Languages of the World

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2011

The more frequently encountered types of word order changes correspond also to the more frequently encountered types of mixed word order languages (SOV/SVO, SVO/VSO, VSO/VOS, SVO/VOS and SOV/OVS. [s-subject, o-object, v-verb]

According to G-M&R's data, 46 languages with mixed word order patterns (37% of the total mixed word order languages) have both SOV and SVO (according to WALS figures, these numbers are 29 languages, 43% of all mixed word order languages).

The next most common combination is either the combination of SVO and VSO (according to G-M&R, 24 languages or 19%; according to WALS, 13 languages or 19%) or the combination of VSO and VOS (according to G-M&R, 17 languages or 14%; according to WALS, 14 languages or 21%).

Next comes the combination of SVO and VOS (according to G-M&R, 11 languages or 9%; according to WALS, 8 languages or 12%), followed by the combination of SOV and OVS (according to G-M&R, 9 languages or 7%; according to WALS, 3 languages or 4%).

All other mixed combinations are found much more rarely, and according to G-M&R "may be due in part to errors in analysis of these languages".

The correlation between the most common patterns of change and the most common types of mixed word order languages can be explained by the often-made assumption that languages with a mixed word order pattern are really languages in the midst of (gradual) word order change.

http://languages-of-the-world.blogspot.com/2011/10/parametric-theory-of-word-order.html