(Udmurt)

SOV

SOV: The dominant order is SOV.

(1)kyšnomurtkart-se vi-i-znobakća-jazsog-i-z.
womanhusband3SG.ACCkillPST3SGandkitchen_gardenILL.3SGburyPST3SG
’The woman killed her husband and buried him in the kitchen garden.’ (Udmurt corpus)

(2)kudʒ́em jyr-ynńyľbud-evuy-mte-os
drunkenheadINSCOMfourgrowthILLreachPTCP.PRF.NEGPL
vi-i-zykykvorgoron-ez.
killPST3PLtwomanACC
’Four drunken adolescents killed two men.’ (ibid.)

(3)so-leśpöra-m-zenylpi-ostužjaraty-saśi-i-zy.
(s)heABLcookNMLZ3SG.ACCchildPLverylikeCVBeatPST3PL
’The children ate what (s)he cooked with genuine pleasure.’ (ibid.)

(4)1970-tiar-yn15-ti końyvuon-enaďeždakurćenko-jez
1970ORDyearINE15ORDoctoberILLNagezhdaKurchenkoACC
vi-i-zpranasbrazinskas.
killPST3SGPranasBrazinskas.
’On 15 October 1970, Nagezhda Kurchenko was killed by Pranas Brazinskas.’ (ibid.)

In a 100-sentence sample taken from the Udmurt corpus containing an agentive verb and a nominal subject and object, 74% of the sentences had an SOV order (1), 14% were SVO (2), 4% OSV (3), and 8% OVS (4). This indicates that the dominant order of Udmurt is SOV (1).

Author: Erika Asztalos


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