are entities. If the focal word is a verb, the ideas manipulated are events or properties.

7.3 Word order

7.3.1 General

Words, in speech and writing, are produced and processed in linear order. In some combinations the sequence of words is predictable: for example, adjectives almost always precede the nouns they modify. The major constituents -- the verb (V), the subject (S), the objects (O), domain phrases such as the goal of activity

(D) -- have more freedom. While the order is not “free” in the sense of being random or without consequences, still, the major constituents can occur in different orders, and variation in word order is one of the important devices Russian employs for shaping information.

It is traditional to describe word order in terms of a division of the utterance into two parts. Thus a sentence consisting of elements V is parsed as|V , where the elements that come before the verb are taken as the basis (the theme, jcyjdf, topic) for the focus (rheme, zlhj, comment) -- the information provided by the verb and further constituents to the right .6 Moreover,

6Two important studies attempt to develop a single principle for all combinations of the verb and its major arguments. Adamec 1966 imposes a binary distinction between basis/jcyjdf and focus/zlhj on all sentences. As a rule (except when a constituent has a “specific informational” or “specific verificational” function), the boundary falls in the same place -- immediately before the verb -- in all word-order patterns. Yokoyama 1986 sees word order as reflecting a gradation in the degree of accessibility of knowledge. Although the most general schema has four positions (1986:234) -- two before the verb, two after -- in fact only two positions are distinguished consistently: a constituent that precedes the verb is information that is a current concern of both the speaker and the addressee, while a constituent that follows the verb is information that is not yet a current concern of the addressee. Both approaches, then, impose a binary division on the utterance.

Binary approaches can only classify constituents as belonging to one half of the utterance or the other. They cannot, therefore, take into account what grammatical and semantic role the arguments have. For example, in binary models, the S of the rather marked VS order should have the same value as the O in VO, which is the neutral order, from which it follows that (O)VS and (S)VO orders cannot be differentiated, when surely their functions are very different. For this reason,

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elements on the margins of the utterance far from the verb ( or in |V ) are more exaggerated, or “stronger,” in their function than elements near the

verb. Thus the initial subject argument in [9] announces an unexpected entity and might well have emphatic stress (ve;); the final adverb in [10] answers an implicit question about the manner of reception.7

[9]B vjq ve; nfr;t dfc gjplhfdkztn.

And my husband also extends his best wishes.

[10]E Jcjhubys[ dcnhtnbkb vtyz hfljcnyj. At the Osorgins, [they] met me with joy.

The division into basis and focus (or the equivalent in any other terminology), while it expresses a valid insight, is a rather general model; the binary partition is misleading. Each combination of major constituents, such as OVS or VSO, has its own properties -- its own stylistic value, its typical use in context, its lexical preferences. For this reason, the discussion below is organized according to whole patterns of major constituents and uses examples taken from a corpus of examples of word order involving transitive verbs with the first-person singular accusative pronoun vtyz.8 The basic corpus consists of 359 examples with all three constituents present. Another 138 examples have only verb and object.

7.3.2 SV, SVO

The most neutral and frequent order of major constituents in Russian is that in which the subject precedes the verb. The subject announces an entity for discussion, the verb states a property that holds of it.

[11]Vjz s vfnm v dthyekfcm d cj cnfywbb, ujnjdfz ltqcndjdfnm. Rfr vj;yj crjhtt s jyf v gthtdtptn o dct[ yfc d yf yjde/ rdfhnbhe, v yfvtyztn o ghjlernjd, v gjtltn d d Neke. Yf cktle/ott enhj s jyf v dpzkf o vtyz c cj,jq d yf ,fpfh.

My mother returned from the station ready to act. As fast as she could, she would move us all to a new apartment, trade for food, go to Tula. Next morning she took me with her to the bazaar.

the description here is organized in terms of conventional patterns, like the descriptive practice of Adamec as well as Schaller 1966, Bivon 1971, Kovtunova 1976, Svedstedt 1976.

