Marīnī Syntax
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Marini is a strongly head initial language. Adjectives and adverbs tend to follow that which they modify. Adpositions precede the nouns as prepositions. Possessors and genitives follow their possessums. Indirect objects will usually follow the verb.
That said, Marini is also extremely flexible in word order. The verb can fall into any part of the sentence. Likewise, adjectives and adverbs are regularly moved in front of the noun for emphasis, and certain common adjectives and adverbs, as well as numbers between one and sixteen, will precede their nouns habitually.
Word order is not determined by role in the sentence, but rather by focus in the discourse. The focus of the specific sentence is placed at the beginning of the sentence, whereas the topic, the concern of the discourse at large, is placed immediately after the verb. Further shuffling of word order can be made for direction of focus, emphasis, or rhetorical choice.
‘The women carry the book (women is the focus, book is the topic)’
‘The women carry the book (book is the focus, women are the topic)’
‘The women carry the book (the act of carrying is the focus)’
The usual word order is as follows:
Focus - Verb - Topic - Indirect Object/Oblique Argument
Adpositional clauses and other such clauses can fit anywhere in between, usually either between the focus and verb or following the indirect object/oblique argument.
Despite being head initial in syntax, Marini is largely head final in derivation. Descriptors will precede what they describe, whereas they would traditionally follow the noun if they were not in derivation.