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Universal 1513: VOS (basic) ⇒ SVO (alternative)

Posted in Universals Archive

Universal 1513: VOS (basic) ⇒ SVO (alternative)

Original
SVO is a grammatical (although marked) word order in all VOS languages.
Standardized
If basic word order is VOS, THEN SVO will be an alternative order.
Keywords
order, VOS, SVO
Domain
syntax
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
Malagasy, Batak [Toba Dialect], Fijian, Gilbertese (all Malay-Polynesian), Tzeltal (Mayan), Otomi (Oto-Manguean), Ineseño Chumash (Hokan), Baure (Arawakan), Tzotzil, Kekchi (both Mayan), Tsou (Formosan, Austronesian), although the last three languages are not surveyed in the paper
Source
Keenan 1978b: 288, G-3
Counterexamples

One Comment

  1. FP
    FP

    Cf. similar claims by Greenberg and Deszö (##492, 1339). Greenberg: “All languages with dominant VSO order have SVO as an alternative or as the only alternative order”; Deszö: “If we have a VSO dominant order, then we also have SVO or VOS as alternative orders”.

    1. May 2020

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