Verb–object–subject

Typology

VOS word order is fourth most common among the world's languages,^[2] and is considered to have verb-initial word order, like VSO. Very few languages have a fixed VOS word order, most primarily coming from Austronesian and Mayan language families.^[3] Many verb-initial languages exhibit flexible word order (such as St'át'imcets, Chamorro, and Tongan), alternating between VOS and VSO.^[4] VOS and VSO word orders are usually classified as verb-initial because they share many similar properties, such as the absence of the verb "have" and predicate-initial grammar.

Though not as universal, many verb-initial languages also have ergative clauses. For instance, most Mayan languages have an ergative-absolutive system of verb agreement and most Austronesian languages have an ergative-absolutive system of case marking.^[3]

VP-Raising

There is ongoing debate as to how VOS clauses are derived, however there is significant evidence for verb-phrase-raising. Kayne's theory of antisymmetry suggests that VOS clauses are derived from SVO structure via leftward movement of a VP constituent that contains a verb and object.^[3] The Principles and Parameters theory sets VOS and SVO clause structure as syntactically identical, but the theory does not account for why SVO is typologically more common than VOS structure. According to the Principles and Parameters theory, the difference between SVO and VOS clauses lies in the direction in which parameters are set for projection of a T category's specifier. When the parameter is to the right of T(ense)'s specifier, VOS is realized, and when it is to the left, SVO is realized.^[3]

The motivation for movement from SVO to VOS structure is still undetermined, as some languages show inconsistencies with SVO underlying structure and an absence of VP-raising (such as Chamorro and Tzotzil).^[3] In verb-initial languages, the extended projection principle causes overt specifier movement due to either strong tense [T], verb [V], or predicate [Pred] features.^[3]

Chung proposes a syntactic profile for verb-initial languages that are derived through VP-raising:^[3]

1. VP coordination is allowed
2. The subject and other constituents outside of the verb phrase can be extracted
3. The subject has narrow scope over sentential elements

Malagasy

Malagasy is in the Austronesian language family and is the national language of Madagascar.^[6] It is a classic example of a language that has fixed-VOS structure:^[3][7]

The following sentence shows the consistency in VOS order in Malagasy with transitive verbs:^[3]

The extraction pattern in Malagasy, in which subjects can be relativized but non-subjects within the VP lead to ungrammaticality, is consistent with a VP-raising hypothesis.^[3]

This sentence show the possibility of relativizing surface subjects:

The following sentence shows how extraction from within the VP is ungrammatical (*):

The empty spaces (___) are the extraction sites and the square brackets indicate the VP phrase.

Halkomelem

Halkomelem, an aboriginal language in British Columbia, has the same basic characteristics of all Salish languages in that it is inherently VSO. However, VOS is also sometimes possible. While some speakers do not accept VOS as grammatical, others do permit the order depending on the context. VOS can occur if there are two direct noun phrases present in a clause and the object is inanimate.^[8]

Also, VOS is used is if the content of the phrase disambiguates the agent from the patient.^[9] An example of this would be:

The sentences below indicate that the object in a VOS sentence in Halkomelem is interpreted in its base position (VSO) for the purposes of binding theory.^[10]

Tzotzil

Tzotzil, like almost all other Mayan languages except Ch'orti', is a verb-initial word order language. It is predominantly VOS but has been shown to permit SVO readily.^[11]

In Tzotzil, the subject is not assumed to raise (in overt syntax) to the specifier of the clausal head, unlike Italian, which is a special case.^[3]

An sample Tzotzil sentence is in the table below. The "ʔ" represent a glottal stop.^[12]

Simply put, VP-raising, as expressed in the previous section, cannot account for Tzotzil's normal word order. If VP-raising had occurred, any further movement of direct objects or prepositional phrases would have been made inaccessible.^[3] Aissen, however, showed that Tzotzil allows direct objects to be extracted, as wh-movement occurs:^[13]

Tzotzil also allows propositional phrases that surface to the left of the subject and all within a verb phrases to undergo wh-movement. Also, an interrogative phrase of a transitive verb must entirely be pied-piped to be grammatical .^[13]

VOS clauses found in Tzotzil cannot thus be derived by VP-raising. Chung proposest that languages without VP-raising can be assumed to have their basic order to be VOS, instead of SVO.^[3]

Italian (special case)

Italian is most commonly a SVO language. However, inversion can occur.^[14]

If the subject can appear before the verb, it can also appear after the verb. VSO and VOS order, however, are notably rare, especially the latter.^[3]