# Swap distance minimization in SOV languages. Cognitive and mathematical foundations

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.04219 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.04219/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 7 Dec 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [The optimal placement of the head in the noun phrase. The case of demonstrative, numeral, adjective and noun](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.10311/) (2024)
- [Swap distance minimization beyond entropy minimization in word order variation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.14192/) (2024)
- [Predictability maximization and the origins of word order harmony](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.16570/) (2024)
- [How to measure the optimality of word or gesture order with respect to the principle of swap distance minimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.01938/) (2026)
- [Swap distance minimization shapes the order of subject, object and verb in languages of the world](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.26726/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Distance minimization is a general principle of language. A special case of this principle in the domain of word order is swap distance minimization. This principle predicts that variations from a canonical order that are reached by fewer swaps of adjacent constituents are lest costly and thus more likely. Here we investigate the principle in the context of the triple formed by subject (S), object (O) and verb (V). We introduce the concept of word order rotation as a cognitive underpinning of that prediction. When the canonical order of a language is SOV, the principle predicts SOV < SVO, OSV < VSO, OVS < VOS, in order of increasing cognitive cost. We test the prediction in three flexible order SOV languages: Korean (Koreanic), Malayalam (Dravidian), and Sinhalese (Indo-European). Evidence of swap distance minimization is found in all three languages, but it is weaker in Sinhalese. Swap distance minimization is stronger than a preference for the canonical order in Korean and especially Malayalam.