Object Verb Subject - Definition and Overview

Object Verb Subject (OVS) is one of the permutations of expression used in linguistic typology. OVS denotes the sequence 'Object Verb Subject' in unmarked expressions: Oranges ate Sam, Thorns have roses. OVS languages are a type of languages when classifying languages according to the dominant sequence of these constituents. In this case the sequence of the constituents Object Verb Subject. This sequence is the rarest. Examples of human languages that actually use it include Guarijio and Hixkaryana.

This sequence was chosen for the artificial language Klingon, a language spoken by the extraterrestrial Klingon race in the fictional universe of the Star Trek series, in order to make the language sound deliberately alien and counterintuitive to the human mind. Thus, Klingon uses the rarest permutation of expression, which is expected given the designers' goals.

The other permutations in the order of most common to rarest are:

• Subject Verb Object (SVO) Sam ate oranges. (e.g., English, German, Kiswahili, Chinese)
• Subject Object Verb (SOV) Sam oranges ate. (e.g., Persian, Latin, Turkish, Korean, Japanese)
• Verb Subject Object (VSO) Ate Sam oranges. (e.g., Welsh, Hawaiian, and Arabic)
• Verb Object Subject (VOS) Ate oranges Sam. (e.g., Fijian)
• Object Subject Verb (OSV) Oranges Sam ate. (e.g., Xavante)
• Object Verb Subject (OVS) Oranges ate Sam. (e.g., the artificial language Klingon)

See also

• Word order in Latin