Object–subject–verb

Natural languages

OSV is rarely used in unmarked sentences, those using a normal word order without emphasis. Most languages that use OSV as their default word order come from the Amazon basin, such as Xavante, Jamamadi, Apurinã, Kayabí and Nadëb.^[3] Here is an example from Apurinã:^[3]

anana	nota	apa
pineapple	I	fetch
I fetch a pineapple

British Sign Language (BSL) normally uses topic–comment structure, but its default word order when topic–comment structure is not used is OSV.

American Sign Language

American Sign Language uses topics to set up referent loci.

ASL has a specific word order that changes, depending on the intended focus of the sentence or the context of the utterance. OSV is used most frequently when describing a scene or event, or when depicting verbs. It may also emphasise the importance of the object in question. SVO is also used, usually for direct, brief, or non-descriptive utterances.

Arabic

Arabic also allows OSV in marked sentences:

إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينَ.‎

Iyyāka naʿbudu wa-iyyāka nastaʿīn

You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.

English and German

In English and German, OSV appears primarily in relative clauses if the relative pronoun is the (direct or indirect) object: "What I do is my own business" and "Was ich mache, ist meine Angelegenheit."

In English, OSV appears in the future tense or as a contrast with the conjunction but: "Rome I shall see!" and "I hate oranges but apples I'll eat!"

Hebrew

In Modern Hebrew, OSV is often used instead of the normal SVO to emphasise the object: while אני אוהב אותה would mean "I love her", "אותה אני אוהב" would mean "It is she whom I love".^[4] Possibly an influence of Germanic (via Yiddish), as Jewish English uses a similar construction ("You, I like, kid")—see above —much more than many other varieties of English, and often with the "but" left implicit.

Hungarian

In Hungarian, OSV emphasises the subject:

A szócikket én szerkesztettem = The article/I/edited (It was I, not somebody else, who edited the article).

Korean and Japanese

Korean and Japanese have SOV by default, but word order is relatively free if the verb is at the end, and OSV is common if the object is topicalised.

Sentence	그 사과는 제가 먹었어요.
Words	그	사과	는	제	가	먹	었	어요
Romanization	geu	sagwa	neun	je	ga	meog	eoss	eoyo.
Gloss	the/that	apple	(topicalization marker)	I (polite)	(sub. marker)	eat	(past)	(polite)
Parts	Object			Subject		Verb
Translation	It is I who ate that apple. (or) As for the apple, I ate it. (or) The apple was eaten by me.

Malayalam

OSV is one of two permissible word orders in Malayalam, the other being SOV.

Nahuatl

OSV emphasises the object in Nahuatl.^[5]

Cah	cihuah	in	niquintlazohtla
(indicative marker)	women	(topicalization marker)	I-them-love
women I love them
It is the women whom I love.

Turkish

OSV is used in Turkish to emphasise the subject:

Yemeği ben pişirdim = The meal/I/cooked (It was I, not somebody else, who cooked the meal).