Taruven is what is commonly known as a free word order language (though Trask (1996) would probably prefer calling it a blend of that and free phrase order language,) which means that the words in a sentence can come in just about any order, though the words in different clauses can't intermingle freely.
First, some sample sentences[1] whose phrases are simple, with 1. intransitive, 2. transitive, 3. ditransitive and 4. complemented verbs respectively:
A simple sentence like 3 above therefore has twenty-four possible equally valid permutations, which will not be listed here.
Example 4) however has an complemented verb. An alternative overview of example 4) would be as in example 5):
The complemented verbs, apart from marking their subjects with -el and demanding that the same be animate, have an implicit complementizer.
The pieces in 5 can not be freely permutated, only the following variants are possible:
īel ār
CLAUSE/RECIPIENT
ār īel
CLAUSE/RECIPIENT
CLAUSE/RECIPIENT ār
īel
CLAUSE/RECIPIENT īel
ār
Thus, the complemented verb with it's subject functions like an axis, the elements that is on one side of the axis cannot intermingle with the things on the other side, or even be on the same side of the axis.
Word order within a phrase is free, unless it contains axis-words like te. Adjectives or adjectival phrases not marked with the case of its head noun must directly precede that noun, and is often prefixed to it.
linnar gav te tšimaes geál brenru linnar gav te tši -ma -es geál bren -ru yellow dog CON friend -good -LOC big car -LOC.gyellow dog's good friend has big car
If the adjective/adverb agrees with its head as in example 6i), it can go anywhere (except cross an axis-border, as usual), but cannot be merged into its head. Incidentally, example 6) also shows the equivalent of to have in Taruven, using -es on haver and -ru on havee.
Our next example has a complemented verb, tšah.
duaþel tšah mirrōruið brenruiðes saìes duaþ -el tšah mirrō -ru -ið bren -ru -ið -es saì -es man -EXP see cat -LOC.g -BEN car -LOC. -BEN -LOC river -LOCman sees cat in car by river (the man sees the cat, the cat is in the car, the car is by the river)
Zooming in on the recipient-part of example 7):
Since the verb of example 7) is an complemented verb, the recipient-part cannot intermingle with the rest of the clause. Had the verb been an ordinary transitive, there would have been 5! possible grammatical orderings.
If the man (duaþ) is explicitly located (using -ru), and the verb transitive, there are close to 6! possible orderings, as some are avoided due to ambiguity. Example 9) shows this:
mirrōruaþ is the object, duaþru tires kru mirrōaþ is a valid sentence. brenruaþes is the location of the object, and agrees in case with the object, duaþru tires kru mirrōruaþ brenaþes is a valid sentence. Finally, saìes is the location of brenruaþes, and in cases a) to d) no other overt agreement is necessary.
The placement of the car vs. the man is usually not ambiguous, because the -ru connects to the closest -es or other locative, unless in cases as in 9e): tires can be the location of duaþru, but where does that leave saìes? If tires instead is the location of brenruaþes, saìes is still pointing nowhere.
By marking saìes for patient as well, saìaþes, one gets the true 6! possible orders, as the implicit information that the cat is located relative to both the river and the car is made explicit.
Words and parts of phrases and clauses may not cross an axis-word, though what's on the left may freely switch places with what's on the right provided everything connected with the axis-word changes place.
Within a phrase
Within a clause
Connecting phrases and clauses
Some axis-words, like te and a can carry suffixable information that is common to the constituents they separate.
If both noun-suffixes and verb-suffixes are common to the constituents, all the noun suffixes comes before all the verb suffixes.
Stylistically, suffixing the common suffixes on the axis-word as in example 15b) is preferred to being redundant as in example 15a).
Notes:
References:
Trask, R. L. 1996. A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics. London: Routledge.