7 For a strong rhematic element ( in the abstract scheme), Bivon uses the apt term “essential new,” which is opposed to “non-essential new” ( in the abstract scheme).

8 From S. Golitsyn, Zapiski utselevshego (Moscow, 1990). Not included in the count were objects of imperfective futures, participles, and infinitives (and objects of matrix verbs that govern infinitives); objects of passages marked as discourse; questions. The frequencies in this homogeneous corpus differ from those reported by Bivon (1971:42), who used a larger corpus composed of texts of varied genres. In that corpus, SVO was thoroughly predominant (79%) and other orders were correspondingly much less frequent (OVS 11%, SOV 1%, OSV 4%, VSO 1%, VOS 2%). The difference results from the differences in the corpora and the restriction here to vtyz´.

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In [11], the first sentence announces the individual who is the hero (the mother), the intransitive verb (dthyékfcm) then states a property, including a further postverbal domain. In the later transitive verbs (gthtdtp=n, dpzkƒ), a direct object follows the verb, as happens frequently. (In the test corpus, 164/359xx = 46% of transitives with the object vtyz´ had the order SVO.) Often the object has been mentioned earlier and is known; for example dc†[ yƒc ‘all of us’, vtyz´ in [11]. But when an object is placed after the verb, the fact that it was mentioned earlier is irrelevant. It enters the picture only through the verb: it is defined as the entity that is the patient of a specific predicate. Thus the object argument dc†[ yƒc tells us who was displaced; then post-verbal vtyz´ identifies who accompanied the mother. Other constituents, such as manner adverbs or domains, can follow and further elaborate the nature of the property that is ascribed to the verb -- yf yj´de/ rdfhn∫he, yf ,fpƒh in [11], gj k,é in [12]. In the extreme case, a post-verbal constituent (such as a manner argument) is an essential focus that answers an implicit question about the whole predicate -- in [12], how did she teach?

[12]s Cjyz v exbkf o vtyz d dtcmvf m эythubxyj b jhbubyfkmyj. Njkmrj z yfxbyfk

jib,fnmcz b pfbrfnmcz, rfr jyf c djpukfcjv ≤lehfr≥ v [kjgfkf o vtyz d gj k,e. Sonia taught me in a very energetic and original manner. As soon as I started to falter, she, with a shout of “fool,” would whack me on the forehead.

In general, the patterns of SV, SVO, and SV(O)(X), X any other major constituent, name the subject entity and differentiate it from the property stated to hold of it. The pattern can be termed hierarchical.

7.3.3 OVS

The order OVS combines two non-neutral positions: the object is before the verb, the subject afterwards. Though these are not the neutral positions for these arguments, the combined pattern is not infrequent (it was third most frequent in the test corpus with vtyz´: 51/359xx = 14%). OVS order is used for two quite specific functions. One is to establish a relationship between the object, which is a known entity, and an abstract condition ([13]). Another is to introduce a new event -- an interaction between the known object and a new individual ([14]):

[13]o Vtyz v ;lfkj s hfpjxfhjdfybt.

I was facing disappointment.

[14]Ytj;blfyyj o vtyz v dspdfk s Eubyxec, yfxfk hfccghfibdfnm j vjtq ;bpyb. Unexpectedly I was summoned by Uginchus, who began to ask me about my life.

Like SVO, OVS is also a hierarchical construction: it links a known entity (O) to a new property, which includes a new individual (the S of VS). OVS is in a sense the inverse of SVO, which links the S to a property that includes another participant (VO).

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7.3.4 SOV, OSV

When both major constituents are before the verb, they establish the entities as bases. The predicate, as focus, then states the relation among them.

In the order SOV, the object is a weak basis. This order is frequent with pronouns or known entities (108/359xx = 30%, or second most frequent, of threepart utterances with vtyz´). SOV order links the current predicate to surrounding text through the effect on the object. In [15], for example, we read the story of the speaker’s departure, in [16], the story of the speaker’s triumphant return:

[15]Yfcnfk ltym vjtuj jn(tplf. s Hjlbntkb o vtyz v ghjdjlbkb d lj cnfywbb. Etp;fk z d ghbgjlyznjv yfcnhjtybb.

