Verb Subject Object

Verb Subject Object (VSO) is a term in linguistic typology. It represents one type of languages when classifying languages according to the sequence of these constitutents in neutral expressions: Ate Sam oranges. The word order roughly corresponds to the order of symbols in (non-reverse) Polish notation or the S-expressions of the Lisp programming language.

Examples of languages with VSO word order include the Gaelic branch of the Celtic language family (namely Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx), related Welsh (the only VSO Brythonic language), Ancient Egyptian, Aramaic, Biblical Hebrew, Phoenician, Canaanite, Ge'ez, Classic Maya, Tagalog, Hawaiian, Maori, and Tongan.

Even though Arabic originally had VSO word order, it is now usually more understood with SVO, especially Egyptian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic.

Inversion into VSO

There are many languages which switch from SVO (Subject Verb Object) order to VSO order with different constructions, usually for emphasis. For example, sentences in English poetry can sometimes be found to have a VSO order; French and Spanish questions may reverse the order of the subject and verb into the VSO order (although this is not required: compare "Did Sam eat oranges?" to "Sam ate oranges?"), and English questions do this to, an extent (with the verb "to be", and some uses of "to do"). Arabic sentences use a SVO order or a VSO order depending on whether the subject or the verb is more important.

Non-VSO languages that use VSO word order in questions include Dutch and many Germanic languages, French, and Spanish.

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Inversion into VSO

See also