(Meadow Mari)
SOV
SOV: The dominant order is SOV.
| (1) | vate-m | er | kočkəš-əm | jamdəl-əš. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| wife‑1SG | morning | food‑ACC | make‑PST1.3SG | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ’My wife made breakfast.’ (Riese et al. 2022: 214) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The dominant word order of Meadow Mari is SOV. As a result of Russian influence SVO orders are also attested, and other word orders (e.g. OSV) are also possible in sentences containing focus, but from a quantitative perspective the SOV order is the most widespread. In a sample of 50 sentences 36 (72%) have SOV order and 14 (28%) a word order different from this.
Author: Bogáta Timár