There arrived the day of my departure. My parents accompanied me to the station. I departed in a state of elation.

[16]Ghbt[fk ljvjq, s dct o vtyz v gjplhfdkzkb. I came home, everyone congratulated me.

In the other verb-final order, OSV, the object is a strong basis. It can be used to contrast this particular entity to others,

[17]Vtyz gjkmcnbkj, xnj bvtyyj o vtyz s jy v ghbukfiftn. I was flattered that it was me that he was inviting.

or to shift attention back to an entity that had previously been prominent:

[18]Eghfdljvif nht,jdfkf, xnj,s z yf yjxm jnlfdfk tq cdjb ljrevtyns. o Vtyz s nfrfz ajhvfkmyjcnm v euytnfkf.

The manager demanded that I give her my documents every night. For me such formality was oppressive.

This order was the least frequent of the six possible three-part word-order patterns with vtyz´ (6/359xx = 1.7%). The result is perhaps surprising, since this kind of “topicalization” of objects is often considered one of the most characteristic functions of Russian word order.

Both orders, VSO and SVO, manipulate information in a similar way. They both establish a list of entities for discussion, and then go on to state a relationship among them. Both orders can be characterized as relational. They differ only in the ranking of the entities.

7.3.5 VS(X), VSO, VOS

Putting the major arguments after the verb presents the world as a holistic situation. First the state of the world is established (the property or event named by the verb), then secondarily the entities that participate in this state are identified.

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Although SV(O) order is the neutral order for most predicates, certain predicates often put the domain argument early, then the verb, and then the subject. This order is usual for existential (quantificational, modal, experiential) predicates.9

[19]d E yfc v jcnfkfcm s rehbwf.

We had a chicken left.

[20]-- Gjckeifq, Rkfdjxrf, d vyt v ljcnfnjxyj s jlyjuj pdjyrf -- b ndjq ;tyb[ nen ;t bcxtpytn.

-- Listen, Klavochka, it would be enough for me just to place one phone call -- and your fianc† will immediately disappear.

Predicates reporting transitions in weather or time or conditions also prefer this order:

[21]d D Vjcrdt v yfcnegbk s ujkjl.

In Moscow famine set in.

The order DVS imposes an existential, or what is sometimes termed a presentational, interpretation on verbs that are not strictly existential, such as the two verbs of motion in [22]:

[22]E Cthjdf tcnm rfhnbyf: d dgthtlb hfpvfibcnj v ifuftn dscjrbq wfhm s Gtnh, f d cpflb, njkrfz lheu lheuf, v cgtifn s njkcnst dtkmvj;b.

Serov has this picture: in front there strides expansively the tall tsar Petr, and behind, elbowing each other, there scurry fat notables.

In existential and presentational functions, the subject entity is not previously known. Once introduced, the entity can then become a participant in further events.

When the predicate and subject are known, VS(O)X order lets the speaker insert a strong focus and answer an implicit question -- in [23], about the manner of the reception, in [24], about the location of her abode.

[23]v Dcnhtnbk s jy o vtyz d jabwbfkmyj-[jkjlyj.

He met me in an official, cold manner.

[24]v :bkf s jyf d e vkflituj csyf Fylhtz. Jyf ghbt[fkf yf gfhj[jlt r ljxthb yf

dct ktnj.

d Jlyf;ls v gj,sdfkf s jyf b d e yfc. Z yfcnhjgfkbk csyjdtq, xnj,s dtkb ct,z cvbhyj, yt ,fkjdfkbcm.

Where she lived was with her younger son Andrei. She had come on the steamship to her daughter for the whole summer.

Once came she to visit us. I worked on my sons so that they would behave calmly, and not act up.

9 Statistical correlations between word order and lexical classes are studied in Robblee 1994.