Object Verb Agent
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Object Verb Agent (OVA) or Object Verb Subject (OVS) is one of the permutations of expression used in linguistic typology. OVA denotes the sequence 'Object Verb Agent' in unmarked expressions: Oranges ate Sam, Thorns have roses. While these sentences remain grammatically correct in English, unlike those written in Agent Object Verb, their meaning is lost. But English and other Agent Verb Object languages frequently use an Object-Verb-Agent type sentence order when writing in the passive voice, for example The oranges were eaten by Sam.
OVA is a class of languages used in the classification of languages according to the dominant sequence of these constituents. In this case the sequence of the constituents is Object Verb Agent. This sequence is the rarest of the six possible orderings of Agent, Verb, and Object. Examples of human languages that use it include Guarijio, Hixkaryana, and to some extent also Tapirapé.
Although not dominant, this sequence is also possible when the object is stressed in languages that have relatively free word order due to case marking. Romanian, Basque, Esperanto, and, to some extent, German are examples. Some languages, such as Swedish, which normally lack any extensive case marking, allow such structures when pronouns (which are marked for case) are involved.
This sequence was chosen for the artificial language Klingon, a language spoken by the extraterrestrial Klingon race in the fictional universe of the Star Trek series, in order to make the language sound deliberately alien and counterintuitive. Thus, Klingon uses the rarest permutation of expression, which is expected given the designers' goals.
See also
be:OVS es:Objeto Verbo Sujeto eo:Objekto Verbo Subjekto fr:Langue OVS ja:OVS型 nn:OVS-språk pl:OVS sv:OVS-språk