Re: Typologic survey, part I

> ---- PART I Conlang Typlogic Survey 2001 ----
>
> House-keeping data
>
> Name of the participating conlang:
Gevey

> Name/id of the creators:
Rik Roots

> Name/id of the submitter, if different from the creator:
n/a

> Place used, if any:
Gevilla, a city in the interior of the continent of Ewlah on the planet
Kalieda. Used as a trade language across a wide area of the central and
eastern part of the continent.

> Web-address with more information, if any:
http://homepages.enterprise.net/rikroots/gevey/index.html

> Type of language as per Rick Harrison's system[2]:
> (see http://www.rick.harrison.net/langlab/l-types.html)
>
2.1.2 (I assume - completely a priori, but not philosophical)

> 1: Word order of Subject (S), Object (O) and Verb (V)
>
> The possible orders are: SVO/SOV/VSO/VOS/OSV/OVS/free/doesn't apply
doesn't apply

> Which order(s) is/are most common?
unknown - word order plays an important role in the language, providing
information on where the emphasis lies in the sentence:

   [noun a] [other words] [noun b] [verb] [other words]

where [noun a] (in primary focus) carries most emphasis, with [noun b] (in
active focus) also carrying some emphasis

   [noun a] [verb] [other words]

here, [noun a] shows strong emphasis, as it is clear focus (ie both primary
and active focus)

   [verb] [other words] [noun a]

finally, in this example the verb itself is emphasised (in primary focus),
while [noun a] carries some emphasis (in weak focus)

in all of the above examples, [noun a] and [noun b] can be the subject,
direct object or indirect object of the sentence - in fact they can be a
cluster of nouns, or even a whole relative clause (which in turn will have
its own words ordered for emphasis using clear, active and weak focus).

> Which orders are possible?
> Is the order different if the verb is intransitive, if so, how?
> If it doesn't apply, why?
see above

Rik