Dominant SV word order

Dominant intransitive word order[1] refers to the order in which S (the subject) and V (the verbal predicate) are statistically most likely to appear in a declarative sentence. This order can be determined by examining sentences that meet the following criteria:

  1. The sentence is an independent clause; it has no embedded clauses.
  2. The verb is an intransitive verb with only one argument.
  3. The verb expresses a conscious, willful action.
  4. The subject is a noun, not a pronoun.
  5. Besides those of the subject and verb, the sentence does not contain any other phrases, such as adverbials.
  6. The sentence is pragmatically and logically neutral, with S as its topic.[2]

If only one intransitive word order is grammatical in the language, the dominant and basic word order will be identical. If more than one word order is possible[3], however, these may differ in frequency of use. Determining the dominant word order is based on the following principles:

  1. If no word order is at least twice as frequent as another, there is no dominant word order.
  2. Any word order that occurs with at least twice the frequency of another is the dominant word order.[4]

Frequency is based on statistical analysis of representative corpora. Since there is no absolute definition of what constitutes a sufficient amount and quality of data to constitute a representative sample of the language, new statistical analyses may refute the findings of earlier studies.

Types:

NoDWO There is no dominant intransitive word order.

?DWO: For objective reasons, the dominant intransitive word order cannot be determined.[5]

SV: The dominant intransitive word order is SV.

VS: The dominant intransitive word order is VS.

 

[1] (Statistically) dominant word order is not the same as basic word order.

[2] If the subject is the topic of the sentence, the sentence serves as an answer to the question, What is S doing? Compare this to the questions, Who is V-ing? and What is happening?

[3] Grammatical, pragmatic or stylistic criteria restricting the use of a given order should not be considered in determining the dominant word order of language.

[4] The basic and dominant word orders of a language may differ from one another. See Basic intransitive word order for the criteria.

[5] A typical example is when there is insufficient relevant data for statistical analysis. (Not to be confused with yet unanalyzed data.)