Object Agent Verb
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Object Agent Verb (OAV) or Object Subject Verb (OSV) is one of the permutations of expression used in Linguistic typology. OAV denotes the sequence "Object Subject Verb" in neutral expressions: Oranges Sam ate. It is a notation used when classifying languages according to the dominant sequence of these constitutents.
This sequence is rare. One example of a language that uses it is Xavante. It is also found in some other languages of Brazil, including Jamamadi, Apurinã, Kayabí and Nadëb. Sardinians very often use OAV while speaking in Italian. It is not uncommon in Yiddish and is also sometimes found in German. In both of these languages this construction is commonly employed to emphasize the distinctive properties of the object. This structure may on occasion be seen in English, usually in the future tense or with the conjunction "but", such as in the following examples: "To Rome I shall go!", "I hate oranges, so apples I'll eat!"; and in relative clauses where the relative pronoun is the (direct or indirect) object, such as in "What I do is my own business." OAV is also used in American Sign Language. This is also one of the two common word orders in Malayalam, the other being AOV.
This word order appears in a number of constructed languages, such as Teonaht, as it is often chosen by language inventors for its exotic sound. The Star Wars character Yoda speaks in a modified form of this word order. This word order is also used in the game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars by Bowyer. The constructed Klingon language also commonly uses OAV for word order.
