Constituent Order Correlations

Phrase constituents may vary with respect to word order.

There is a tendency to correlation between clausal and phrasal constituent order.

It especially occurs between the order of object and the verb and other phrasal word orders.

OV languages typically behave in one way, on the other hand, VO languages behavein different way.

Some typical characteristics of OV and VO languages;

To emphasize, these are tendencies, not absolute universals.

OV Languages Most of the OV languages are verb-final:

verb follows both the subject and object. There is one exception, the rare OVS

languages: esentially verb is on the middle. Typical instance of OV languages is

Khwarshi which exhibits many typical characteristics of OV languages.

KhwarshiI. The object precedes the verb.

obu-t'-i lido b-it'-x-i

father firewood divide

O V 'The father chopped the firewood.'

An instance from German [den LesernDat etwasAcc mitteilenV°]VP

the readers something tell

O V

‘tell the readers something’

II. In OV languages, the adverb typically

precedes the verb:xexiIin Muhamad 0-ot'uq'-se gollo

fast Magomed(I) I-come-PRES be.PRES.coND

Adv V

'If only Magomed would come quickly.'

III. In Khwarshi, genitive phrase (possessor phrase) precedes the head noun typically:

obu-t'-is tubi

father-obl-gen1 gun

Genitive Noun

'father's gun’

When we make comparisons, we need a standard of comparison (St), a marker of comparison and (M), an adjective (Adj).

Mary is taller than Jane.

Adj M St

IV. In OV languages, the marker of comparison follows the standard of comparison :Qurban Nazir-X'o-zi-n lebala-w goli Kurban Nazir Sup-Abl- brave- be.Pres

St M Adj

'Kurban is braver than Nazir.'

V. In OV languages, adpositions tend to follow the noun:

yobo-λ'o λ'olo yur-a-ba l-eč-i pile-sup above Stone-Obl-Pl.Abs NHPL-be-

Past.w

Noun Postp.

'There were stones on the top of the pile.‘Postposition “λ'olo” is placed after the

noun “yobo-λ'o”.

An OV language which has postpositions is a bidirectional implicational universal.

In other words, we can say that propositional language is an OV language due to the fact that the correlation between OV languages and propositions is so strong. If the language is OV, then it has postpositions.

Other Instances of Birectional Correlations

Adpositional phrase precedes the verb[miljljo b-oXoX'o] henše gul-o

[2pl.GEN2 -in.middle] book put-IMP

V PP 'Put the book between you!'

The auxiliary follows the verb.iljo b-odo-še goli

Pl.Abs Hpl-Work-Pres be.Pres

V Aux

'We are working.'

VI. Kwarshi does not have articles typically.If an OV language has an article, then the article will follow the noun, and if the article follows the noun in a language, then it is likely to be an OV language. In other words, it is a birectional correlation.

An OV language: “Mugil” has articles. in karuw ara? yag-o-iy

they animal a give.me-PAST

Noun Article Verb'They gave me a pig.'

VO LanguagesI. VO languages include; both VSO and VOS word order and the verb medieval languages with SVO

order largely. They are the mirror of OV languages They, SVO, behave almost like verb

initial languages.

The Similarities Between Verb-Inıtıal and SVO Language

Zapotec and English;dx-aogo be'ko' yet Cont-eat dog tortilla

V O

The dog is eating tortillas‘

V O

No matter the verb is sentence initial or not, the order between the verb and object is the same for English and Zapotec languages.

In VO languages, there is a tendency that adverb follows the verbble=na' dx-lonhgh=e' sholazheCLAN=DEMDIST cont-run=3FM slowly

Verb Adverb

That person runs slowly

Verb Adverb

However, In Fıjıan, the adverb displays a more rigid word order: manner adverb follows the verbbau 'ada va'a.totolo noo

run quickly ASP V Adv

'Try and run more quickly.'

In OV languages,there is a tendency that the adpositions precede the noun or noun phrase:lenh yaa wag with iron wood

Pr NP ‘with an axe’

In verb initial languages, Noun-Genitive order is typical in genitive constructions.

However, in SVO, both Noun-Genitive and Genitive-Noun order is common. yichgh bedw head PN N Gen 'Pedro's head.‘

There is no dominant order of genitive construction in English:Pedro's head the roof of the house Gen. N N Gen

In VO languages, there is a tendency that;i. the marker of comparison follows the

adjective,ii. the standard of comparison follows the

marker of comparison.n-ak=dx bdxee be lis kleka‘ be'ko' -be=more ant CLAN small than dog

Adj M St

Ants are smaller than dogs.

Adj M St Fijian and English display the same

pattern.

With the bidirectional correlations, VO languages are mirror image of OV languages.Therefore;

The adpositinal phrase follows the verb, The auxiliary precedes the verb, The article precedes the noun.

sh-chog=a’ yag-en [lenh yaa wag]Cont-cut=1sg tree-Det [with iron wood]

V PP‘I cut the tree with an axe.’

V PP Fijian and English displays the same pattern.

In VO language, there is a tendency that the auxiliaries exist before the lexical verb (if and when used).dx-eyala si-i=e’ shon gayoaCont-should Pot-grab=3 1three hundred

Aux V

She should grab three hundred.

Aux V

 

Lastly, in VO languages, there is a tendency that the articles precedes the noun.

b-enh bidao neda' to libr Comp-give child 1Sing one book

Art NThe child gave me a book.

Art N