But there are nonetheless many languages that put the verb at the beginning of the sentence: VSO (e.g., Celtic languages, including Welsh and Breton) and VOS (e.g., the Mayan language family, including Tseltal and Quiché).
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Words subtly, or less subtly, shift their meanings or develop new meanings, while speech sounds and intonation change continually.
Both orders put the subject at the beginning of the sentence; indeed, more than 80 percent of the world’s languages follow this pattern. But there are nonetheless many languages that put the verb at the beginning of the sentence: VSO (e.g., Celtic languages, including Welsh and Breton) and VOS (e.g., the Mayan language family, including Tseltal and Quiché). Finally, a relatively small number of languages put the object at the beginning of the sentence: OVS (e.g., Huarijio, an Uto-Aztecan language spoken in northwest Mexico) and OSV (e.g., Xavante, a language spoken in the Brazilian Amazon).