence "Object Subject Verb" in neutral expressions: Dots Pac-Man ate. It is a notation used when classifying languages according to the dominant sequence of these constituents.

This sequence is rare. One example of a language that uses it is Xavante. It is also found in some other languages of Brazil, including Jamamadi, Apurinã, Kayabí and Nadëb. Sardinians very often use OAV while speaking in Italian. It is not uncommon in Yiddish, where it is commonly employed to emphasize the distinctive properties of the object. This structure may on occasion be seen in English, usually in the future tense or with the conjunction "but", such as in the following examples: "To Rome I shall go!", "I hate oranges, but apples I'll eat!". In English and German OSV appears in relative clauses where the relative pronoun is the (direct or indirect) object, such as in "Was ich mache, ist meine Angelegenheit." OSV is also used in American Sign Language. This is also one of the two common word orders in Malayalam, the other being SOV.

Passive form of Chinese is OSV (OAV).

• 那橘子被我吃掉了 - lit. The orange by me is eaten.
  • 橘子(Orange)is an Object, 我 (I, me) is considered as Subject in Chinese, 吃 (Eat, ate) is Verb.

This word order appears in a number of constructed languages, such as Teonaht, as it is often chosen by language inventors for its exotic sound. The Star Wars character Yoda speaks in a modified form of this word order. This word order is also used in the game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars by Bowyer.^[1]

See also

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

References