Wikifunctions:Type proposals/Word order

• Done as Word order (Z33568) --DVrandecic (WMF) (talk) 14:26, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

Summary

Represents how a particular natural language is structured in terms of w:en:word order.

Like NAdj/AdjN, this information is encoded on Wikidata with linguistic typology (P4132).

Uses

This could be used in "fallback" NLG functions (such as Z28019) to make a best effort at structuring a grammatical sentence.

Elements of the enumeration

• 
  subject–object–verb (CALS)
• 
  subject–verb–object (CALS)
• 
  verb–subject–object (CALS)
• 
  verb–object–subject (CALS)
• 
  object–verb–subject (CALS)
• 
  object–subject–verb (CALS)

The 6 permutations by frequency of occurrence in languages worldwide are: subject–object–verb (Q539808), subject–verb–object (Q651641), verb–subject–object (Q166097), verb–object–subject (Q568140), object–verb–subject (Q989463), and object–subject–verb (Q1417850), and possibly free-order language (Q33129605) since that's listed as a 7th part on d:Q257885#P527.

Alternatives

none considered

Comments

For general comments, please reply to the proposer.

•  Support as proposer. YoshiRulz (talk) 08:37, 21 November 2025 (UTC)
•  Support Arlo Barnes (talk) 22:29, 22 November 2025 (UTC)
• Can we call it something more specific, e.g. "subject/object/verb order". --99of9 (talk) 03:56, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

  The roles of the subject, the object, and the verb are syntactic, so maybe 'syntactic order' or 'syntax order'? But SOV aren't the only categories to analyze syntax by, see for example the two distinct usages of 'predicate'. Arlo Barnes (talk) 04:33, 23 November 2025 (UTC)

  Then it's clearest and unambiguous if we call it the specific "subject/object/verb order"? --99of9 (talk) 05:18, 11 March 2026 (UTC)

•  Support --Ameisenigel (talk) 19:47, 27 November 2025 (UTC)
•  Support Dv103 (talk) 21:51, 27 November 2025 (UTC)
•  Support ChaoticVermillion (talk) 08:38, 8 April 2026 (UTC)