<p>Adjuncts (which is &quot;when the sun rises&quot; here) can usually be placed anywhere in a sentence. Using another example with an object, the following are possible:</p>
<ul>
<li>When the sun rises, a song the bird sings</li>
<li>A song when the sun rises the bird sings</li>
<li>A song the bird when the sun rises sings</li>
<li>A song the bird sings when the sun rises</li>
</ul>
<p>They all sound a bit weird because English is not OSV, but are probably valid in a poetic context... Toki pona always puts temporal adjuncts at the front of a sentence. If you allow free variation, it's probably a good idea to impose a relative order (place before temporal before manner or similar), which is common in natural languages. But otherwise you have free reign -- it's <em>your</em> language!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-17T09:12:29.170Z
2023-11-17T09:12:29.170Z
Oliver Mason
<p>So, I'm working on my very first conlang, which happens to be OSV (object-subject-verb word order). But I seem to have run into something of a roadblock. How could I handle clauses such as, for example, 'the bird sings when the sun rises'? I'm considering adding some kind of marker or even creating some sort of word hierarchy, but I don't want to wind up with anything excessively complicated. Again, we're dealing with OSV here. Any advice for a struggling amateur here?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-16T12:16:41.667Z
Note: "the bird [S] sings [V] when the sun [S] rises [V]" is already in OSV order!
In general, clauses like "when the sun rises" are called adverbial clauses, and their position is not fixed by the OSV type - you could put them at any position in the sentence. As for marking, note that there is also already a marker "when" present!
Cecilia
<conlang-creation><word-order>
Subordinate Clauses In OSV
# Subordinate Clauses In OSV

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-11-16)

So, I'm working on my very first conlang, which happens to be OSV (object-subject-verb word order). But I seem to have run into something of a roadblock. How could I handle clauses such as, for example, 'the bird sings when the sun rises'? I'm considering adding some kind of marker or even creating some sort of word hierarchy, but I don't want to wind up with anything excessively complicated. Again, we're dealing with OSV here. Any advice for a struggling amateur here?

**Tags:** conlang-creation, word-order
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Note: "the bird [S] sings [V] when the sun [S] rises [V]" is already in OSV order! In general, clauses like "when the sun rises" are called adverbial clauses, and their position is not fixed by the OSV type - you could put them at any position in the sentence. As for marking, note that there is also already a marker "when" present!  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-11-17. Score: 1

Adjuncts (which is "when the sun rises" here) can usually be placed anywhere in a sentence. Using another example with an object, the following are possible:

* When the sun rises, a song the bird sings
* A song when the sun rises the bird sings
* A song the bird when the sun rises sings
* A song the bird sings when the sun rises

They all sound a bit weird because English is not OSV, but are probably valid in a poetic context... Toki pona always puts temporal adjuncts at the front of a sentence. If you allow free variation, it's probably a good idea to impose a relative order (place before temporal before manner or similar), which is common in natural languages. But otherwise you have free reign -- it's *your* language!


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