Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!quintus!ok
From: ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: words order in English and Japanese
Message-ID: <553@cresswell.quintus.UUCP>
Date: 21 Jan 88 01:47:16 GMT
References: <1671@russell.STANFORD.EDU> <165000005@uiucdcsb>
Organization: Quintus Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA
Lines: 16
Summary: VS

In article <165000005@uiucdcsb>, reddy@uiucdcsb.cs.uiuc.edu writes:
> 2. Language SV: subject + verb.  (I went.  You hunt.  She ate).
> 
>    At this stage there are two choices for word order.  S-V or V-S.
>    All the languages I know have S-V.  Anybody know the other one?
> 
Polynesian languages are more-or-less VSO.  For example:
	Ka          inu    a          Pita  te  wai.
	<inceptive> ingest <personal> Peter the water

	Ka          inumia         te  wai   i  a          Pita.
	<inceptive> ingest+passive the water by <personal> Peter
It might be better to describe the order as
	<Predicate> <Subject> <Comment>
Although English is my native language, this seems a more sensible order
to me.