Object Agent Verb

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linguistic typology
Morphological
Isolating
Synthetic
Polysynthetic
Fusional
Agglutinative
Morphosyntactic
Alignment
Accusative
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
This box: view • talk • edit

Object Agent Verb (OAV) or Object Subject Verb (OSV) 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. 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 and is also sometimes found in German. In both of these languages this construction 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, so apples I'll eat!"; and in relative clauses where the relative pronoun is the (direct or indirect) object, such as in "What I do is my own business." OAV is also used in American Sign Language. This is also one of the two common word orders in Malayalam, the other being AOV.

Passive form of Chinese is OSV (OAV).

  • 那橘子被我吃掉了 - The orange is ate by me.
    • 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]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Scott Pelland; Kent Miller, Terry Munson, Paul Shinoda. "Epic Center", Nintendo Power, M. Arakawa, Nintendo of America, Inc., pp. 59. Retrieved on 2007-02-14. "Despite a rather loose grip on the English language, Bowyer has marshaled an impressive army to battle Rose Town." 
    Square Co., Ltd. (now Square Enix Co., Ltd.). Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Nintendo. SNES, Virtual Console. Level/area: Forest Maze (in English). (1996-05-13) “BOWYER: Gunya! Nya!!
    Strong you are. But stronger am I! Hurt you, I will!”