Universal #1517

Legacy number: 1517

 Number  1513
 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.
 Formula  VOS (basic) ⇒ SVO (alternative)
 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

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Discussion
Notes
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”.
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
Cf. similar claims by Greenberg and Deszö (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=492"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1339"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">).
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".